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Internal Governance and Stewardship Report

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Internal Governance and Stewardship Report For professional clients only First Sentier Investors Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 January 2020 First Sentier Investors (FSI) disclosure under FSC standard 23: Principles of internal governance and asset stewardship The Financial Services Council (FSC) promotes best practice in We provide additional information in our annual responsible the Australian financial services industry by setting mandatory investment and stewardship report and on our website. Our global standards for its members and providing guidance notes to assist stewardship principles comply with all global codes. As a global in the operational efficiency of industry participants. asset manager, we benchmark ourselves against various global standards as they relate to asset stewardship. In July 2017 the FSC issued Standard 23: Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship. The Standard is designed to These include: guide and encourage Australian investment managers to disclose how they apply internal governance to asset stewardship. – CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct As stewards of client assets, asset managers have a responsibility to ensure they act in clients’ interests and treat – Principles for Responsible Investment client assets with due care and diligence. – Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) FSI has a long-held commitment to this stewardship principle, Stewardship Disclosure Framework and we are pleased to provide the following disclosure in – UK Stewardship Code accordance with FSC Standard 23. This disclosure is an update to our original disclosure dated June 2018. Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 1 Our disclosure Organisational and investment approach 2. An explanation of how the asset manager aligns its purpose and values with its duty to clients 1. A description of the distinguishing features of the asset manager, and how these features are directed towards A culture of responsible investment and stewardship is a common achieving client objectives thread which runs through our diverse investment capabilities. Our approach to responsible investment is based on three First Sentier Investors , known as First State Investments outside strategic pillars: Investment Quality, Stewardship and Employee Australia, is the standalone investment management business of Engagement. This strategy is underpinned by a strong Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, a wholly owned governance framework and supported by our specialist RI team. subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. We have established offices across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific Our Global Stewardship Principles, which outline our approach to regions. ownership on our clients’ behalf, are supported by policies and processes overseen by the RI Steering Group. The steering group We are stewards of over A$228.5 billion* in assets managed on is chaired by First Sentier Investors’ Chief Executive Officer. behalf of institutional investors, pension funds, wholesale distributors, investment platforms, and financial advisers and their Our underlying investment philosophy is to provide clients with clients worldwide. high quality investment products that deliver investment out performance over the long term and through market cycles. We employ teams of investors who are specialists in their Investment decisions are made by over 200 investment respective fields and who each set their own investment style. professionals working in 16 investment teams across our global Each investment team is structured so that portfolio managers locations. and analysts have a strong sense of portfolio ownership. Incentive structures are directly aligned to the results they deliver for clients. Our operating model has been designed to enable the investment Information on the investment philosophy and approach for each teams to remain focused on their role as stewards of client assets team can be found in the team profile sections of our website. and on their core task of delivering long-term investment out performance for our clients. This operating model is supported by While different investment teams have different investment a scalable operating platform that provides shared services and approaches, all teams believe that markets are not completely resources. efficient and that value can be added for our clients through careful investment analysis and prudent decision making. *As at 31 December 2019 Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 2 3. An overview of the ownership, management and governance structures of the organisation Ownership structure First Sentier Investors is the standalone investment management business of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), which is a publicly owned company listed on the Tokyo, Nagoya and New York Stock Exchange. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation First Sentier / First State Investments * In order to comply with the regulatory requirements of the US Federal Reserve Board, FSI US has additional reporting requirements in to MUFG Fund Services (USA) LLC in the US. Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 3 Management The chart below illustrates the organisational structure of FSI. Our CEO, Mark Steinberg, reports to Sunao Yokokawa – Chairman for Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Director and Senior Management Executive Officer Enterprise Leadership Regional Leadership Investment Leadership Mark Steinberg Bachar Beaini Grigor Milne Chief Executive Acting Managing Managing Partner, Officer Director Americas Stewart Investors Yutaka Kawakami Harry Moore Perry Clausen Deputy Chief Managing Director, Global Head of Executive Officer Australia, New Unlisted Zealand and Japan Infrastructure Suzanne Evans Michael Stapleton David Dixon Chief Financial Acting Managing Chief Investment Officer Director, Officer, Equities Asia,Managing Partner FSSA Investment Managers Liz Hastilow Chris Turpin David Gait Chief Legal and Managing Director, Managing Partner, Risk Officer EMEA, Global Head Stewart Investors of Product, Marketing and Responsible Investment Rob Scott Paul Griffiths Chief Operating Chief Investment Officer Officer, Fixed Income and MAS Lindall West Martin Lau Chief Human Managing Partner, Resources Officer FSSA Investment Managers Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 4 Governance Arrangements The diagram below illustrates our governance arrangements with key committees described below. In countries where we are licensed to offer financial products, we also have legal entities in those countries to hold the licence and provide additional oversight. The diagram below shows the legal entity for Australia being First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd. However, with respect to this illustration, it is in line with the relevant management committees in place for First Sentier Investors (Australia) RE Ltd and First Sentier Realindex Investments Pty Ltd. Assurance Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG) External Audit FSI Internal Audit Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB) Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) Meets 5 times a year FSI Chief First Sentier Investors Holdings Pty Limited (FSI HP) Executive Officer Meets 6 times a year People and Remuneration Committee (PRC) Meets 5 times a year Subsidiary Companies All held by FSI HP execept those held by MUAH Corporate Governance FSI Company Secretariat FSI Management Team Enterprise Investment Regional Leadership* Leadership** Leadership*** FSI Global Committees FSI Global Risk FSI Global Responsible Investment Steering FSI Global Investment Equity Execution Oversight Fixed Income Best Committee^ Committee Group Execution Committee Meets 5 times a year Group Meets quarterly Meets quarterly Meets quarterly Meets quarterly * Enteprise Leadership Team ** Investment Leadership Team *** Regional Leadership Team ^ Global Risk Committee Members Mark Steinberg Martin Lau Bachar Beaini (Acting) Elizabeth Hastilow (Chair) Kerry Thirkell Elizabeth Hastilow Perry Clausen Michael Stapleton Harry Moore Bachar Beaini Suzanne Evans David Dixon Chris Turpin Mark Steinberg Rob Scott Yutaka Kawakami Grigor Milne Harry Moore Brian Hollingworth Yutaka Kawakami Rob Scott Paul Griffiths Suzanne Evans Sriyan Cooray Lindall West Chris Turpin Michael Stapleton Principles of Internal Governance and Asset Stewardship 2020 5 Key committee descriptions Board/Committee Roles and Responsibilities Meeting Frequency Investment Committee This committee meets quarterly and considers a wide Quarterly (minuted) range of matters including: fund performance, risk parameters within and affecting the funds, liquidity, Responsible Investments and ESG counterparty risk and investment compliance. Risk Committee This committee oversees the management of risks Quarterly (Minuted) assumed by First Sentier Investors in the course of carrying on its business, with particular focus on the measurement, reporting and management of risks relevant to First Sentier Investors. Fixed Income Best Execution The First Sentier Investors Fixed Income Best Execution Quarterly (minuted) Committee committee was established to provide oversight for the processes and controls involved in trade execution. The committee meets on a quarterly basis, is chaired by the Chief Investment Officer Fixed Income & Multi Asset Solutions and includes senior members of the Investment teams
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