Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz makes and sells affordable fashion produced in low-wage countries. The company often faces criticism on labour standards and on its impact on the environment. So why then does Triodos invest in H&M?
Active engagement
Maximizing our influence on the companies we invest in
With the money entrusted to Triodos SRI funds comes the responsibility - and the power - to influence the way the companies in which we may invest do business. So, as a key element of our SRI strategy, we pursue a policy of active engagement and dialogue, with the aim of raising awareness of sustainability, stimulating action and creating lasting change.
Engagement during analysis
We start engaging with companies during our selection process. We ask them for information needed to complete our analysis - and treat any refusal to provide it as a lack of transparency, which may result in exclusion from our list of eligible companies.
Providing feedback
We share the results of our assessments with the companies in question. This includes providing a full overview of their performance and improvement areas on key sustainability issues. In addition, companies are informed whether or not they are eligible for investment by Triodos Bank. Many seek further dialogue based on our assessments.
Monitoring our sustainable investment universe
We actively monitor companies that have been selected for our investment universe. When there is potential breach of our minimum standards, we investigate in depth and often enter into dialogue with the company. This can and does sometimes result in companies being de-selected from our investment universe.
Wider engagement
To enable us to maintain our strict sustainability investment standards, we aim to stay on top of changes in best practice and regulation, by engaging with companies, non-governmental organisations and governments. Read our latest engament reports:
Company Engagement Report 2010
Company Engagement Report January -June 2011
Company Engagement Report 2011
Voting for change
We take our responsibility as a shareholder seriously, strongly believing that by exercising our voting rights, we can exert a positive influence on a company's long term strategy. So we vote by proxy at shareholder meetings of all companies that we invest in. We also attend shareholder meetings to question the company’s Board on its sustainability performance. We use our strict proxy voting guidelines .
We inform companies how we voted, and also publish this information. Please click here to find out how we voted at shareholder meetings.
Shareholder collaboration
To further increase our ability to influence company behaviour, we collaborate with other shareholders. For example, in 2009 we signed the Principles for Responsible Investment from the United Nations, a global initiative that enables us to work together with 500 like-minded investors around the world.
Find out more
For more detailed information on our policy of engagement and dialogue, please download our Investment strategy . For more information about engagement results please download our latest engagement report .