Investing responsibly is not a fad. For us, it is an investment belief.
By building responsibility into all our investment processes, we aim to improve our risk management and investment performance while at the same time help to create more sustainable investment solutions fit for the future. As an active owner of capital, our scale and influence help us drive the change required to build a future our clients are able to retire into.
Our contribution to a changing world
We’ve been using our voice to drive positive change for five decades. The business and investment cases for acting responsibly are hard to dispute these days. Companies that conduct their business in a respectful and sustainable way are more likely to succeed over time, benefiting both you and society. Bad practices don’t just hit the headlines, they hit the bottom line as well.
Whether investing in equities, bonds, real estate or infrastructure, integrating ESG into our investment decisions and being responsible stewards of clients’ assets is non-negotiable. Understanding these issues allows us to spot and manage investment risks, as well as capture exciting new opportunities. And, through our active ESG engagement programme, we can be a force for positive change in our economy and society.
It is only through commitment, passion and genuine collaboration that we can bring our sustainable aspirations to life. By acting collaboratively across asset classes, locations and our multiple stakeholders, we are able to instigate change through continual active engagement, voting and market reform initiatives.
Our highlights
Delivering a sustainable future will only happen if we all take action to create positive change. We have delivered for our clients by making active sustainable choices in how we invest and drive change in the world.


Responsible Investment Annual Review 2020
This year’s Responsible Investment Annual Review seeks to demonstrate how Aviva Investors has turned talk into action in 2020. We are proud advocates of the Financial Reporting Council's (FRC) UK Stewardship Code and this report details the impact that our responsible investment approach has had on our clients and on the society we serve.
Our unique approach to responsible investing
We are united by a firm-wide ambition to work with and for our clients to do what is right for them, society and the world around us.
Responsibility in action
Explore the initiatives and accomplishments underpinning our commitment to delivering positive impact to our clients and the world around us.

Powering change
Voting with conviction
1 Jul 2020
We consider voting to be an important part of the investment process and have had a formal and considered voting policy since 1994. We have explicitly incorporated corporate responsibility disclosure and performance into our voting since 2001 - being one of the first asset managers to do so globally.
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Connected thinking
Connecting for climate change
1 Jul 2020
It is only by working with multiple stakeholders that you can deliver a positive impact – be they governments and central banks to charities and customers. Our work to tackle the climate emergency is one of the examples of how we do that.
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Connected thinking
Demonstrating connected thinking and thought leadership on deforestation
1 Jul 2020
We believe that accelerating environmental damage from climate, deforestation, ocean pollution, and loss of biodiversity all pose significant risk to economies and the corporate bottom line.
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Connected thinking
Connecting with wider stakeholders
1 Jul 2020
The The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) initiative is a great example of what can be achieved when stakeholders across civil society, business, governments and consumers connect their thinking and collaborate together to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
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Responsibility built in
The ESG layers – from the macro view to a company profile
1 Jul 2020
Understanding how economies transition to a sustainable future is more than just an ESG score. Our ESG insights are developed through connected thinking across asset classes: from the macro view to a company profile, and from how we see the world to how we view a sovereign, a sector or a company.
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Powering change
Protecting human rights through the power of benchmarks
1 Jul 2020
We created the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark in 2013 with a view to use the competitive nature of markets to challenge companies to embed human rights in their organisation. 6 years on the benchmark is widely supported by companies, governments, investors and civil society. This is our update for 2019.
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Connected thinking
Power in numbers
1 Jul 2020
Nearly a third of all natural World Heritage sites are subject to extractive activity, despite protection from the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Following a number of successful engagements on this topic, including SOCO International and BP, we helped to launch a collaborative project to call on extractive companies to make ‘no go’ commitments in World Heritage sites.
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Connected thinking
The EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance
1 Jul 2020
In 2017 Aviva Investors’ Chief Responsible Investment Officer Steve Waygood was invited to become a member of the European Union High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG).
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Responsibility built in
A company-wide commitment
1 Jul 2020
A big part of integrating ESG into our investment decisions is making sure that it is embedded across the investment process. Two ways of doing this is our Responsible Investment Officer Network and the integration of ESG into the way investment team members are remunerated.
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Responsibility built in
ESG and alternative assets
1 Jul 2020
Responsible Investment and ESG have traditionally been biased towards liquid assets such as equities and bonds. There are several reasons for this, including the weight of assets under management, availability of information, and the rights and access provided to shareholders.
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Powering change
Superbugs – on the frontiers of sustainability
1 Jul 2020
The issues related to antimicrobial resistance and spread of drug-resistant 'superbugs' pose serious risks to public health and the business landscape. We have engaged with our investees to discuss their strategy on antibiotic resistance.
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Responsibility built-in
Find out how we integrate ESG into our investment processes as a firm and in every asset class.
Investment risk
The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the original amount invested.
Our latest views

Responsible Investing
To improve diversity, asset managers should rip up the rulebook on recruitment
21 Apr 2021
For too long, the investment industry has relied on staid recruitment methods that maintain the status quo. By doing things differently, we can improve diversity and future-proof our businesses, says Apiramy Jeyarajah.
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Responsible Investing
Home bias: The rise and rise of economic nationalism
20 Apr 2021
The new US president is prepared to carry the torch for a shrinking band of globalists, but the growing trend of economic nationalism will prove hard to reverse.
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Responsible Investing
Joana Setzer Q&A: On the climate litigation front line
9 Apr 2021
Joana Setzer from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at LSE discusses the implications on governments and companies of the growing wave of climate litigation.
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Responsible Investing
Law and climate disorder: Understanding physical, transition and litigation risk
9 Apr 2021
Major listed companies are finding themselves the target of legal action designed to make them move faster towards a lower carbon world. These cases could mark an inflection point; when the conversation turns toward specific responsibilities to move away from fossil fuels rather than broad commitments to change.
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Responsible Investing
Living in the past: Why are controversy scores so controversial?
8 Apr 2021
Many investors use controversy scores as a filter to avoid firms whose damaging behaviour has hit the headlines, from human rights violations to environmental disasters. But these scores have serious limitations, making them an inadequate tool for investors who want to manage ESG risks and have a positive impact.
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Responsible Investing
Lean on me: How can bond investors influence government climate action?
25 Mar 2021
The coronavirus epidemic has further accelerated the rise of ESG into the investment mainstream. As deficits skyrocket, bond investors have an opportunity to engage with governments on climate change, argues Thomas Dillon.
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Responsible Investing
Building a better world after COVID-19
18 Mar 2021
There is a growing consensus among companies, governments and electorates across the globe that the world after the pandemic should be greener. But how should we go about this?
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Real Assets
Podcast: A clear green premium
18 Mar 2021
Our Head of ESG, Ed Dixon, recently joined Blackstock Consulting on a PropCast episode to launch their new series of ESG insights with industry leaders. Together, they discussed how the government needs to be partnering with businesses to reach their climate pledges, how the “green premium” is yielding higher rents for eco-friendly offices, and much more.
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Equities
Cut it out! The complex quest to decarbonise heating
16 Mar 2021
More countries are contemplating their visions for a lower carbon world. Norway has excluded fossil fuels entirely for heating buildings, while others are taking a more nuanced approach. So, what are the options for those with environment at the heart of their agenda?
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Responsible Investing
Is ‘purpose’ the new green? Pandemic exposes leaders and laggards in stakeholder capitalism
11 Mar 2021
In 2019, some of the world’s biggest companies pledged to look beyond short-term shareholder value and protect the interests of all stakeholders. The coronavirus pandemic has put these commitments to the test, says Mirza Baig.
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Responsible Investing
Outlook for auto giants unclear in an EV-driven future
10 Mar 2021
Investors are betting the likes of Tesla will win the race for sales of electric vehicles, but traditional carmakers and technology giants may have a say in who passes the chequered flag first.
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Real Assets
Can a shift in UK policy help make the ESG case for nuclear?
8 Mar 2021
The UK government says nuclear energy may have a vital role to play in cutting carbon emissions. However, more detail is needed to help investors assess nuclear technology’s ESG credentials, argue Darryl Murphy and Stanley Kwong.
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Responsible Investing
Everybody wants one: Are sustainable bonds the new smartphones?
5 Mar 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance and fragility of the natural balance. As governments, companies and investors aim for a just transition, sustainable bonds are being issued at pace in different formats. Is it a fad, and do markets really need so many varieties?
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Real Assets
From crisis comes opportunity: What’s normal now?
2 Mar 2021
Big challenges bring us the opportunity to think differently. Our investment teams reveal what they have learnt from COVID-19, and how they are preparing to face whatever ‘normal’ emerges in a post-pandemic world.
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Equities
Weather shifts and white elephants: How climate risk is moving the goalposts for emerging market investors
10 Feb 2021
Droughts and water shortages used to be associated with the world’s poorest countries. Now middle-income economies are suffering the effects of extreme weather too, with significant implications for investors, says Will Ballard.
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Equities
The COVID Nudge
28 Jan 2021
In these data visualisations, we look at whether COVID-19 will achieve something that millions spent on public health campaigning has failed to do.
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Our team

Steve Waygood
Chief Responsible Investment Officer
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Abigail Herron
Global Head of ESG and Strategic Partnerships
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Mirza Baig
Global Head of ESG Corporate Research and Stewardship
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Marte Borhaug
Global Head of Sustainable Outcomes
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Doris Ko
ESG Operations Manager
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Rebecca Vine
Senior Corporate Governance Analyst
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Eugenie Mathieu
Senior ESG Analyst
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Rick Stathers
Senior GRI Analyst, Climate Specialist
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Richard Butters
SRI Analyst
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Sora Utzinger
SRI Analyst
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Louise Piffaut
Senior ESG analyst
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