Cazenove, part of Schroders, has won the long-running “ESG investing Olympics” against 58 other contenders.

The mandate, from Friends Provident Foundation, the Joffe Charitable Trust and the Blagrave Trust, the three charities was won in a public battle that ended with a five-way day long pitch at the Royal Institution in March.

Friends Provident commented that it took the “unusual approach” of making the investment tender public so that its selected audience of 100 like-minded asset owners, and panel including Catherine Howarth of ShareAction, could openly inspect the strategies for social and environmental integration and impact.

The sessions also included some ‘difficult’ post-presentation questions, such as asking fund managers to name their own ‘stars and dogs’ and represents a significant change from the often opaque methods of selection.

Awarding the mandate comes as many charities have become increasingly vocal in their demands for ESG considerations, and greater transparency, and Friends Provident will be producing a ‘state of the sector’ report covering trends, areas of improvement, and remaining gaps, and featuring the five short-listed as best in sector case studies, so that learnings can be shared with like-minded asset owners and signal to the market what emerging best practice and asset owner expectations for higher standards of ESG and Impact look like.

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