Our Commitment to the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) Initiative

Why We Joined

Boston Trust Walden was an early signatory to the initiative in March 2021. We joined because we believe the changing climate is an extraordinary environmental challenge with far-reaching economic, environmental, and societal implications, creating risks and opportunities for companies and investors. We also recognize broad-based, absolute greenhouse gas emissions reductions as the best way to manage the risks associated with a changing climate.

The NZAM initiative also closely aligns with our firm’s position on climate risk and our long history advancing climate solutions.

Our Targets

NZAM signatories are required to set targets to meet this commitment for a percentage of assets under management (AUM) and disclose their progress over time.

In June 2022, we formally announced our own NZAM targets, which cover the discretionary equity assets we manage on behalf of clients. These assets represent approximately 80% ($11.8 billion) of our firm’s assets under management (AUM) as of December 31, 2021. Our targets focus on two key areas: encouraging the companies we invest in to set science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reducing carbon intensity across our investment strategies.

Primary Target: Science-Based Targets

Our primary focus is for 40% of discretionary equity AUM to be invested in companies with science-based targets by 2025, and 100% of discretionary equity AUM to be invested in companies with such targets by 2040. Active ownership, including direct company engagement and proxy voting, is the primary means by which we will achieve this objective; our investment discipline will remain focused on investing in high quality companies. Progress toward our targets may not be linear as portfolio holdings and weightings change over time.

Notably, our active ownership efforts span the market capitalization range — and include Small and SMID cap equity holdings, which comprise a significant portion of our firm’s AUM. We believe all companies have a role to play in addressing direct and systemic climate risks. Smaller companies typically have fewer resources to focus on target setting and may need time to build capacity. With decades of experience engaging smaller companies, Boston Trust Walden is uniquely positioned to take on this challenge.

We utilized the Science Based Targets (SBT) Portfolio Coverage Method to establish our primary target. For simplicity, we used linear extrapolation of model holdings in equity strategies (US and International) from 23% as of year-end 2019. Each year approximately 4% of additional discretionary equity assets need to be invested in companies with science-based targets for us to meet our 2025 goal. Our target includes reductions in Scope 1 and 2, and for many sectors, Scope 3 emissions.

Secondary Target: Carbon Intensity

Our secondary target is for 100% of discretionary equity AUM to have a weighted average carbon intensity (WACI) of at least 50% less than respective benchmarks by 2030, as compared to the baseline year of 2019.

Since the carbon intensity of our model portfolio strategies** have been historically lower than their respective benchmarks, our objective in the coming years is to maintain our current levels. We also expect that our core focus on engagement, if our efforts are successful, could result in more carbon efficient portfolios.

We used elements of the methodology guidance developed by the Paris Aligned Investment Initiative’s Net Zero Investment Framework to establish this target. It is is based on a WACI calculation of Scope 1 and 2 emissions of the companies in which we invest. As data quality and associated methodologies improve for calculating Scope 3 emissions, we may evolve our approach.