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Positive Conversations
Welcome to our sixth Positive Conversations, the sister report to our annual Impact Report.
Positive Conversations explores how we think about the most important environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics affecting the portfolio.
Importantly, it also illustrates how the Positive Change Team contributes towards positive impact, by actively engaging with companies.
Continue to read Positive Conversations online below.
2024 was another busy year of company engagement for the Team. In recognition of our ongoing efforts, the Positive Change Fund is pleased to have attained the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s new Sustainability Impact label.
We discussed an array of topics with portfolio companies, from biodiversity impacts to consumer protection, carbon emissions, and board composition.
Most of our conversations with companies help us to assess whether the company continues to meet the financial and impact objectives that are core to our reason for holding.
However, sometimes our engagement is driven by our ambition to understand the broader operational aspects of companies, or their business practices. For example, what is the decarbonisation strategy of a healthcare holding?
No matter why we are engaging, we believe we have the best chance of contributing to positive change when we build long-term relationships with companies.
Typically, we invest in well-run companies whose management teams we admire. Yet, no company is perfect, and so where we identify material areas for improvement and we feel a conversation will be additive, we actively engage and use the full range of tools at our disposal.
Part 1: Our approach to business practices
Part 1 provides an overview of our thinking on specific Environmental, Social and Governance topics and showcases some of our notable engagements throughout the year.
Our contributions
A snapshot of the portfolio and our high-level engagement activities.
Environment
Key company conversations on environmental topics, and portfolio progress towards carbon emissions reduction across the portfolio.
Social
Key company conversations on topics from labour relations to supply chains, equitable access to products and consumer protection.
Governance
Key company conversations on governance topics, from board composition to executive remuneration and management changes.
Part 2: Engagement objectives and activities
Engaging with companies is central to our role as impact investors and stewards of our clients’ capital.
Part 2 includes a dedicated page for each company in the Positive Change portfolio at the close of 2024.
As with our impact report, we show the Positive Change hypothesis (why we hold the company from both an investment and impact perspective) alongside our engagement activities across the year and decisions on notable votes at company meetings.
We think deeply about what to engage on, the best methods for doing so, and how we should prioritise engagement efforts to focus on the most pressing companies and relevant topics.
In 2024, we engaged with 36 companies across 80 interactions. 58 per cent of these engagements were at the executive level, showcasing our excellent access to companies and the strong relationships we have built with their management teams.
Click on the links below to uncover the why, how and who of our 2024 engagements across our four impact themes. You will also find a summary of all engagement and voting activities to the end of December 2024 and learn how we collaborate with external shareholders and experts.
View our engagements by Impact theme:
Social inclusion and education
From breaking down barriers to fostering connectivity, this impact theme highlights companies that are revolutionising how people and groups engage with society. Through their products and services, these companies are empowering individuals to participate more fully and inclusively in their communities.
Environment and resource needs
In pursuit of a sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants, this impact theme focuses on companies progressing the energy transition, sustainable resource use and transforming agriculture.
Healthcare and quality of life
Under this impact theme, the Positive Change Team supports innovative companies that are pioneering new technologies to improve health around the world. These companies are making quality healthcare and treatments accessible to more people, ensuring a positive impact on lives globally.
Base of the pyramid
Going to where the need is greatest, this impact theme focuses on addressing the needs of the world's poorest populations by providing essential services and financial inclusion.
Companies in this theme work on improving access to financial services and basic necessities for low-income individuals.
External collaborations and industry engagements
View our engagements with companies driving positive change under this theme.
Advocating for change is sometimes best done directly through our company engagements, but at other times benefits from being made alongside other stakeholders or on advice from other experts.
Sustainability Impact label
In 2024, the Positive Change Fund was awarded the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Sustainability Impact label.
This recognises the Team's commitment to contributing to a more sustainable and inclusive world. The labels were introduced by the FCA under its new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements regime (SDR) to reduce 'greenwashing' within the investment industry.
By choosing products with a Sustainability Impact label, investors can trust the authenticity of a product's sustainable investment claims.
Sustainable investment labels help investors find products that have a specific sustainability goal. This product invests mainly in solutions to sustainability problems, with an aim to achieve a positive impact for people or the planet. More details can be found in the product’s SDR Sustainability-related Disclosure Document found within the documents section of the website.
Download the full report
From engagement to impact
ESG engagement and reporting is only half the equation. The other crucial part is impact analysis.
Read about the significant impact a select group of companies can make in our annual impact report. Discover how the products and services of companies held in the Positive Change portfolio make a real difference.
Impact report
Impact matters, but can we prove it? Our latest annual impact report highlights the progress being made by the innovative companies selected to further the portfolio’s dual investment and impact objectives.
Risk factors
The views expressed should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. They reflect opinion and should not be taken as statements of fact nor should any reliance be placed on them when making investment decisions.
This communication was produced and approved in February 2025 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time of writing and may not reflect current thinking.
This communication contains information on investments which does not constitute independent research. Accordingly, it is not subject to the protections afforded to independent research, but is classified as advertising under Art 68 of the Financial Services Act (‘FinSA’) and Baillie Gifford and its staff may have dealt in the investments concerned.
All information is sourced from Baillie Gifford & Co and is current unless otherwise stated.
The images used in this communication are for illustrative purposes only.