Northern Trust

The financial institution has a publicly available policy statement that expects suppliers to respect ILO core labor rights. It also discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a separate policy statement. Decision-making and oversight responsibilities for the sustainability strategy are assigned to the highest governance body, while implementation duties are given to specific functions, teams, or committees within the institution.

Additionally, the financial institution has a publicly available policy statement that commits to respecting human rights. It monitors its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and also tracks other Scope 3 emissions by category. Furthermore, the institution discloses the amount and/or share (in monetary terms) of products, services, and capital provided to usually excluded groups, as defined by the institution itself.

The financial institution commits to respecting the ILO’s fundamental rights at work but has the opportunity to formalise this in a policy document. It can also disclose its method for determining a living wage in its operational regions and provide a publicly available policy statement regarding political contributions. While it identifies material sustainability impacts across its value chain, further detail on the process and criteria for prioritisation is needed.

Northern Trust Asset Management has an engagement policy supporting environmental and social best practices, but a group-level policy could be beneficial. The institution provides a partial list of trade associations it belongs to and should disclose a complete list.

Establishing a transition plan for its operations, supply chain, and portfolio is recommended. Although the risk assessment process addresses some ILO fundamental rights, it should encompass the full set of rights. Finally, a process for identifying social risks related to the net zero transition is recommended.

This scorecard refers to information in English which was publicly available by July 15 2024. AuM and Total assets are stated in USD for comparability and have been calculated based on reported local currency values multiplied by applicable IMF currency converter values.