How we’re committed to sustainable investing

By investing in companies that we believe are sustainable, our aim is to do the right thing for the planet while maximising the potential long-term investment returns we can achieve for our funds and investment customers.

To find out more, read our sustainable investing policy.

 

Our Sustainable Investment (SI) Team

The Sustainable Investment (SI) Team works alongside Wesleyan's Fund Managers and Investment Analysts. They assess our funds, holdings, and investment management decisions, considering the sustainability factors of each.

Learn more about our sustainable investing goals

Watch the video to learn more about how we apply our three principles of sustainable investing to the Wesleyan managed funds. 

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Our three principles

The Team ensures our three principles of sustainable investing remain at the heart of all we do. These are:

  • Responsible screening
  • Positive contribution
  • Active engagement

Find out more about our three core principles of sustainable investing.

Engagement and stewardship at all levels

The SI Team engages with organisations at management and Board level to promote better practices. This is achieved by identifying areas in a business that can be challenged or changed to improve environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

This could be anything from its carbon footprint to human rights issues, or water management to the diversity of its Board members. They reinforce this by using their corporate voting rights to help encourage more environmentally and socially responsible behaviour.

Meet the team

Headed up by Lucas Howarth, a team of sustainable investment professionals make up the Wesleyan Sustainable Investment Team.

Lucas Howarth, CFA

Lucas is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) who has been with Wesleyan for over 15 years. He joined straight out of university, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. Since 2011, he’s been a CFA charterholder and holds the CFA’s Certificate in Environmental, Social and Governance Investing. Lucas has also recently been appointed to the Investment Association's Sustainability & Responsible Investment Committee.

Lucas heads up our Sustainable Investment Team, which focuses on incorporating sustainability issues into our investment process and ensures responsible management of our customers’ money. He oversees all aspects of the Team’s work, including research, customer communications, company engagement and voting.

Max Read

Max started out at Wesleyan as an Investments Team intern in 2020, before taking up the position of Sustainable Investment Analyst the same year. He leads on finding companies that meet Wesleyan's sustainable objectives, while producing research reports that focus on sustainability. This helps to ensure Wesleyan's funds continue to meet their sustainability targets.

Max studied Chemistry at Durham University, receiving a BSc degree 2:1. He holds the Investment Management Certificate and the CFA Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) qualification. He is due to start studying for his final CFA exam this year.

Lara Vincent

Lara joined Wesleyan’s Sustainable Investment Team in 2023. Her role involves researching companies and assessing how their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and targets can affect the performance of our funds. Lara leads on ensuring these funds do not breach Wesleyan’s exclusions and manages our engagement with companies and collaborative organisations.

Lara studied Geography at Durham University, for which she received a BA degree 2:1. She is currently studying for the CFA ESG qualification.