Manulife Investment Management demonstrates significant progress in its annual sustainable and responsible investing report

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Nov 18, 2021, 09:13 ET

BOSTON, TORONTO and LONDON, Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife Investment Management released today its third annual sustainable and responsible investing report for its institutional investment management business. The report demonstrates its ongoing commitment to sustainability, as interest in this area continues to grow across the world.

The report documents significant progress across three key areas of the firm's sustainability efforts: ESG integration, active stewardship, and global collaboration to address systemic sustainability issues.

Paul Lorentz, President and CEO at Manulife Investment Management, said: "Our efforts support our clients' aims and help bolster the environmental and social foundations that enable the global economy to function. Our priority is to continue to expand our sustainable investing capabilities across public and private asset classes to meet our clients' evolving needs."

Advancements in sustainability

In 2020, Manulife Investment Management had 1,122 engagement interactions with 985 equity and fixed-income issuers globally and launched a proxy voting dashboard to disclose proxy voting records.¹There was a conscious shift in focus from just volume of conversations to outcomes-based engagements to address material sustainability risks.
Manulife Investment Management invested further in its sustainability teams, which have grown from 16 to 25 sustainability professionals globally as of 12/31/20.
The firm was one of only 20 investment managers included in the 2020 PRI Leaders' Group in recognition of advanced efforts in climate reporting.
Building on its advanced ESG integration efforts across asset classes, the firm expanded its sustainability offering through the launch of a number of strategies with specific sustainability objectives and made a significant impact-first timberland investment that will primarily be used for carbon sequestration and storage.²

Brian Kernohan, chief sustainability officer, private markets, comments: "Our purpose as an asset manager is to deliver strong risk-adjusted investment returns for our clients over time while having a positive impact on the environment and society through strong stewardship. We believe a commitment to sustainable investing is necessary for investors to be successful."

Peter Mennie, global head of ESG integration and research, public markets, concludes: "We are proud of our contributions in pursuit of more sustainable business practices across the globe. We believe integrating all elements of sustainable investing into our conversations with company management, and using measurable data points to demonstrate progress, can help mitigate the impact of material sustainability risks in our portfolios and is aligned with the best interests of our clients over the long term."

Since becoming a PRI signatory in 2015, Manulife Investment Management has enhanced its sustainability practices across asset classes and deepened its involvement in initiatives addressing global sustainability challenges.

Click here for more information about the Manulife Investment Management 2020 sustainable and responsible investing report.

Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 18 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

As of September 30, 2021, Manulife Investment Management's assets under management and administration, including assets managed for Manulife's other segments, totaled CAD $1.1 trillion (US $835 billion). Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

1. The full record is not publicly available. More information is available on request. Proxy voting activities are completed for public markets investments managed by Manulife Investment Management public markets.

2. We look to incorporate material ESG considerations throughout the stages of our investment and asset ownership lifecycles, taking into account the characteristics of the asset class and investment process in question, as well as industry and geography, among other factors. Each investment team operates in different markets and with different nuances to its approach to investing. Accordingly, each team integrates ESG factors into its investment process in a manner that best aligns with its investment approach.

SOURCE Manulife Investment Management