Inclusive Culture

We believe that the transition to a more sustainable economy is closely linked to the transition to a more equitable society.

Impax’s vision in this area is to continue to build an inclusive, equitable culture where everyone feels they belong, are valued as individuals, and can thrive – bringing all aspects of themselves to work.

Equity, diversity & inclusion¹ are critical to the success of the companies in which we invest, to our own organizational excellence, and in creating opportunity in the communities in which we operate.

Our investing, stewardship and advocacy²

• As investors, we believe there is often a positive correlation between workforce diversity and strong company financial performance.
• We assess this through our quantitative work related to the Impax Corporate Culture Indicator and Impax Gender Score, and through our annual review of the literature related to diversity and inclusion.
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion continues to be central to our investment and engagement process: through consideration of diversity indicators in our fundamental research, and through our established track record of principled proxy voting, successful company engagements and collaborative public policy.

Our business

• Inclusive culture: to build and promote an inclusive culture across all facets of diversity, as a way of improving our business success.
• Governance and accountability: the Inclusive Culture Group is sponsored by a Non-Executive Director and the CEO. Equity, Diversity & Inclusion objectives are incorporated into executives’ annual performance scorecards.
• Aspirational goals: to support Impax’s aim that the business reflects the markets in which we operate at all levels of the organisation. Our aspirational goals focus on gender and race/ethnicity as a measurable proxy for our broader aims, based on merit and performance.
• Talent: to ensure all colleagues receive equitable opportunities throughout each stage of the employee lifecycle, including equitable pay.
• Mentorship and coaching: colleagues participate in inclusive third-party cross company and inhouse programmes.
• Equity: annual reporting of demographic progression, gender pay gap, promotion, and turnover metrics. Offering equitable and inclusive HR policies.

Creating opportunity: partnerships & impact³

• We partner with organizations that spotlight the unique challenges faced by women and minority ethnic individuals within our industry.
• We offer people from socially diverse backgrounds the opportunity to work in the investment management space.
• We collaborate with our partners and suppliers on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion issues.
• We are signatories of Women in Finance and Race at Work charters.⁴

¹ Diversity can be defined as the presence of difference within a given context, such as an organisation. Equity means people have fair access, opportunity, resources and power to thrive. The goal is to achieve greater fairness of treatment and outcomes. Inclusion can be described as the actions taken to understand, embrace and leverage the unique strengths and facets of identity for all individuals so that they feel welcomed, valued and supported. From UN PRI  PRI | Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
² For further information on investee company engagement, see our Stewardship & Advocacy Report.
³ Details of our memberships can be found at: Memberships – Impax Asset Management (impaxam.com).
⁴ For more information about Women in Finance, see: Women In Finance. For more information about Race at Work, see: Race at Work Charter Signatories – Business in the Community (bitc.org.uk)