Active ownership is about using your rights and influence as an investor to engage investee companies in a productive dialogue and driving change that can make a tangible difference. Yet the process of engaging these companies can often be hard to quantify and many may be surprised at the timeline over which this can unfold.

As long-term investors, our relationships with investees can continue for many years — decades in some cases. We have a duty to our clients and wider stakeholders in society to monitor and engage with companies for the entire time that we hold their stocks and bonds — and in a way that protects all our interests long into the future.