Vontobel Holding

The financial institution publishes an engagement/stewardship report detailing outcomes on sustainability impact topics. It has a publicly available policy statement expecting suppliers to respect ILO core labor rights and maintains a 40-60% gender balance at the senior executive level. Responsibility for implementing its sustainability strategy is assigned to specific functions, teams, or committees within the institution. Moreover, it has a stewardship policy that covers client and stakeholder engagement as well as advocacy and partnerships. The institution monitors its Scope 1-2 emissions and discloses its operational details by country.

The financial institution has a publicly available policy statement committing to respect specific workers’ rights but could reference all ILO fundamental rights at work. It has the opportunity to disclose how it determines a living wage in its operational regions. While bribery and corruption are prohibited, formalising this commitment in a public policy document is advisable, along with including anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts. A statement specifies that political contributions are not made, but it could clarify if exceptions exist and the criteria for them. Although a list of material topics is disclosed, there is no evidence of an impact materiality assessment, and it could identify and disclose its materiality analysis. Linking senior executive remuneration to sustainability targets is recommended. The engagement policy mentions addressing environmental and social risks with investee companies but could align more closely with the sustainability strategy. The institution tracks financed GHG emissions of its bond portfolio but should disclose results and expand coverage. Establishing a transition plan for its operations, supply chain, and portfolio is recommended, along with disclosing client breakdowns by income group. The risk assessment process should include ILO fundamental rights risks, with a mitigation process for identified risks. Identifying social risks related to the net zero transition is also recommended, as is providing examples of actions taken on salient human rights issues from assessment processes in the last three years.

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.