Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has written to the chief executives of some of the largest companies in the world to demand they address issues of climate change and diversity.
The letter, seen by FTAdviser, is signed by Mark Zinkula, chief executive of the fund house, and Sacha Sadan, director of corporate governance, and asks company bosses to reveal the impact they think climate change will have on their business, as well as how the company is working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development goals.
Sent to companies around the world, based on market cap and previous level of engagement with Legal and General, the letter also asked companies to demonstrate how they are addressing the issue of gender balance on their board of directors and in senior management positions.
Chief executives were asked o explain what actions they are taking to close any gender pay gaps at their firms.
Legal and General said it will vote against the board of any company in which it is a shareholder that does not have a minimum of a quarter of the board being female.
It said in 2017 it voted against the board 27 times due to lack of gender diversity.
The letter also asked companies to demonstrate how they are run for the long term, and how they respect the rights of individual shareholders.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
