Asset managers slow hiring of stewardship and engagement staff
The study also found that some 45% of managers have no staff at all dedicated to stewardship and engagement.
Research by investment consultant Redington has found that the number of asset managers hiring dedicated stewardship and engagement staff has fallen sharply over the past year.
In the last twelve months, only 34% of managers surveyed added to their specialist teams, compared to almost 80% in 2022. The study also found that 45% of managers have no staff at all dedicated to stewardship and engagement.
NZAOA criticises 'cumbersome' stewardship efforts of asset managers
Despite stagnant year-on-year growth, 80% of managers now have a dedicated ESG and sustainable headcount overall. This marked a notable shift from the previous year, which saw a 71% increase.
Paul Lee, head of stewardship and sustainable investment strategy at Redington, said: «As the integration of ESG has grown, so has the resource required to support it.
»While wider market conditions will have impacted the latest numbers, this is a significant hiring slow-down — perhaps indicating that, as labour markets tighten, stewardship & engagement is an area that managers are willing to cut."
«We would hope that, regardless of how much resource is in place, managers are taking steps to ensure their ESG integration and engagement efforts stand up to scrutiny. However, the detail raises yet more questions around the extent to which these are actually influencing investment processes.»
SIF 2023: 'Investor stewardship is not enough to effect change'
On the stewardship side, there are varying numbers of total actions across asset managers. Redington found that one manager reported 13,000 individual stewardship actions, translating to almost 500 actions per
Read more on investmentweek.co.uk
