FinanceMap scores this financial institution in the following areas. Please navigate to the relevant tab for in-depth analysis
FinanceMap assesses these portfolios for this financial institution. Please navigate to the relevant tab for in-depth analysis.
Fossil fuel companies are those whose primary sector falls within coal mining and services, or up-, mid-, and downstream oil and gas sectors. Green companies are defined as companies having over 75% revenue deriving from Substantial Contribution to Mitigation activities under the EU Taxonomy.
Portion of AUM Assessed: $197B
| Holding Name | Contribution to Sector Production |
|---|---|
| Vistra Corp | 10.2% |
| Nextera Energy Inc | 9.6% |
| Entergy Corp | 7.6% |
| Duke Energy Corp | 5.3% |
| EDP Energias de Portugal SA | 4.7% |
| Evergy Inc | 4.6% |
| Exelon Corp | 4.6% |
| NTPC Ltd | 3.5% |
| Brazilian Electric Power Co | 3.4% |
| Southern Co | 3.3% |
| Holding Name | Contribution to Sector Production |
|---|---|
| Honda Motor Co Ltd | 38.6% |
| General Motors Co | 16.2% |
| Maruti Suzuki India Ltd | 9.5% |
| Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd | 6.8% |
| Bayerische Motoren Werke AG | 6.7% |
| Hyundai Motor Co | 5.1% |
| Toyota Motor Corp | 3.3% |
| Kia Corp | 2.7% |
| Volkswagen AG | 2.5% |
| Tesla Inc | 1.5% |
| Holding Name | Contribution to Sector Production |
|---|---|
| Coal India Ltd | 65.1% |
| China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd | 18.6% |
| Glencore PLC | 9.5% |
| Yankuang Energy Group Co Ltd | 4.4% |
| Exxaro Resources Ltd | 0.6% |
| Peabody Energy Corp | 0.4% |
| Adaro Energy Indonesia TBK PT | 0.4% |
| Arch Resources Inc | 0.3% |
| CONSOL Energy Inc | 0.1% |
| Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Co Ltd | 0.1% |
| Holding Name | Contribution to Sector Production |
|---|---|
| BP PLC | 19.4% |
| EQT Corp | 14.1% |
| Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras | 13.4% |
| Chevron Corp | 6.3% |
| Shell PLC | 6.0% |
| Suncor Energy Inc | 4.6% |
| NK Lukoil PAO | 4.5% |
| Crescent Point Energy Corp | 4.3% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp | 4.0% |
| Chesapeake Energy Corp | 4.0% |
Franklin Templeton Investments (FTI) appears to be engaging with companies around climate, although it lacks some disclosure and transparency that would allow for a more complete understanding of the effectiveness of their climate stewardship. The asset manager appears to have a general framework for engagements and a database for monitoring engagement progress but does not have a climate specific framework or clear milestones to measure engagement progress. In addition, it has outlined its escalation strategy, however, its escalation process lacks granularity such as how it selects or prioritizes issues for escalation.
FTI appears to be strengthening engagements with companies around climate, and its integrated investment groups have engaged on setting emissions reductions targets with companies in the utility sector and electric vehicle battery supply chain. The asset manager does not have any examples or appear to have any expectations set around indirect climate policy influence. FTI is involved with several climate-related investor initiatives and has noted an example of one of its acquired investment managers leading a collaborative engagement with CA100+, although lacks examples from its integrated investment groups.
FTI has described its stewardship governance structure and appears to regularly seek clients’ and beneficiaries’ views. It is not fully transparent on the companies that it engages with, only including limited case studies in its 2021 Stewardship Report, some named and some anonymous. The asset manager has described its proxy voting policies and use of third-party service providers and discloses proxy data on its website. However, it does not include rationale for voting decisions.
The asset manager does not appear to have filed climate-related shareholder resolutions. However, one integrated investment group has shared its own policy on voting against directors, although it is unclear if there is a firmwide stance on this.
Insightia data suggests that Franklin Templeton is broadly unsupportive of AGM resolutions InfluenceMap categorizes as in line with the Paris Agreement, supporting 14.6% in 2019, 27.3% in 2020, 39.1% in 2021, and 43.9% in 2022.
FinanceMap's methodology to measure the engagement process on climate was developed in consultation with several of the world's leading asset managers and uses key aspects of the UK Financial Reporting Council's 2020 Stewardship Code . The Stewardship Code was chosen to benchmark engagement quality as it provides an ambitious framework and detailed definitions of what constitutes effective engagement. FinanceMap defines the term ‘engagement’ as referring to all investor actions undertaken to influence the management strategy of the companies they own including private communications with corporate management and appointed advisors; questions at AGMs/other company meetings; comments on the company in the media; escalation and the shareholder resolution process (filing, voting behavior). FinanceMap’s methodology breaks the engagement process down into a set of sub-activities and looks for evidence associated with these across publicly available data sources.
Climate-relevance categorization of shareholder resolutions is based on the IPCC’s Special Report on 1.5°C and its concluded need for “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities.” FinanceMap scored voting on any resolution where the intent and likely outcome is consistent with this IPCC stated need. The voting data is drawn from asset managers' disclosures to the US Security Exchange Commission (SEC), asset manager websites (including third-party websites they link to), directly from the asset managers, and through specialist voting data provider Insightia. The full list of resolutions assessed is available here.
The following table outlines the key queries and data sources, which FinanceMap uses to assess asset managers' corporate engagement programs. Every evidence piece is assessed on a five-point scale of -2,-1,0,1,2 or NA (not applicable)/NS (not scored). All queries, data sources, and evidence pieces are weighted against one another in a matrix system to arrive at a final top-level score. Clicking on specific cells will load the underlying evidence and information on how it has been assessed.
Franklin Templeton appears to have had generally positive engagement on sustainable finance policies, supporting regulated corporate ESG disclosure and measures to incorporate ESG into investor duties.
Franklin Templeton has stated support for tackling climate change, advocating for action to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. In 2021, Franklin Templeton (along with investment management subsidiaries Martin Currie, Brandywine, and ClearBridge) joined the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, supporting the goal of emissions reductions in order to limit warming to 1.5C. Franklin Templeton has called the EU Sustainable Action plan a “pivotal development” and mentioned engaging with regulators on sustainable finance, appearing supportive of regulations around the world. Martin Currie appeared to support regulatory action on sustainable finance in the EU and UK in its 2022 Stewardship Report, but emphasized that regulation is only one part of driving change to a more sustainable system.
Franklin Templeton appears supportive of regulated corporate ESG disclosure. In a March 2022 article, Franklin Templeton stated support for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rule, calling it a “welcome blast of fresh air that can revitalise capital allocation for the benefit of all.” In an April 2022 article, Franklin Templeton called the efforts by the SEC and the International Financial Reporting Standards Board to mandate corporate climate disclosure a “necessary, but not sufficient” step to properly understand climate risk. In its June 2022 comments on the SEC’s rule, Franklin Templeton expressed strong support for the proposal. In its 2021 Stewardship Report, Franklin Templeton supported the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) efforts to develop a global baseline for sustainability disclosures, but emphasized the importance of a “double materiality” approach to reporting, an increase in ambition from the proposed standards.
In a 2019 insights paper, Franklin Templeton supported expansion of a taxonomy to cover wider geographic areas, and advocated for the inclusion of transitional activities to provide a more flexible framework, which would have an unclear impact on the stringency of the policy. In a 2020 news article, Franklin Templeton’s global head of ESG expressed concerns about the implementation and efficacy of the taxonomy.
In comments to the Department of Labor in 2020, Franklin Templeton expressed concerns about a lack of uniform ESG definitions and standards, and called for “greater regulatory oversight and guidance” to prevent greenwashing. In August 2022, Franklin Templeton supported the SEC’s proposed categories for ESG funds, suggesting that funds that only consider governance factors be removed from the ESG ‘Integration Fund’ category.
Franklin Templeton appears to be generally supportive of the incorporation of ESG factors into investor duties. Franklin Templeton opposed a 2020 Department of Labor rule that sought to limit ESG investing, writing that ESG considerations are “fundamentally pecuniary,” and in its December 2020 Stewardship Report, Franklin Templeton welcomed the Biden administration’s review of this rule. In 2021, Franklin Templeton and subsidiary ClearBridge Investments supported the Department of Labor’s proposal to reverse previous rules limiting ESG investing. In a 2021 press release and a 2021 ESG panel, Franklin Templeton stated support for the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), explaining that the regulation will help foster transparency and prevent greenwashing. Martin Currie’s 2022 Stewardship Report describes engagement with ESG stewardship regulations including the UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) but details of this engagement are unclear. In August 2022 comments to the SEC, Franklin Templeton supported but suggested narrowing proposed disclosure requirements for investors about their ESG practices.
In September 2022, a ClearBridge representative spoke out against a Texas law that seeks to limit ESG investing. In March 2023, Franklin Templeton signed onto a Freedom to Invest joint letter, directly advocating for policymakers to support integrating ESG into investor duties. In February 2023, ClearBridge wrote that the “anti-ESG” movement had a “chilling effect” on retirement plans’ willingness to consider ESG factors, and asserted that, in contrast to the claims of anti-ESG proponents, “ESG issues are financially material.”
Franklin Templeton has disclosed membership to industry associations but has not published a comprehensive disclosure of these groups’ sustainable finance policy positions or engagement activities.
InfluenceMap’s methodology for assessing lobbying on sustainable finance policy closely follows InfluenceMap’s established methodology on climate policy engagement, which is used extensively by investors, including via the Climate Action 100+ investor engagement process. Our full methodology can be found here.
Under our assessment of sustainable finance lobbying, InfluenceMap considers engagement on all financial policies which intersect with climate and/or other sustainability issues. The analysis takes into account both the engagement of the financial institution and the activities of industry associations they hold membership of.
InfluenceMap’s methodology covers seven publicly available data sources, searching for evidence of engagement and corporate positioning since 2017. To determine the policy issues within the scope of the analysis, InfluenceMap breaks down sustainable finance policy engagement into a series of subcategories, or 'queries'. These are designed to cover high-level issues relating to the importance of sustainable finance, as well as more specific areas of sustainable finance policymaking. InfluenceMap’s research process searches for evidence of an organization's engagement with each sustainable finance policy issue, across each of the data sources.
The following table outlines the key queries and data sources, which FinanceMap uses to assess financial institutions’ sustainable finance policy engagement. Every evidence piece is assessed on a five-point scale of -2,-1,0,1,2 or NA (not applicable)/NS (not scored). All queries, data sources, and evidence pieces are weighted against one another in a matrix system to arrive at a final top-level score. Clicking on specific cells will load the underlying evidence and information on how it has been assessed.
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party.
In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Gregory Johnson is on the board of ICI, a member of the Executive Committee.
Gregory E. Johnson (Executive Chairman, Franklin Resources, Inc.)
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of ICI and serves on ICI's ESG Advisory Group.
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Gregory Johnson is on the board of ICI, a member of the Executive Committee.
Gregory E. Johnson (Executive Chairman, Franklin Resources, Inc.)
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of ICI and serves on ICI's ESG Advisory Group.
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton serves on the IA's Sustainability Committee, Stewardship Reporting Working Group, and Sustainability Disclosures Implementation Forum (Franklin Templeton 2021 Stewardship Report).
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Fund Management, Franklin Templeton Investment Management and Martin Currie are members of the Investment Association (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton serves on the IA's Sustainability Committee, Stewardship Reporting Working Group, and Sustainability Disclosures Implementation Forum (Franklin Templeton 2021 Stewardship Report).
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Fund Management, Franklin Templeton Investment Management and Martin Currie are members of the Investment Association (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Investments is a corporate member of EFAMA (last checked September 2023).
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Investments serves on its committees on ESG and Stewardship. Scoring Note: position not scored, as this no longer seems to be the case (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Investments is a corporate member of EFAMA (last checked September 2023).
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton Investments serves on its committees on ESG and Stewardship. Scoring Note: position not scored, as this no longer seems to be the case (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of AFG which is a national association member of PensionsEurope (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of AFG which is a national association member of PensionsEurope (last checked September 2023).
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of the IIGCC (last checked September 2023)
not specified
--no extract--
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Franklin Templeton is a member of the IIGCC (last checked September 2023)
not specified
--no extract--
Open PDF file of Data Source