We are pleased to present our ESG and Active Ownership Report for Q2 2022. In this quarter’s edition our headline article focuses on the interplay between the global energy transition and geopolitics in Russia. This is an intriguing and multifaceted story of geological fortune, conflicting interests, and geopolitical gambits. By studying this issue, we can better understand how low probability events emerge from long-term trends. Meanwhile, in our ‘A focus on’ section, we look at the ‘S’ in ESG, exploring in particular the impact of company culture on stock performance.

This quarter has seen the usual uptick in voting activity as we moved through proxy season. We have slightly reworked our discussion of voting issues, adopting a more thematic approach in place of simply highlighting examples company-by-company. We believe this change allows a broader and more interesting discussion of the issues we have encountered. We have also been busy engaging with companies across the spectrum of issues, with a particular focus on approaches to the energy transition in light of the volatility that has affected commodity markets over past months.

Finally, we would like to thank those clients who have reached out with comments, questions and feedback regarding last quarter’s edition. We are always thrilled to further discuss the ideas we present in these reports, and welcome such engagement in the future.