Sustainable Investment Philosophy
We’re committed to making sustainable investment decisions that deliver healthy fund performance, provide better value for money and help create a brighter future for generations to come.
Our Philosophy
AMP Wealth Management New Zealand (AMP) has a Sustainable Investment Philosophy based on a framework of principles aligned to our values but designed to continue to produce returns in line with or better than a traditional market index.
Our Sustainable Investment Philosophy framework aims to reflect the sustainability values of our customers and the broader market.
AMP’s Sustainable Investment Philosophy applies to AMP-branded funds – where AMP is directly responsible for managing the funds (see Scope of Philosophy).
Our Sustainable Investment Philosophy is based on four key pillars: support the good, avoid the bad, reduce our carbon footprint and advocate for change.
Support the good
A key part of integrating ESG factors into our decisions is that our investments in corporate bonds and equities are more exposed to less carbon-intensive sectors (such as information technology and financials), and less exposed to the sectors that are more carbon-intensive (such as energy).
In addition, for our index-managed funds, we have a preference to select indexes that seek to overweight exposures to companies with higher ESG ratings. At present, these indexes apply to our core global equities and bond portfolios, which account for 45% of our total portfolio as at 30 June 2023. We review the performance of these indexes and the evolution of other ESG indexes regularly. Read more about how supporting the good works across AMP-branded funds.
Avoid the bad
Avoiding the bad at AMP means excluding companies’ that are involved in controversial activities. For example, we exclude all companies involved in oil and gas exploration, production, refining, transportation and/or storage. Our view on ‘controversial activities’ is based off what we believe are the strongest values of our customers, as well as considering other consumer research that is conducted in New Zealand. For a full list of our exclusion thresholds, click here.
Reduce our carbon footprint
We believe that one of the biggest challenges facing the world today is the impact on our environment – particularly from climate change. AMP’s strongest focus is around the environment, and in particular, climate change. We believe that climate risk is an investment risk, therefore an approach to investment management that considers the climate impact is important. That is why AMP has committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our investment portfolios by 2050 or sooner, to manage our exposure to potential climate risk.
Read more about our net zero commitment.
Advocate for change
As a large investment provider, it is important to use our voice to influence positive change. There are two key ways we can use our voice to advocate for positive change. These are:
Influencing the companies that we invest into (stewardship): Our stewardship approach has two key aspects:
(1) voting through shares held; and
(2) engagement with companies which we apply to AMP-branded funds via an investment partner (BlackRock) exercising these rights on behalf of us (or in consultation with us).
Our investment partner believes that companies that take into consideration ESG risks and opportunities are better positioned to deliver long-term value. Read more about our investment partner’s stewardship approach.
To see our quarterly engagement and voting activities, click here.
Influencing the wider industry: We are committed to joining wider initiatives and focus groups to increase positive industry engagement outcomes. Our current initiatives include the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA), the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), the Net Zero Asset Managers’ Initiative and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).
Scope of Philosophy
AMP’s Sustainable Investment Philosophy applies to AMP-branded funds – where AMP is directly responsible for managing the funds. There are certain instances where AMP’s Sustainable Investment Philosophy does not apply. Learn more about where this does not apply.