According to latest results from the Morley Fund Management FTSE100 Sustainability Matrix.
According to latest results from the Morley Fund Management FTSE100 Sustainability Matrix
Morley Fund Management, one of the UK's largest fund managers, has today announced encouraging results for socially responsible investors in its updated FTSE 100 Sustainability Matrix. Despite Morley introducing increasingly stringent criteria, the majority of FTSE 100 companies have maintained or improved their grading in the Matrix.
The Morley Fund Management FTSE100 Sustainability Matrix ranks companies according to social and environmental risks, liabilities and opportunities and provides a measure of business sustainability. A company’s product is rated from A to E and management practices from
1 to 5.
This year, as Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) continues to become more integrated into mainstream investment models, the Matrix has evolved to include corporate governance issues as well as a greater focus on risk management issues.
This year the Matrix has highlighted that:
- Marks and Spencer (C3-->B2), Standard Chartered (D3-->C2), MM02
(B4--> B2), AB Foods (D4-->C3) and Hilton (D4-->D2) are among the companies showing the most improvement in the matrix this year. - BT (B1), Lloyds TSB (C1), Severn Trent (B1), Scottish Power (D1) and Shell (D1) are the first companies to be awarded ‘1’s - in recognition of innovative and sector leading responses to key social, ethical and environmental (SEE) issues
- More companies are reporting on material social or environmental issues and setting targets for improvement. Currently 72 FTSE 100 companies publish stand alone SEE reports and a further 18 have statements in their annual reports.*
Gerald Holtham, Chief Investment Officer at Morley Fund Management said:
“We believe it is important to engage with all companies in the FTSE 100, to encourage best practice in social, environmental and corporate governance matters, in order to maximise value over the long term for our investors.
“Morley owns over 1% of the UK stockmarket. Few institutions have the access to, and influence over, companies that Morley does. However with influence comes responsibility. While only a small proportion of our funds are run on SRI criteria we believe we should use the insights gained from SRI research to engage constructively with all the companies whose shares we own.”
Commenting on these findings, Paul Moody, Head of SRI at Morley said:
“These results demonstrate a distinct improvement in companies’ awareness and reporting of social, ethical and environmental (SEE) issues. We believe that they also indicate that pressure from institutional investors, like Morley Fund Management, is having a strong influence on affecting corporate change.
“The next challenge for companies is to prove that effective management of these issues enhances shareholder value. In order to do this companies’ should focus on managing social, ethical and environmental issues that have a material impact on business performance, and must demonstrate how these issues are embedded within the business.”
The rationale behind publishing the Matrix is to provide a clear and transparent analysis of companies’ social and environmental policies, on the assumption that these impact on shareholder value. It is also hoped it will also stimulate debate and continue raise the bar on social, environmental and employee practice.
*Source: Ethical Performance, Issue 1, Volume 5, March 2003
-ends-
For further information please contact:
| Fiona Baker, Head of Corporate Communications Morley Fund Management | 020 7809 8617 |
Notes to Editors:
The Morley Fund Management FTSE100 Sustainability Matrix
The Matrix ranks companies according to Business Sustainability and Management Vision and Practices. Business sustainability is rated from A to E. An A grade is awarded to companies providing a ‘sustainability solution’ to major environmental or social issues – such as renewable energy, healthcare and education. An E grade indicates a business that poses major challenges to sustainable development.
Management vision and strategy is graded from 1 to 5. Companies awarded a grade 1 have a clear vision of sustainable development and are actively working to achieve it. The poorest grade, 5, denotes management policies and practices incompatible with sustainable development and the concept of corporate responsibility.
Morley’s SRI team uses the Matrix to define the investment universe available to its retail and institutional SRI funds. It is also used an engagement tool for FTSE 100 companies in which Morley’s mainstream funds are invested. All companies included were given the opportunity to respond to the team's analysis.
Morley’s SRI team
Led by Clare Brook, Morley’s 10 strong Socially Responsible Investment team is one of the largest and most experienced in the UK. The team has grown in reputation and status, with members frequently asked for advice by companies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and government departments.
Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management (‘Morley’) is an independently managed, London based, asset management business with over Ł104 billion under management (as at 31.03.03). It actively manages a diverse range of asset classes and employs over 1000 personnel worldwide based in London, Singapore, Tokyo and an associate office in Boston*.
Morley is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Aviva Group and manages both institutional and retail funds under the Morley brand. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed in the UK by Norwich Union, and international funds marketed under the Privilege Portfolio brand (to change to Aviva Funds on 1st July 2003).
Awards
Fund Manager of the Year - Pensions Week Awards 2002
Specialist Manager of the Year - UK Pensions Awards 2002
Insurance Fund Manager of the Year (awarded to Norwich Union) - Standard and Poor’s 2002
Sustainable and Ethical Investment and Asset Management Award - Liveable City Awards 2002
Pensions Management Provider Awards 2002 – Commended for Best SRI Fund Manager and Best Fixed Income Fund Manager
*Morley Fund Management International Limited, an Aviva company
Further information about Morley Fund Management can be found at www.morleyfm.com/sri.htm
Issued by Morley Fund Management Limited.
Morley Fund Management is a business name of Morley Fund Management Limited, registered in England No. 1151805. A member of the Norwich Union Marketing Group, members of which are authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority for life assurance, pensions and investments. Registered Office: No. 1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EJ. A member of the Investment Management Association.
Morley Fund Management is also a business name of Morley Investment Services Limited and Morley Fund Management International Limited. All are Aviva companies.
Telephone calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
| FTSE100 SUSTAINABILITY MATRIX – 19th June 2003 | ||||||||||||
 | | | ||||||||||
| Management Vision and Practice | | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | |
| ||||||||||||
| A | | | PEARSON | | GLAXOSMITHKLINE | | | | |||
| SMITH & NEPHEW | JOHNSON MATTHEY | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| B | | BT GROUP | | ABBEY NATIONAL | | BOC GROUP | | 3I GROUP | | | |
| SEVERN TRENT | AMERSHAM | CABLE & WIRELESS | ALLIANCE UNICHEM | |||||||||
| ASTRAZENECA | FRIENDS PROVIDENT | DAILY MAIL&GEN TST | ||||||||||
| AVIVA | HBOS | SAGE | ||||||||||
| BG GROUP | KELDA | |||||||||||
| BOOTS GROUP | OLD MUTUAL | |||||||||||
| LEGAL & GENERAL | REUTERS GROUP | |||||||||||
| MARKS & SPENCER | SHIRE PHARMA GROUP | |||||||||||
| MMO2 | ||||||||||||
| NORTHERN ROCK | ||||||||||||
| REED ELSEVIER | ||||||||||||
| UNITED UTILITIES | ||||||||||||
| VODAFONE GROUP | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| C | | LLOYDS TSB GROUP | | ALLIED DOMECQ | | ALLIANCE&LEICESTER | | BRITISH SKY BROADC | | | |
| BARCLAYS | AMVESCAP | EMAP | ||||||||||
| BRITISH LAND | ASSOCD BRIT FOODS | HSBC HLDGS | ||||||||||
| CENTRICA | BRADFORD & BINGLEY | LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL | ||||||||||
| DIAGEO | CADBURY SCHWEPPES | MAN GROUP | ||||||||||
| KINGFISHER | CANARY WHARF GROUP | MORRISON(WM)SUPRMKT | ||||||||||
| LAND SECURITIES | COMPASS GROUP | NEXT | ||||||||||
| MITCHELLS & BUTLERS | DIXONS GROUP | REXAM | ||||||||||
| PROVIDENT FINANCIAL | GRANADA | TOMKINS | ||||||||||
| ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND | GUS | WPP GROUP | ||||||||||
| SABMILLER | INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS | |||||||||||
| SAFEWAY | NATIONAL GRID TRANSCO | |||||||||||
| SAINSBURY(J) | PRUDENTIAL | |||||||||||
| SCOT & SOUTHERN ENERGY | RECKITT BENCKISER | |||||||||||
| STANDARD CHARTERED | RENTOKIL INITIAL | |||||||||||
| UNILEVER | SCHRODERS | |||||||||||
| SCOT & NEWCASTLE | ||||||||||||
| TESCO | ||||||||||||
| WHITBREAD | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| D | | SCOTTISH POWER | | BAA | | ANGLO AMERICAN | | WOLSELEY | | | |
| SHELL TRNSPT&TRDG | BP | BHP BILLITON PLC | ||||||||||
| EXEL | HANSON | |||||||||||
| GKN | ||||||||||||
| HILTON GROUP | ||||||||||||
| IMPERIAL CHEM INDS | ||||||||||||
| RIO TINTO | ||||||||||||
| SMITHS GROUP | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| E | | | BAE SYSTEMS | | BRIT AMER TOBACCO | | IMPERIAL TOBACCO | | | ||
| GALLAHER GROUP | XSTRATA | |||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
The matrix excludes some recent additions to the FTSE 100 and some companies under going significant corporate actions (takeovers and mergers).