Hanwha Asset Management Publishes 'Responsible Investment Report' Applying ESG Principles

Stewardship Code Principle 'Reporting on Fiduciary Duty Fulfillment Activities' Initiative

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Hanwha Asset Management announced on the 23rd that it has published the "Stewardship and Responsible Investment Report 2020" (hereinafter referred to as the 'Responsible Investment Report'), which summarizes its ESG management and responsible investment activities.

In May, Hanwha Asset Management became the first asset management company to establish an ESG Committee within its board of directors. The ESG Committee plans to publish the Responsible Investment Report annually as part of its stewardship code activities to report on the fulfillment of fiduciary responsibilities. The Responsible Investment Report goes beyond the existing stewardship code-related activities (such as exercising voting rights and engagement activities) and includes various contents centered on non-financial factors considering ESG. It is distinctive in that ESG investment activities are applied not only to domestic asset classes but also to global asset classes considering global investors.

According to the report, equity management considers ESG ratings from the stage of constructing the model portfolio, utilizing both internal ESG ratings and external advisory firm ratings in parallel. In bond management, investments are made in high-quality corporate bonds, which are verified according to Hanwha ESG standards before being included in the portfolio. For overseas equity and bond investments, evaluation items were developed internally to assess ESG and make investment decisions. Additionally, an 'ESG Due Diligence Survey' was developed to conduct investigations and evaluations targeting overseas delegated asset managers and advisory firms.

Hanwha Asset Management joined AIGCC (Asia Investor Group on Climate Change) in January last year, becoming the first asset management company to do so. In September, shareholder letters were sent to 32 major companies related to greenhouse gas emissions, cybersecurity, and packaging, and responses were received. In January of this year, the company declared coal divestment and continues to expand investments related to eco-friendly sectors such as solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy, wind energy, energy from waste (EfW), and energy storage systems (ESS). Furthermore, in April, it declared support for the 'Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics (SCM)' proposed by the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum).

Kim Yong-hyun, CEO of Hanwha Asset Management, said, "The publication of this Responsible Investment Report is part of our efforts to implement ESG management more thoroughly and strongly," adding, "Through this report, we aim to communicate the company's responsible investment beliefs to the market and highlight the company's diverse efforts to secure sustainability and fulfill social responsibility."

The Responsible Investment Report of Hanwha Asset Management is available for anyone to view in the Stewardship Code section on the Hanwha Asset Management website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.