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Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church

Ethics

Balancing
opportunity with integrity

The CFB is committed to seeking both superior returns and improving ethical standards.

Positive approach

We seek to improve the ethical profile of our portfolios by avoiding investments in particular businesses and encouraging better practices in others.

Company engagement

We view our investments as long term partnerships with company managements. We engage in constructive dialogue and practise active voting to challenge social, environmental and ethical considerations.

Integrated process

Ethical research integrated with financial analysis is key to our investment process. Fund managers are responsible for both financial and ethical analysis.

Clear policy

Comprehensive policy statements and position papers offer a reference for clients and a clear focus for fund managers.

Theological grounding

The Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment provides a unique and robust mechanism for testing ethical investment decisions against theological principles.

Quarterly review
December 2019

Access to Medicine

We participated in a conference call with GlaxoSmithKline as part of the Access to Medicine initiative. The Access to Medicine Foundation ranks, stimulates and guides pharmaceutical companies to do more for the people living in low- and middle-income countries without access to medicine. GlaxoSmithKline is scored as the top company in the 2018 ranking of the index; however, as with all of the companies in the index, there is room for improvement. A good discussion was had between investors and GSK representatives around the opportunities and complexities the company faces.

... Continue reading →

Modern slavery

We participated in the Church Investors Group conference in November, where work done on our behalf on modern salvery was discussed. A report on the topic has been published outlining the engagement work that has been undertaken over the last 2 years. The report outlines the engagement that began in 2016 on behalf of all members of the Group. Letters have been written to a total of 265 companies to encourage greater awareness and action around ending modern slavery.

... Continue reading →

Corporate governance and voting

In the UK, we voted at 13 AGMs in the quarter. We opposed 75% of remuneration votes, including those for ABFoods, BHP Group and Ferguson. The Epworth Global Equity Fund voted at 22 AGMs, opposing 82% of remuneration votes.

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More quarterly reviews

Voting

Reports

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December
2019
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September
2019
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June
2019
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March
2019

Policy

Voting policy →

Serving
the Methodist Church

The Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment (JACEI) provides CFB with advice on ethical issues and reports to the Methodist Conference on CFB compliance with the aims and objectives of the Church.

JACEI Report

The JACEI Report is produced for the Methodist Conference outlining its activities each year. An abbreviated version is also produced. Together they provide a comprehensive survey of the issues that we have addressed.

Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment Report 2019 Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment Short Report 2019 Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment Report 2018 Joint Advisory Committee on the Ethics of Investment Short Report 2018

Working
in partnership

Carbon Disclosure Project Church Investors Group IIGCC, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change Access to Medicines Index Access to Nutrition Index FAIRR ECCR, The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility EITI< The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Institutional Shareholder Services Sustainalytics TRUCOST UNPRI UKSIF Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, BBFAW

Active membership of global networks and partnerships provide a powerful united voice when dealing with multinational corporations and assist us and our clients to make informed ethical investment decisions.

The Stewardship Code

The CFB supports investor engagement with companies and is a signatory to the Financial Reporting Council's Stewardship Code

Montréal Pledge

The CFB is a signatory of the Montréal Carbon Pledge and is committed to a voluntary disclosure of the results. Read the CFB's Montréal Pledge Disclosure.

Have your say...

Our ethics are based on Methodist Church principles. We welcome feedback on an ethical issue. If you would like to discuss these please contact CFB Relationship Manager Christophe Borysiewicz on 020 7496 3630 or Chair of JACEI Stephen Wigley on 020 7467 5245.