SOURCE: Invesco
DESCRIPTION:
ATLANTA, June 16, 2021 /3BL Media/ – Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ), a leading global investment management firm, announced today the findings of its 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, which highlights several areas, including the firm’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic; efforts to further improve diversity, equity and inclusion; commitment to the environment; and progress with regard to ESG.
“Employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion were important focus areas for Invesco in 2020,” said Marty Flanagan, President & CEO of Invesco. “Between the COVID-19 pandemic, a global racial reckoning, and a fully remote working environment, the focus on growing an inclusive and supportive culture became increasingly important. We fundamentally believe that creating a diverse workplace where everyone is equally valued will lead to better outcomes for our clients, and the only way to do that is to ensure an authentically inclusive culture.”
Key highlights of the report include:
COVID-19
- In 2020, Invesco took a number of steps to help its clients, employees and communities meet the challenges of a global pandemic: Specifically, the firm:
- Rotated nearly all of its employees to work-from-home status, enabling us to manage the health and well-being of our employees while continuing to meet client needs.
- Further enhanced its client communications and connectivity by implementing a fully digital client-engagement strategy consisting of COVID-19 resource hubs, “digital roadshows,” webinars and virtual meetings.
- Signed onto the ICCR Investor Statement on Coronavirus Response. The statement urges the business community to take any steps possible with focus on providing paid leave, prioritizing health/safety, maintaining supplier/customer relationships and continuing financial prudence.
- To date, Invesco has donated over $1 million (USD) to global COVID-19 relief efforts. This included a donation to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and the Greater Atlanta, NYC and Houston COVID-19 Recovery Funds.
- The firm also donated $54,000 to 11 schools through Operation Backpack. Access to technology and school supplies has always been a vital need in underserved areas, but it became especially critical when the majority of schools moved to virtual learning during the pandemic. Invesco Cares chapters in North America partnered with Operation Backpack to help students thrive despite the move to virtual learning by providing needed technology devices and school supplies so that students could participate in their classes.
Diversity & Inclusion
- Invesco has for many years been focused on strengthening diversity and inclusion, which we view as crucial to achieving the diversity of thought that helps us deliver great outcomes for clients, for our business and for each other. As part of our focus on strengthening Diversity & Inclusion, Invesco:
- Pledged to increase female representation of senior managers to 35% by 2022 across the globe. As of December 31, 2020, women comprise 33% of Invesco’s senior management positions and 39% of our total workforce.
- Launched Invesco’s first global #CountMeIn employee self-identification campaign, which enables employees to provide demographic data beyond gender, including sexual orientation, gender identity, race and ethnicity, veteran, neurodiversity and caregiver status. This data will help inform Invesco’s diversity strategy and help ensure a more inclusive culture for all.
- Strengthened our talent acquisition practices by ensuring greater diversity in our candidate and interview slates. ] During 2020, 58% of the candidate slates were gender diverse, and 78% of the interview panels were gender diverse. Invesco’s goal is to ensure 95% of all candidate slates and interview panels are gender diverse and our enhanced data set will enable us to define this beyond gender The firm is also tracking candidate slates for racial diversity, which will help further enhance our talent acquisition practices.
- Received a score of 100 (a perfect score) on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and was named as a “Top Employer for LGBTG+ Inclusion.”
- Expanded outreach to educational institutions serving significant minority populations.
- Remained highly active in a number of industry bodies (e.g. The Diversity Project in the UK and North America) to build awareness of industry opportunities among women and minorities.
- Signed the Confluence Philanthropy 2020 Belonging Pledge, joined the State of Connecticut Corporate Call to Action: Coalition for Equity & Opportunity, participated in the Atlanta Committee for Progress Pledge and signed a joint letter of Commitment to support the passage of Georgia Hate Crimes Bill, all which aimed to address economic and racial disparities.
- Recognized Juneteenth as a paid Day of Reflection in the US to observe, support and engage in efforts to address and eliminate inequality.
- Further expanded and supported the growing number of Business Resource Groups (BRGs) at Invesco, including the Invesco Pan-Asian Professionals Network, the Invesco Black Professionals Network, Invesco Proud Network, EMEA Ethnicity BRG, Invesco Women’s Network and others, bringing our total number of BRGs to nine.
Climate Change
- In support of efforts to mitigate impact on our environment, Invesco:
- Joined and is a working member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, where we’ve taken a global pledge focusing investment managers on reaching net-zero GHG emissions across investment portfolios, in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 or sooner.
- Reduced carbon dioxide emissions resulting from corporate air and rail travel by 74% through the implementation of carbon offsetting when compared to 2019.
- Exceeded the targets for energy use and GHG emissions with a 23% reduction, although these were impacted by global office closures.
- Retained its Global ISO 14001:2015 Certification. As of 2020, 70% of our offices across the globe are ISO 14001.
- Actively served in several climate-focused organizations, including The Sustainable Financial Organisations (ACGA, Asia), UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF, UK), Council of Institutional Investors (CII, US) and Responsible Investment Association (RIA, Canada)
- Invesco has published its first inaugural report on Climate Change in line with the TCFD, and going forward will publish an annual report with progress and further actions.
ESG
- In support of our commitments to further strengthening Environmental, Social and Governance engagement and activities within our firm, Invesco:
- Signed the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, joining other asset managers to support the global goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.
- Further worked to integrated ESG into our investment capabilities. Invesco’s goal is to have ESG integrated across 100% of our investment capabilities by 2023. Currently, 75% of our investment teams have attained the ESG integration level defined as minimal by systematic integration.
- Received an A or A+ rating by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) across all categories and were awarded an A+ for the Company’s strategy and governance in responsible investment for the fourth year in a row.
- Launched ESGIntel, a proprietary tool built by Invesco's Global ESG research team in collaboration with our Technology, Strategy, Innovation and Planning (SIP) team providing ESG insights, metrics, data points and direction of change. ESGintel provides a way for Invesco to have a proprietary view on ESG risks and opportunities related to the companies in which we invest. Of the 45,000 companies with data currently in the system, 16,500 companies have enough ESG data to create an overall ESG rating.
- Remains the second-largest ESG ETF provider in the US, with a number of products having a track record of more than 15 years.
- Views proxy voting as an integral part of its investment management responsibilities and our patented proxy voting portal facilitates investment-led voting decisions. Our proprietary proxy voting platform, PROXYintel, facilitates implementation of voting decisions and rationales across global investment teams.
- Served as an active participant member and supporter of ESG initiatives, including Climate Action 100 +, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Asian Investors Group on Climate Change (AIIGCC), the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI), One Planet Asset Managers Initiative, Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return Initiative (FAIIR) and PRI collective engagement initiatives such as the tailings mine safety initiative.
- To learn more about Invesco’s ESG efforts, please view Invesco’s 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance Investment Stewardship Report
Corporate Citizenship
- In 2020, Invesco supported over 128 charity organizations and non-profits through 19 Invesco Cares chapters globally.
- In 2020, our U.K. employees voted to select the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) as their Charity of the Year. CALM is a leader in suicide prevention and mental health support, and their selection showcases our employees’ support of this important cause. As charity of the year, CALM received 223,500 pounds sterling (US$310,441) from Invesco— raised by employees via a virtual triathlon, a salary sacrifice, Invesco Christmas donation and a grant from the Invesco Cares Foundation.
- Due to the pandemic and not being able to volunteer in person, Invesco launched a first-ever global, company-matching gift program for organizations specifically targeting COVID-19 relief and/or racial injustice. Invesco matched employee donations up to $250,000.
“2020 was an unprecedented year, however, we continued to focus on creating solutions and long-term value for our clients, employees, shareholders and the communities we serve,” said Flanagan. “I’m proud of the progress Invesco’s 8,000+ employees made last year and look forward to building further on this progress in 2021.”
To learn more about Invesco’s commitment to corporate responsibility and to view the full report, read it online here.
Contact: Gina Simonis Gina.Simonis@invesco.com +1 (917) 715-8339
About Invesco Ltd.
Invesco Ltd. (Ticker NYSE: IVZ) is a global independent investment management firm dedicated to delivering an investment experience that helps people get more out of life. With offices in more than 20 countries, our distinctive investment teams deliver a comprehensive range of active, passive and alternative investment capabilities. Invesco managed US $1.4 trillion in assets on behalf of clients worldwide as of March 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.invesco.com/corporate. Follow Invesco Ltd on LinkedIn.
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KEYWORDS: Invesco, NYSE: IVZ
