Investors in our funds and products

Miriam McKay

Head of Investor Relations

Performance
Business Sustainability is key to our ability to maintain our track record of delivering exceptional performance and excellent customer service to the many leading institutions which put their financial resource behind our investment expertise.

Risk approach

Effective risk management is crucial to both the investment management process safeguarding our investors' interests, and maintenance of a sustainable business.

Our approach is to identify, measure and monitor risk throughout the Group, and manage it in accordance with our risk appetite. Key Performance Indicators for each risk category are reviewed at monthly Finance Committee or quarterly Risk Assurance Committee meetings, and reported quarterly to the Board Audit and Risk Committee.

The breadth of our geographical spread and product range, conservative risk modelling within a robust governance framework, and our substantial financial resources have delivered a combination of resilience and flexibility which has enabled us to continue operating effectively and investing in long-term growth throughout the market turbulence of recent years.

That turbulence has encouraged a root and branch review of our risk control and processes; inadequate resilience has been identified and addressed, robustness enhanced where necessary.

Leadership and discipline

Our leadership in governance and risk management has helped us adapt to changing market conditions and maintain the confidence of investors, analysts and regulators.

We exercise discipline in cost management, and use our balance sheet to target and support key business lines. We are, in short, well positioned to seize emerging opportunities, and we continue to invest in the sustainable growth of our business.

Engagement

Continuous active dialogue is crucial to building and maintaining client relationships. Our extensive geographical presence makes that dialogue truly global. Our 600 strong sales force and client service teams assure named points of contact and clear lines of communication, in local trading hours, worldwide.

Backing up this ongoing dialogue is a comprehensive programme of meetings and events to keep investors and analysts fully informed, and elicit their views. Feedback is presented regularly to the Board by our dedicated Investor Relations team, which also takes part in the induction programme for new non-executive directors.

The Chairman attends all results presentations, and reinforces regular contact between investors and the executive management team at meetings where he seeks the views of investors and analysts, and discusses matters of strategy and governance. Major investors and shareholder representative bodies are also involved in discussions over any proposed changes to executive remuneration, and the Senior Independent Director is always available to meet with major shareholders.