Responsible Investments
NFU Mutual is committed to practicing a responsible approach to investment that both supports positive environmental and social outcomes and delivers on investment performance targets.
Considering Environmental, Social and Governance principles
It’s our responsibility to invest our customers’ money carefully. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles are included in all investment decision-making and our fund managers consider factors such as the impact upon society or the climate, alongside traditional financial measures.
We are proud signatories of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), supported by the United Nations, and a member of the Investor Forum, as we believe both enhance our stewardship capabilities and help to raise standards across the investment industry.
We are also very pleased to be signatories of the UK Stewardship Code, with its admirable aim of setting high stewardship standards for those investing on behalf of savers and pensioners.
We are working to reduce the emissions of our investment portfolios, as part of our Net Zero Roadmap. To ensure we are able to monitor progress against this we have onboarded a market leading ESG data provider.
Our responsibilities when investing extend into our shareholder engagement and voting decisions. We believe that strong stewardship and engagement can lead to improved corporate behaviours and help accelerate change.
All of our Fund Managers are qualified Chartered Financial Analysts or Members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, depending on their area. Over half of our internal fund managers now hold Environmental, social and governance investing qualifications, and we aim to grow that to 100% by the end of 2025.
To learn more about our approach to responsible investment:
View our Stewardship Code report
Responsible property investment
NFU Mutual’s property investment team manages around £1.8bn of UK real estate investments. Making a positive contribution to our Responsible Business Strategy is a significant focus for how these assets are managed. For example, we work to improve energy performance ratings. At the end of 2024, 98% of our property investment portfolio was rated C or above and 66% rated B or above. That means we’re tracking ahead of expected Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards
(MEES) legislation, anticipated to require a minimum performance rating of B by 2030.
We are aiming to decarbonise our property investment portfolios in line with our Net Zero Roadmap, and we are committed to a 100% emissions reduction by 2050. As an interim aspiration, the Property Investment Team is
looking to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, largely through a strategy of tilting the investment portfolio towards more sustainable investments. Figures for the 2024 calendar year show a carbon reduction of over 70% compared
to a 2019 baseline year.* As this result will fluctuate depending on transactional activity, we also monitor carbon intensity, which also reduced by over 70% per square metres across the same period.
As an investor in commercial property, we help provide facilities and spaces for businesses to operate and grow. Over the last three years, NFU Mutual has funded the development of an estimated 3,000 residential units in regional city centres through our Apache joint ventures. We've also developed office spaces such as Unilever's new office campus in Kingston through our Hathaway Opportunity Property Fund joint venture.
Explore our report
Our Responsible Investments activity is just one of the ways we deliver against our amibition of Doing Business the Right Way. To learn more about our strategy and actions, explore our latest Responsible Business Report.
