HSBC Life (UK) Limited – our approach to considering sustainability risks and impacts of investment decisions environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters
Onshore Investment Bond
As a manufacturer of the Onshore Investment Bond, HSBC Life (UK) Limited (HSBC Life) is not directly involved in making investment decisions and therefore ESG factors cannot be taken into account.
The Onshore Investment Bond is a ‘wrapper’ that holds assets and it is therefore the Fund Managers of the chosen underlying funds who will be involved in the financial analysis to evaluate the risks and associated impacts of ESG policies, as well as the ongoing monitoring during the time the fund is included within the Bond.
The HSBC Life Onshore Investment Bond has an ‘open architecture’ structure, which enables clients to invest a lump sum in a professionally managed portfolio of collective investment schemes (such as open-ended investment companies and unit trusts) available from a variety of fund management companies. We make ESG funds accessible via the HSBC Onshore Investment Bond and Financial Advisers have the ability to select these ESG funds as part of the recommended investment strategy to their clients.
HSBC Life Funds*
HSBC Life is guided by the HSBC Insurance Sustainability Policy to ensure ESG factors are carefully considered across our life funds. Presently, HSBC Asset Management (UK) Limited manage these funds on behalf of HSBC Life. As the product manufacturers, HSBC Life provides a Statement of the Investment Principles (SIP) to HSBC Asset Management (UK) Limited that defines how each fund should be managed. Whilst our stance to ESG considerations is in line with HSBC’s Insurance Sustainability Policy, we are presently in the process of formulating more robust and detailed guidelines to be included in the SIP to ensure that, as the selected asset manager, they are able to demonstrate adoption of such ESG principles and policies to allow regular evaluation of their ESG performance. Alongside the development and inclusion of guidelines in the SIP, HSBC Life is in the process of developing a related annual review procedure to ensure the Sustainability Policy is effectively implemented.
HSBC Asset Management (UK) Limited are signatories to Principles of the Responsible Investment and the Montreal Carbon Pledge. They have ESG responsible investing and investment stewardship practices in place, which can be found at:
www.assetmanagement.hsbc.co.uk/en/institutional-investor/about-us/responsible-investing
www.assetmanagement.hsbc.co.uk/en/institutional-investor/about-us/responsible-investing/stewardship
*HSBC life funds are not available in the Onshore Investment Bond. Instead they were fund options within a range of older savings and investment products that are no longer open to new business.