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Our approach to responsible investing

Everything we do at NEI begins with our purpose: to help Canadians achieve their financial goals while making a positive impact on the world. We’ve honed our approach over decades, and every day, we’re looking at ways to make it even stronger. We’re growing, learning, evolving, leading—all so our investors can help shape the future they desire for themselves, their families, and future generations.

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Sustainable Intelligence powered by NEI

Throughout our 35-year history, we’ve helped companies become better investments by drawing attention to their environmental, social and governance risks and making sure they were addressed. And we’ve helped those same companies understand the role they can play in helping solve the systemic social and environmental challenges we face today.

NEI’s commitment to delivering positive impact and enabling our investors to do more with their money has led us to steadily advance our ESG program, perfecting, and in some cases literally inventing the responsible investment approaches others use today. The sum of that commitment, the ESG knowledge we’ve acquired over three decades, our pioneering innovations, thousands of ESG-focused conversations with companies, hundreds of thousands of proxy votes cast, our policy work with governments and regulators—all that cumulative experience and expertise—is what we call Sustainable Intelligence™.

Implementing our approach

There are five activities we undertake as part of our responsible investment program that have a direct connection to our funds: exclusionary screening, ESG evaluation, impact investing, thematic investing, and stewardship. For a more in-depth look at these activities and other aspects of our program, such as policy work and statements of commitment, check out our Responsible Investment Policy. To find out which approaches are applied to which funds, speak with your advisor or consult our fund prospectus.

Simplified Prospectus

RI Policy

Exclusionary screens

Companies are excluded from certain funds if we believe the risk of harm to society and the environment outweighs the potential benefits of investing. Examples include weapons manufacturing and tobacco production.

ESG evaluations

Companies are evaluated on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, with results integrated into the investment process as we pursue long-term sustainable value for our investors.

Impact investing

In addition to financial returns, our impact funds aim to provide positive and measurable environmental and social outcomes. Among other objectives, investments held in the funds may seek to reduce carbon emissions, build low-income housing, and protect water resources.

Thematic investing

Some of our funds aim to generate returns from long-term trends expected to contribute to large-scale structural shifts in the economy, such as the need to better manage natural resources and the transition to cleaner energy sources.

Stewardship

Corporate engagement and proxy voting are tools we use to help companies improve their management of economic, natural and social capital, with the goal of growing long-term sustainable value.

Collaborating at a higher level

Two of the most powerful tools for influencing change at the highest levels of the responsible investment ecosystem are collaboration and advocacy. NEI is an active participant in many group initiatives, where the combined strength and scale of multiple likeminded players can lead to greater success. We also advocate for change and provide input to regulators, standard-setters, and other organizations seeking to promote greater understanding of responsible investing while providing a level playing field. Why? To improve outcomes for our clients, and for investors everywhere.

See our initiatives

Dig deeper

The world of responsible investing and ESG can seem large and complex, but there is a simple way to think about it. As you pursue your financial goals, your investments help to improve society and the environment.

We’re here to help make sense of all the different ways you can do that. Would you like to build your knowledge from the ground up? Explore our education hub. Would you like to get our perspective on emerging trends? Visit our insights page.

View all insights

Education hub

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Five myths about responsible investing

Despite the rapid growth of responsible investing, misconceptions about the risks and opportunities remain.

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Investing for corporate responsibility

Corporations have a responsibility to the communities in which they operate. Here we take a closer look corporate governance.

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Collaboration opportunity between advisors and clients

CIO John Bai and Director of Corporate Engagement Jamie Bonham discuss the crucial role advisors can play in helping investors participate in the journey to net zero.

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Engagement report: Meta Platforms

An update from Q3 2022 on our engagement progress with Facebook owner Meta Platforms.

View all insights

Education hub

Excellence in responsible investing

NEI has been a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment since it was established in 2006 with sponsorship from the United Nations. The PRI conducts a thorough review of members’ responsible investment programs and produces an Assessment Report and a Transparency Report. The high marks we received in our latest assessment demonstrate that our responsible investment program is truly exceptional.

View our Assessment Report - PDF >

View our Transparency Report - PDF >

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.