Pg 9

Discloses conducting research prior to investment, specific to modern slavery

"A key way we can drive change is through how we invest. We take our responsibilities as an investor seriously and incorporate ESG considerations into our investment approach across all asset classes. Our expectations for our investments are based on understanding their risk through our internal research, our ESG house score, and bringing together expert stakeholders. We also expect our investments to meet internationally recognised modern slavery standards and industry best practices.

The importance of modern slavery considerations in our investment approach is reflected in our structure. Our ESG investment research team includes two dedicated specialists, one focused on human rights & communities and another focused on labour & employment practices. These specialists provide support to investment managers and analysts who need to consider labour and human rights issues in their daily investment decision-making. They work in collaboration with multiple areas across the business.

We recognise that certain geographies and sectors are higher risk for modern slavery, so we prioritise our investment research and engagement on this basis. We draw upon a number of sources for insights, for example the Global Slavery Index and the US Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Internally, our Research Institute has also developed a global Human Rights Index. The index ranks countries across a range of indicators aligned with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). A number of indicators are linked to modern slavery including access to justice, labour, corruption, transparent laws, civil liberties and civil society organisation participation. The index helps us understand which jurisdictions have an increased risk of modern slavery."