CT Global Managed Portfolio Income | ESG

Financial returns matter, but so too does the impact our investments have on society and the environment. We work closely with BMO’s Responsible Investment team to systematically integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into BMO Managed Portfolio Trust’s investment process, with a view to reducing risk and improving returns over the longer term.

Since launching Europe’s first ethically screened fund in 1984, our Manager, BMO has been investing responsibly for more than 35 years. Today its Responsible Investment team comprises over 20 sustainability experts with over 275 years collective experience.

Responsible investing goes beyond careful stock selection. The Manager has been engaging with companies for over 20 years to help drive improvement in ESG practices and influence positive change around the world. Over the past two decades, BMO has engaged more than 5,700 companies, resulting in 4,106 instances of positive change.*  In recent years, it has aligned its engagement efforts to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals provide an ambitious roadmap for creating a more sustainable global economy and society by 2030 – from ending poverty to tackling climate change – and provide a useful framework for company engagement.

*As at 31 December 2020

Engaging actively with companies on  significant ESG matters is a fundamental part of the Manager’s approach and it is also committed to engaging with the underlying fund managers of BMO Managed Portfolio Trust’s investments to encourage them to bring ESG to the forefront of their investment processes.

Exercising the right to vote is another way to influence positive change. Voting against management on key resolutions sends a clear signal to companies on the importance of improving their business practices. BMO regularly engages companies before and after voting to explain their expectations and invite comment, and to explain its reasons for any votes against management.

With respect to BMO Managed Portfolio Trust; in the year to 31 May 2021, BMO voted at 108 meetings of investee companies held in the investment portfolios. Public details of all BMO’s voting activity, including rationale for votes against management, become available on the website the day after each shareholder meeting here.

Learn more about the Trust’s approach in our latest report and accounts here.

Whilst our Manager has influenced for good over the past 20 years, they also recognise that much more needs to be done to secure a sustainable future for us all. In the decade ahead, BMO will continue to focus on the achievement of the SDGs, stepping up engagement to tackle key systemic risks such as climate change, biodiversity and social inequality. Find out more here.

Learn more about responsible investing at BMO here.