State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation acknowledges that its financing activities have both positive and negative impacts. It also identified and prioritised its impacts through a materiality assessment process which included feedback from external stakeholders. In terms of senior leadership accountability, the responsibility for sustainability issues lies with the board of directors. Regarding engagement on sustainability and impact, State Street Corporation discloses a policy which includes a clear framework with success criteria and escalation points in the event that engagement with investees is unsuccessful. It also publishes a stewardship report describing how the engagement policy is applied in practice as well as case studies describing where it has engaged successfully and unsuccessfully with investees.

As a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, State Street Corporation has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. Similarly, as a member of Climate Action 100+, it discloses that it collectively engages with its investees on the topic of climate change.

State Street Corporation has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or bribery and corruption concerns. It also takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption. In a public policy statement, the asset manager discloses its approach to lobbying and political engagement as well as states that it requires third-party lobbyists to comply with its lobbying and political engagement policies. Regarding diversity, State Street Corporation discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by age group, race, ethnicity and gender.

State Street Corporation has an opportunity to link the remuneration of its executive and management teams to sustainability performance criteria. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only 4 out of 12 board members are women. The asset manager has an opportunity to reach at least 40% female representation in senior leadership positions as well as disclose how it is addressing any gender pay gaps

State Street Corporation could disclose interim emissions reduction targets at the group level, such as a 45% reduction in financed emissions by 2030. There is no evidence that the asset manager discloses alignment with the Paris Agreement as one of its engagement priorities with investees. State Street Corporation has an opportunity to disclose its financing activities devoted to climate solutions. It could also disclose its approach to fossil fuels that spans across the fossil fuel value chain and its assets under management or its stance on investing in companies with new fossil fuel projects. Regarding nature and biodiversity, State Street Corporation has an opportunity to commit to minimising its negative impacts on nature and biodiversity or investing in regenerative solutions.

While State Street Corporation has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights, it specifies that this commitment does not cover all its activities. The asset manager has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially its financing activities. To provide transparency on financial inclusivity, State Street Corporation could disclose the amount of investment directed towards low-income developing countries.