In 2024, Evli promoted responsible investment in many areas. There was a significant reduction in investments’ carbon footprint, Evli published the first report on the nature-related dependencies and impacts of its investments, and targeted independent engagement activities at 32 companies.
Evli has set a target to reduce indirect carbon emissions from its investments by 50% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. By the end of 2024, the carbon footprint of equity and corporate bond funds had fallen by 56.8%, reflecting active efforts to reduce emissions.
“Promoting climate action is one of the key focus areas of Evli's responsible investing. It is great to see the results of our systematic work through emission reductions and the setting of climate targets for individual target companies. Through our active engagement, we aim to influence companies on issues related to climate and nature as well as human rights,” says Petra Hakamo, Evli’s Head of Sustainability.
More information on nature dependencies and impacts
In addition to mitigating climate change, Evli strives to take biodiversity into account in its operations. Evli aims to develop biodiversity-related analysis, measurement and reporting, and to encourage other companies to take biodiversity into account.
For the first time, Evli published the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) report in its Annual Report 2024, which describes the nature-related risks, opportunities, dependencies and impacts of Evli's investments.
“Many industries and companies are dependent on nature and the ecosystem services it provides, and business activities can have an impact on nature. In the worst case, nature loss can result in significant losses for both companies and investors, so it is important for investors to consider biodiversity as part of their investment analysis,” says Emma Kontsas, Evli's Senior Analyst for Responsible Investment.
The TNFD report follows the TNFD nature reporting framework, which was developed on the basis of the previously published Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Evli has published the TCFD since 2020. Both reports cover four pillars: 1) governance, 2) strategy, 3) risk and impact management, and 4) metrics and targets.
Change can also be achieved through engagement
During 2024, Evli engaged with 32 companies independently and was also involved in several collaborative engagement initiatives and investor letters to engage companies and decision-makers together with other investors.
Engaging is an activity that seeks to change the actions or perceptions of a person or group on an issue. In the investment business, engaging seeks to change the behavior of the companies invested in.
“Evli makes engagement independently and through participation in collaborative engagement initiatives and investor letters, where companies and decision-makers are engaged together with other investors. Evli's main themes of engagement and participation in collaborative initiatives and investor letters are aligned with Evli's Principles for Responsible Investment, Climate Change Principles and Climate Targets as well as Biodiversity Roadmap,” says Elina Niiranen, Evli's Senior Analyst for Responsible Investment.
Companies that are engaged with because of suspected norm violations are identified in regular monitoring. Evli analyzes its actively managed equity and corporate bond funds and the direct investments made by Wealth Management every three months. The monitoring will identify potential non-compliance with the UN Global Compact, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The monitoring also ensure that companies follow Evli’s Climate Change Principles. Each case raised by the monitoring is dealt with by Evli's portfolio managers and responsible investment experts, after which action is taken to initiate measures of engagement or exclude the investment.
Companies are engaged in many ways
Measures of independent engagement and active ownership can include, for example, attending a company's general meeting or discussing the issue with a company representative. In 2024, Evli participated in the general meetings of 33 companies and had engagement discussions with 32 companies. The reasons for these discussions were as follows:
- 18 companies because of issues related to good governance
- 8 companies because of issues related to climate targets and/or principles
- 3 companies because of issues related to nature
- 2 companies because of issues related to both climate and nature
- 1 company because of suspected norm violation.
Evli does not disclose the names of the companies with which it engages, as it believes that engagement with the company in a confidential manner is more effective.
In addition to its independent engagement and collaborative engagement initiatives, Evli also has active dialogue with various stakeholders and seeks to promote broader issues such as climate change, nature, and human rights. As part of its human rights work, Evli has brought children’s rights into a broader perspective and examined how Finnish companies take children’s rights into account in their activities and what kind of clear metrics could be used to measure this.
For more information on Evli's activities in the area of responsible investment, see the Responsible Investment Annual Review.
Evli’s Responsible Investment Annual Review 2024
Further information:
Petra, Hakamo, Head of Sustainability, Evli Plc, +358 40 5525 880, petra.hakamo@evli.com
