London CIV recognises human rights as one of its key Stewardship priorities

At the end of 2022, ‘Hong Kong Watch’, the UK based charity which researches and monitors threats to Hong Kong’s basic human rights, issued an important report which highlights a list of companies involved in constructing the Uyghur camps which actively use Uyghur forced labour, obtained through state sponsored transfer or sourcing from suppliers that do.

London CIV does not have any exposure to any of the 13 companies highlighted through its active investments or the LCIV Passive Equity Progressive Paris Aligned Fund.

London CIV clients may own some of these positions in off pool investments and passive arrangements in emerging market index funds where London CIV have no contractual influence or regulatory responsibility.

However, recognising both passive investment risk and indirect supply chain risk, this issue has been an engagement priority at London CIV since 2021. Therefore, in monitoring our exposure we also use the Australian Strategic Policy Institute list[2] of identified companies which expands to 82 foreign and Chinese companies potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from Uyghur workers outside Xinjian.

London CIV recognises human rights as a critical Stewardship priority. This is evident in our Stewardship policy, statement on human rights risks in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region and our approach towards voting and engagement, all of which is regularly shared and updated with our Client Funds. We continue to research salient and emerging human rights issues, monitor risks, map exposure, and engage with impacted investments on behalf of our Clients.

[2] https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale