Unconventional research: profile of a sustainability researcher

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Ross Mathieson (RM): Why do I have a colleague on our investment team whose background is in ocean governance? I'll be shedding some light on that question in this video, which is part of a series where I'm in discussion with our colleagues. Ben leads the sustainability research and engagement on behalf of our team. And in the last few years has been a bit of a roller coaster for ESG and sustainability. For a while, everyone was talking about why they were leaning into this. And then you've seen a retreat in more recent years. For us, this is really important and fundamental to be long term. But Ben, why do you think we shouldn't retreat at this time?

Ben Hart (BH): No, absolutely Ross, and it comes down to that point there of our long-term investment horizon. And so we continue to believe that a company that mistreats its employees or damages the environment over that long-term holding period has no right to continue to grow its earnings and its dividend. And so as a consequence of that, we continue to be committed to doing this kind of research, analysis, engagement, and stewardship. Because fundamentally, every investment case is something of a tapestry, and ESG is just another thread within that. And so it would be negligent of us to not do this work.

RM: And I think quite often what's maybe misunderstood is how this type of research can be genuinely additive to your investment insights. Could you maybe bring to life with an example the type of work you do which can help us better understand a company and better understand an investment case?

BH: Absolutely. One example would be our engagement over a number of years with a critical metals and minerals mining company. So we'd observed what had happened with other minerals and metals that are key components of electric vehicle batteries. And through speaking to experts, we considered that it would only be right that consumers and car makers alike would start to command the same level of responsible operations from all of the inputs into EV batteries, not just cobalt. And so we spoke to this company and encouraged it to adopt a third-party assessment of its mine sites to really showcase that it was operating responsibly. And encouragingly, over the last couple of years, that company has adopted a leading independent third-party assessment, becoming a pioneer in its sector and the only third extractives company in the world to achieve this accreditation. And as I mentioned, that's taken a number of years. And so without our long-term holding period, we wouldn't have been around to see that engagement come to fruition. But perhaps most encouragingly is the fact we've seen that company subsequently get a large offtake agreement from a large electric vehicle manufacturer, really showing how those kind of engagements have been positive for the business.

RM: I'd be interested to have your view on having come from the Ocean Finance background and we all want to have an impact through our careers. How do you feel that you're having an impact in our team with the work you're doing?

BH: Yeah, absolutely. So I joined Baillie Gifford from an organization called the World Resources Institute, which is an environmentally focused NGO based in the US. And there, I worked kind of really closely on issues associated with biodiversity and nature risk, which are some key emerging matters that we're now looking at at the portfolio level. But perhaps prior to that, I had a role in sustainability consultancy where there were some similarities or more similarities with this current role. Fundamentally, you were analysing a company, doing research into it, trying to identify a couple of key points that you'd hope to see that company invest resource in to mitigate a risk. But it's perhaps at that point that the similarities end. The nature of the consultancy relationship is quite transactional, which in my view limited or began to limit the leverage you could really have to enact change. Whereas I believe in this role, there is far more capability to have that leverage to enact that change.

RM: And I think, interestingly, also financially material for the company as well. And for us, the fact that it takes multiple years means it's very hard work. But that close relationship that you build with the company means it does open other opportunities. I know for the company you're talking about, that when I was in China just a year or so ago, I was able to meet with their head of that Chinese business because of the strong relationship and the trust they had in the work that we were doing. Thank you, Ben. 

So hopefully that sheds some light on the type of work that Ben is doing, analysing the sustainability of our companies and leading the engagement. This work takes a lot of time. It's speaking to many different academics or experts to build up a real picture of what's going on in these financially material topics. 

For more views of what Ben has actually been working on, on an annual basis, we publish our stewardship report, which is available on the website. There will be more to follow when I sit down with other colleagues on our team in future videos.

Risk factors

This communication was produced and approved in May 2025 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time and may not reflect current thinking.

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