
Sustainability at Fidelity
Every investment decision has potential long-term financial and societal consequences. At Fidelity we are committed to using our position to steer companies towards the right business decisions on both matters.
Sustainable investing - what it is and why it matters
ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. Analysing these factors can be a key way to assess the sustainability and social impact of an investment in a company or a business.
At Fidelity, we use the term ‘sustainable investing’ to encompass ESG issues and related topics in this continually evolving area as we believe that Sustainable Investing better articulates what we aspire to as asset managers and stewards of our clients’ capital, which is to aim to enhance returns and promote responsible capital allocation. Fidelity believes that high standards of corporate responsibility will generally make good business sense and have the potential to protect and enhance investment returns.
Environmental
Social
Governance
Our approach
Our sustainable investing approach is built on three components and aims to meet our clients’ financial and non-financial objectives, as well as an evolving regulatory environment across global markets.
We believe that assessing sustainability is part of fundamental investing. By integrating it into our investment processes, we can gain a more complete view of the issuers and markets that we monitor.
A range of tools are integrated into our research platform to identify non-financial risks and opportunities, serving as an additional source of insight to support investment decisions.
We consider insights from third parties, but proprietary fundamental research sits at the heart of our approach. This also supports the prioritisation of our stewardship activities and the development of solutions that meet our clients’ objectives and evolving regulatory requirements. Our three key proprietary tools - ESG Ratings, SDG Tool and Climate Rating - are complementary with our financial research and rating.
Our stewardship activities play a crucial role in fulfilling our fiduciary duty and ensuring responsible asset allocation for our clients. Our approach is built on the concept of double materiality - meaning we focus on sustainability risks and opportunities from both a financial and non-financial perspective, such as an issuer’s impact on people, society and the environment.
Engaging on material ESG issues can contribute to the long-term sustainability of individual issuers and drive better long-term financial outcomes for investors. As a large investment manager operating across geographies, sectors, and asset classes, we also recognise that we can have an influence on systemic environmental and social issues.
We believe effective and outcome-oriented stewardship combines bottom-up corporate engagement, top-down
We are committed to providing innovative investment solutions and services that could help you to build a better financial future.
Our range of sustainable funds invest in equity and fixed income markets or combine investments in different asset classes through our multi asset funds.
Information about our range of sustainable funds can be found here.
Details of the investment exclusions that apply to these funds can be found here.
Rating by PRI
We have been a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 2012 and are proud of our ratings across the categories assessed by PRI in 2023, below.
Source: Fidelity International, 2023. The assessment was made in 2023 by the PRI, based on company data as at 31 December 2022. Public RI report and Assessment Report.
Voting
Annual Voting records
How we voted in 2024
The Sustainable Investing Team analysed 3746 company meetings during the reporting period. The chart below shows a geographic breakdown of votes by region for the reporting period and an overview of how Fidelity voted on all ESG topics. Fidelity voted in support of management on all resolutions at 51.4% of the meetings that were analysed. Fidelity voted against management on one or more of the resolutions submitted at 44.6% of the meetings analysed. Fidelity did not vote its holdings at a further 1.4% of the meetings, the majority of these because they were meetings of Fidelity’s own funds.
We disclose the details of our vote instructions on an individual meeting level basis and a brief rationale is outlined for all votes cast against the recommendations of the issuer’s management and for shareholder proposals.
Want to know more?
Download our sustainable investing reports and guides