OVERVIEW
Sustainability Strategy
At Platinum, we have a core belief that if we responsibly and successfully look after our clients’ money, our business should prosper. This belief has led Platinum to maintain a deep and persistent commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices, including strong governance plus environmental and social awareness. We seek to apply a pragmatic approach to both how we run our business, and the expectations that we place on the companies in which we invest.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)
The role of ESG at Platinum
As a signatory of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing (UN PRI), Platinum has selected the following four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined below as pillars of both our corporate sustainability and our portfolio company investment stewardship focus.
We continue to work towards increasing the alignment of our investment stewardship strategy with our corporate sustainability work.
Platinum’s Approach
Companies are facing a range of issues from an environmental, societal and governance perspective as the regulation and policy settings surrounding these issues continue to evolve. Platinum’s approach from an investing perspective is a continual work-in-progress as we seek to refine and balance our investment approach to these issues with our core philosophy of seeking good medium to long term returns for our clients. Platinum is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and thereby has made the commitment that “as an institutional investor, we have a duty to act in the best long-term interests of our beneficiaries. In this fiduciary role, we believe that environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues can affect the performance of investment portfolios.”¹
¹as per the UN PRI Signatory Commitment Statement.
PLATINUM'S APPROACH
Responsible Investing
At Platinum our central endeavour is to generate good absolute returns for investors over the long term by investing in companies that we believe are undervalued. Analysis of ESG issues may be taken into account as part of our fundamental investment research process to the extent that such issues impact our view of a company’s inherent value. Consideration of such ESG issues provides us with an expanded information set by which we assess the risks and opportunities facing companies.
Engagement
Platinum has a targeted ESG engagement strategy that focuses engagement with companies on financially material ESG issues¹ as well as ESG issues that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Pillars of our corporate strategy: SGD5 Gender Equality, SDG8 Decent Work & Economic Growth, SDG13 Climate Action, and SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The engagement strategy has been developed for a “priority list” of companies representing ~50% of our funds under management² with the aim of contributing to demonstrable ESG outcomes. These activities and potential outcomes are recorded and tracked via our proprietary engagement template.
Footnotes
¹As guided by the by the SASB materiality map
²As of 30 June 2023
Proxy Voting Results
The following charts provide a summary of Platinum’s proxy voting activity for the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
The categories most voted on include Board related matters, Audit/Financials, Changes to Company Statutes, Compensation, M&A, Meeting Administration and Capital Management.
To reference the charts:
‘Take No Action’ refers to a deliberate decision by Platinum not to vote.
‘Unvoted’ means Platinum did not vote (or Platinum decided to abstain from voting but didn’t record it as Take No Action).
‘N/A’ refers to proposals which Platinum was not allowed to vote on.
This information is sourced from the Glass Lewis Viewpoint system which is the voting platform that Platinum uses to vote its proxies.
Proxy advisers make different recommendations on how to vote but ultimately where Platinum has the power to vote, all votes are determined by Platinum and not by a proxy adviser.
Management Proposals – Votes versus Management
Shareholder Proposals – Votes versus Management
Management Proposals – Votes versus External Proxy Advisor
Shareholder Proposals – Votes versus External Proxy Advisor
SUSTAINABILITY
Reports & Policies
| 29 Feb 2024 | Human Rights Policy |
| 23 Feb 2024 | Proxy Voting Policy |
| 29 Nov 2023 | Japan Stewardship Principles |
| 01 Sep 2023 | Responsibility Investing Policy |
| 01 Aug 2023 | Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report |
| 30 Jun 2023 | Modern Slavery Policy |
| 22 May 2023 | WGEA Report |
Platinum’s Memberships
UNPRI - We have been a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment since 2021.
TCFD – Platinum is a supporter of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.
UN Global Compact – we began participating in the UN Global Compact in 2023.
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