Sustainable Investing

As a responsible steward of capital with global aspirations, we believe that Fiera Capital should always strive to conduct its business in an appropriate manner and invest responsibly.

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Sustainability and Performance

Integrating the assessment of material environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk factors into how we manage assets on behalf of clients is crucially important in today’s environment – especially for firms such as Fiera Capital that operate in the financial and investment sectors. Shareholders, clients, employees and other stakeholders all stand to benefit.

Our Sustainable Investing Journey

We have always viewed our commitment to sustainable investing not as a destination but rather as an ongoing journey. Year after year, we seek to continuously raise the bar to drive innovation and enhance our sustainable investing capabilities. We are dedicated to creating better investment solutions while fostering a more sustainable future.

Committed to Responsible Investing

Roadmap
2002
Established Proxy Voting policy prior to the creation of Fiera Capital (previous firms)
2009
Became a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI)
2014
Became a member of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG)
2016
Subscribe to MSCI ESG Manager and became a member of the Responsible Investment Association (RIA)
2017
Updated Proxy Voting Policy and established Global RI Policy
2019
New Global Proxy Voting Policy and introduced Responsible Investment Spectrum
2020
New Global Proxy Voting Policy and introduced Responsible Investment Spectrum
2021
Updated global proxy voting policy and became a signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative
2022
Became a signatory of Climate Action 100+
Became an official supporter of the TCFD
2023
Became a UK Stewardship Code signatory
Became a member of Climate Engagement Canada (CEC)

ESG Governance

Integrating sound governance criteria into our investment processes is part of Fiera Capital’s DNA.

It entails taking a rigorous approach to risk management to achieve optimal performance within an appropriate level of risk. ESG governance is a shared responsibility at Fiera Capital, with multiple different business divisions and functions involved to make sure that we continue to enhance our capabilities in the years to come.

Fiera Capital also has an ESG Committee, which includes representation from internal stakeholders across functions and divisions, to support the integration of ESG throughout the organization. Collectively, they implement the firm’s strategic objectives related to sustainable investing.

Sustainable Investing Policy

We believe sustainable investing is core to our ability to satisfy both our duty and mandate without sacrificing returns. We also believe that integrating ESG considerations into our investment analysis and decision-making processes truly benefits the asset valuation process by providing a deeper understanding of business models and industry challenges.

Fiera Capital’s Sustainable Investing Policy outlines the firm’s approach to integrating ESG assessments into investment processes and highlights the many benefits of increasing our knowledge of companies in which we invest, better controlling the risk of our portfolios and helping companies improve over the long term.

ESG Integration

Fiera Capital offers a diverse range of investment strategies across asset classes and risk spectrum using a wide variety of investment styles. There are multiple approaches to managing portfolios of securities and assets and we recognize there is a vast variety of approaches for considering environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities within our investment decisions.

We believe that for ESG factors to be well integrated within the investment decisions we make, investment teams must be accountable for their ESG integration processes.

This belief guides the way our investment teams implement their strategies, conduct materiality assessments, and integrate ESG factors in a manner that best suits their respective asset class, investment style, and geography.

Active Ownership

At Fiera Capital, our active ownership is twofold:
  • Engagement
  • Proxy Voting

At Fiera Capital, we believe that sound corporate governance and solid business practices are key to generating sustainable wealth.

Accordingly, we frequently engage in a constructive and collaborative way with companies in our portfolios, urging them to adopt and implement sound ESG practices that are likely to produce sustainable added value for clients.

As well as engaging directly with companies, we are able to exercise our proxy voting rights to good effect to help drive positive change with respect to sustainability-related issues.

Climate

Climate change continues to be at the forefront of many countries’ and governments’ consciousness and decision-making.

It is incumbent on all of us to contribute to the achievement of credible, recognized global carbon-reduction targets, while staying ahead of changing environmental regulations and, in the process, creating sustainable returns for our investors.

As a global asset management firm, Fiera Capital supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy. We encourage our portfolio management teams to closely analyze climate-related risks, where material, when making investment decisions. We also continue working on ways to access more and better emissions data that will help us fully comprehend the underlying climate-related risks within our portfolios.

Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Fiera Capital is an official supporter of the TCFD, and we publish an annual TCFD report, underscoring our commitment to continuous improvement with respect to identifying and managing climate-related risks and opportunities.

Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) Initiative

In August 2021, Fiera Capital joined the NZAM initiative, which brings together an international group of asset managers committed to playing a more active role in battling climate change. We are dedicated to working proactively towards the goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, and to supporting broader efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

For more information on our NZAM commitment

Industry Collaboration

Fiera Capital interacts and participates in a number of industry working groups focused on ESG reporting standards.

We believe that an integral part of our role as a responsible investor is to actively contribute and collaborate with other players in the investment value chain to further develop the field. Accordingly, we have endorsed or signed onto a number of relevant standards and statements, and are active members and signatories of various networks and sustainable investing initiatives.

As well, we recognize and adhere to several responsible business codes of conduct, along with internationally recognized standards for due diligence and reporting.

CCGG
CDP
Climate Action 100+
GRESB
Impact Management Project
Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative
RIA Canada
SASB Inside
TCFD
PRI
Climate Engagement Canada