PGGM awards Schroders a €3.9bn sustainable equity mandate

Johannesburg - Schroders has announced it has been awarded a major actively managed sustainable equity investment mandate worth €3.9 billion by PGGM, one of the world's leading pension investors, based in the Netherlands.

The PGGM mandate demonstrates the strength of Schroders' active and innovative investment approach, focused on delivering highly customised solutions in sustainable investing.

Schroders was selected for its market-leading ability to build a rigorous, bespoke solution aligned with PGGM's investment philosophy. This active portfolio integrates Schroders' proprietary and pioneering sustainable investment tools, such as SustainEx, with in-depth, fundamental investment research.

Schroders worked closely in partnership with PGGM to co-create this complex solution, prioritising sustainable leaders as well as 'improvers'. These entail companies demonstrating credible steps towards positive environmental and social transitions.

Crucially, this approach moves beyond conventional metrics, using systematic and fundamental investment strategies for detailed assessment and broader diversification.

The portfolio, which funded in the first half of this year, achieves measurable sustainability improvements, including higher alignment to the Paris climate goals and a significant reduction in carbon intensity, while remaining robustly risk-managed. With scalable, AI-supported reporting, the solution provides comprehensive portfolio insights and prioritises active engagement to advance PGGM's objectives, including encouraging improvers in their transition.

Richard Oldfield, Group Chief Executive, Schroders, said:

"Securing this mandate with PGGM is testament to our active and sustainable investment credentials, which give us a real competitive edge and resonate with our clients. We have delivered an innovative, highly bespoke and scalable solution with industry-leading reporting capabilities, tailored exactly to PGGM's needs. This underlines our sustainable investing leadership, our technical expertise and, above all, collaboration across the business."

Alex Tedder, CIO Equities, Schroders, said:

"Our partnership with PGGM reflects the consistency and strength of our investment approach, which combines active security selection with advanced investment analytics. This win underlines our technical expertise and deep commitment to sustainable investment and is a milestone in the evolution of our capability. We are proud and excited to be included in the PGGM program and confident in our ability to meet and hopefully exceed the objectives of the mandate."

PGGM is an international leader in responsible investment, serving over 4.4 million people through its management of the Dutch healthcare pension fund PFZW.

Earlier this year, Schroders announced it had been awarded a sustainable investment mandate by UK wealth manager St. James's Place, which further recognised the robustness of the firms' approach to delivering active and sustainable investment solutions on behalf of clients.