ESG & Impact

Responsible Investing

Cordiant has long been committed to the integration of environmental, social and governance measures into its investment processes (the firm became a signatory of the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment in 2008). We believe that investment, can and must go hand in hand with promoting practical sustainability. Understanding that in order to create long-lasting results our portfolio companies must be financially healthy; we aim to support social and environmental improvement alongside targeted financial returns.

As investors, we view ESG as a fundamental component of a holistic approach to considering not only a multitude of risks but also opportunities, yielding a more complete investment process. We recognise the benefits to risk management and value creation that the effective integration of responsible investment principles can bring, while also understanding the need to promote sustainable practices, act responsibly and be long-term stewards.

Our Philosophy

We hold the view that the responsible deployment of capital should be standard good practice in the financial industry. We are committed to understanding the challenges and identifying the solutions that may foster the quality of our investments while enhancing the value of our assets and supporting positive outcomes.

We strive to work with partners who share our views and support our assets in improving ESG performance while generating positive societal and environmental benefits that support the UN SDGs.

Through our sector-led approach, we invest in assets that are essential to the modern world and are directly tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We target investments in companies with alignment to and which supports systems critical to the modern world. We aim to invest in partners for the long term, who share our values to responsible growth and operations. Investing in companies, which we can support by leveraging our financial, operational and responsible investing expertise to add longer term value to the business in a responsible manner. We seek to mitigate sustainability risks and support the attainment and promote of positive outcomes relevant to that sector. Cordiant has run specific impact mandates for clients including KfW / the Federal Republic of Germany and the Government of Canada.

Our approach

ESG and our impact lens form a central pillar of our investment approach, that combines sustainability and responsibility with profitable investment. Recognising the material impact of sustainability considerations on investment returns, we are committed to understanding the challenges and identifying the solutions that may foster the quality of our investments.

We approach responsible investment through two parallel and complementary concepts, ESG risk management and impact lens. Through the implementation of effective ESG processes, we seek to identify and address material sustainability risks in relation to investee companies. While although we are not impact investors, we overlay an impact lens to our investing activities, aiming to support and/or align companies’ commercial goals with specific positive environmental and social benefits.

Our belief is that  engagement, and an open dialogue is critical to effective, responsible investment.  We focus on using a collaborative, active, and ever-evolving approach to  provide investee companies with the guidance to improve sustainability practices and unlock the societal and/or environmental benefits of each of our sectors.

Signatories and Commitments

Cordiant has a history of advocating for and practicing responsible investment while applying an impact overlay. This commitment to integrate sustainability into investment processes is underscored by the adoption and implementation of principles and frameworks of internationally recognised networks and organisations; beginning in 2008 when we became a signatory of the UN PRI to most recently when the firm become an early adopter of the TNFD at the start of 2024. As the responsible investment landscape continues to evolve, we aim to ensure that we adopt an implement recognised best practice include the TCFD and the framework of PCAF. While supporting collaboration within these networks to gain and share knowledge.

Understanding the realities of each of our focused-sectors is critical to take the right and appropriate actions and for contributing to positive impact. For this reason, we are a signatory of the Cerrado Manifesto, committing to halting forest loss associated with agricultural commodity production. In addition, we are members of both the Global Impact Investing Network (‘GIIN’) and the Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development (‘CAFIID’).

Sustainability-related disclosures