T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group has an engagement policy regarding its engagement approach on sustainability themes and impact topics. The policy also includes a clear framework with success criteria and escalation points in the event that engagement with investees is unsuccessful, describes how the engagement policy is applied in practice, and cites case studies where it has engaged both successfully and unsuccessfully with investees on sustainability themes and impact topics. The financial institution discloses a list of trade associations of which it is a member including sustainability- and non-sustainability-related organisations, as well as discloses the positions it takes in its lobbying and political engagement activities on sustainability themes.

As a member of GFANZ, T. Rowe Price Group has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. The financial institution discloses that it considers the environmental impacts of its investments, which includes biodiversity impact, land use and water use.

T. Rowe Price Group discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender and race. Moreover, the financial institution has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers, external individuals and communities to raise human rights complaints or concerns.

In terms of its approach to senior leadership accountability, T. Rowe Price Group could disclose how it incorporated the board of director’s oversight on sustainability issues. Moreover, the financial institution has an opportunity to link the remuneration of its executive or management teams to sustainability performance criteria. The financial institution could make a public commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. It has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women in senior leadership roles as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only 5 out of 14 board members are women.

T. Rowe Price has an opportunity to disclose the key sectors and companies it has identified as priorities to engage with on climate change, specifically on the alignment with the Paris Agreement. Although it discloses a goal related to its sustainable finance spendings, there is no evidence that it discloses its financing activities devoted to climate solutions. Regarding nature and biodiversity, the financial institution could make a commitment to minimising its negative impacts or financing regenerative solutions.

There is no evidence that T. Rowe Price has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights. The financial institution 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, the financial institution has an opportunity to disclose the amount of investments directed towards low-income developing countries.