CCLA is the UK’s leading charity investment manager, majority-owned by the two largest charity ESG funds (Charity Finance, 2021). Our aim is to deliver superior, sustainable risk-adjusted returns in a way that aligns with the values of our clients and furthers their mission. We have been successfully managing charity funds since 1958 and are entrusted with over £14 billion of client funds.*

Because investment markets can only ever be as healthy as the environment and communities that support them we use our ownership rights to improve the sustainability of the assets in which we invest. We bring investors together to address systemic risks that have not had the attention that they require. As well, we seek to act as a catalyst for change in the investment industry itself. By helping to accelerate progress in meeting the major sustainability challenges the world faces, we can limit risks before they negatively impact upon the performance of our clients’ assets and the functioning of society.

We assess environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards because we believe that a combination of legislation, regulation and changing societal preferences will impact negatively on the most unsustainable business models. We avoid investing in companies that have uncompensated, unwanted, unwarranted and unmitigated ESG risks as evidenced by poor management and weak corporate governance, having an unacceptable social and environmental impact, not demonstrating a willingness to improve through investor engagement. This helps us avoid investments that we anticipate will underperform and, as the market has a poor record of pricing these risks enable us to deliver superior long-term risk-adjusted returns to our clients.

We invest in a way that is aligned with our clients, as we are the guardians, not the owners, of the assets that we manage. For this reason, we have a responsibility to ensure that our portfolios are aligned with our clients’ objectives, values and beliefs, report on the outcomes of all our work and are transparent about everything we do on our clients’ behalf. By investing in a way that is aligned with our clients we are better able to meet their objectives and offer more than a financial return.

This is what we call ‘Good Investment’.

*data as at 31 October 2021