Martin Currie Investment Management : – Engaging to disclose fracking practices

As a member of the PRI Fracking Engagement Group, Kim Catechis, Head of Global Emerging Markets at Martin Currie, played a leading role in this collaborative engagement.

20 January 2017

To conclude the PRI-coordinated collaborative engagement on Fracking, the PRI launched 'Engaging with oil and gas companies on fracking: An investor guide'.

As a member of the PRI Fracking Engagement Group, Kim Catechis, Head of Global Emerging Markets at Martin Currie, played a leading role in this collaborative engagement. Kim led a group of PRI investor signatories to engage with an Asian oil and gas company. The dialogue focused on the disclosure of fracking practices across the four key areas identified by the PRI commissioned research: governance, water, air emissions and community. The outcome was a significant improvement in the company's disclosure:

• In 2013, the company disclosed against only one of 56 indicators. This increased to 41% of the indicators across all four focus areas in 2016.
• Fracking was addressed in the company's sustainability report.
• It also released its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) shale report, which addressed water, air emissions and community engagement issues.

The full fracking report and details of this case study can be downloaded from the PRI website.

Martin Currie views active ownership, or 'monitoring and engagement', as an essential part of being a shareholder. As stewards of our clients' capital, we have to make sure that their interests are not misaligned with those of company management, e.g. through inappropriate remuneration practices or an undue focus on the short term. Direct engagement allows us to improve our understanding of investee companies, both to make our voting decisions better informed and, where necessary, to steer management in the right direction.