Climate change and net zero

Liontrust’s emissions 

Liontrust emits greenhouse gases (scope 1 and 2) through its own operations and has scope 3 emissions through its value chain/ suppliers. As an asset manager, Liontrust also invests clients’ assets in companies which have their own emissions. These are counted as part of Liontrust’s scope 3 emissions and are generally referred to as Liontrust’s “financed emissions”. 

Categories of emissions 

Liontrust’s emissions (from operations and investments) fall into the following categories: 

• Scope 1 – the direct emissions from Liontrust-owned and controlled resources. 
• Scope 2 – indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. 
• Scope 3 – all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the Group’s value chain, such as through its suppliers and business-related travel. For Liontrust (as with all asset managers), Scope 3 includes emissions from companies that Liontrust invests its clients assets in. 

Net Zero by 2050 

Liontrust is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 across its business and investments. This commitment covers the Group’s: 
• business operations – to reduce its own emissions while promoting well-functioning financial systems 
• investments – to understand the key exposures that Liontrust’s investments face in relation to climate change and make well-informed investment decisions (which forms part of Liontrust’s fiduciary duty to clients) 

Liontrust’s net zero commitment for its business operations 

In 2023, Liontrust set a near-term science-based emissions reduction target which was approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This target, which is in line with the Paris Agreement goals, is to: 

• Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030 against a base year of 2022.

Liontrust’s commitment to net zero for its investments 

Liontrust has made a number of commitments regarding its investments and net zero. First, as part of Liontrust’s near-term science-based emissions reduction targets approved by SBTi, the Company commits to: 

• having 52% of its listed equity and corporate bond portfolios by market value setting SBTi validated targets by 2027 from a 2022 base year

Second, as part of its commitment to the NZAM, Liontrust committed to having a percentage of its AuMA signed up to the net zero commitment.

Interim targets for Liontrust funds committing to net zero (under NZAM) are: 

• By 2025 – a 25% reduction in the fund’s WACI (weighted average carbon intensity) as compared to the WACI of the fund’s benchmark at the end of December 2019 
• By 2030 – a 50% reduction in the fund’s WACI as compared to the WACI of the fund’s benchmark at the end of December 2019 

AuMA committed to Net Zero

As at the end of December 2024, 50% of Liontrust’s AuMA was committed to net zero under NZAM (the end of 2023: 45%; the end of May 2022: 42%). Liontrust aims for more of its AuMA gradually to join the commitment – which should be possible as more carbon data from companies becomes available and as reporting methodologies for different asset classes become more standardised. 

Net Zero Now

Liontrust worked with Net Zero Now to support it in creating the Net Zero Financial Advisors Protocol in 2022. The goal of this initiative is to support financial advisers in their efforts to measure, reduce and compensate for their carbon emissions in an effort to reach net zero. The Protocol also aims to provide an industry standard against which these efforts can be assessed and certified. 

Liontrust’s Sustainable Investment team is part of an industry steering committee, led by Net Zero Now, which includes the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CIS) and other industry bodies. The Committee is tasked with reaching an industry consensus on how the global guidelines that govern net zero – including the GHG Protocol, the Science Based Targets Initiative and the Oxford University Principles of Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting – should be interpreted by financial advisers.

For more information, please visit the Net Zero Now website.