Ada Fintech, the award-winning investment Research Management System (RMS), has announced the launch of a world-first stewardship data solution, through an RMS platform, that allows investors to access and track manager voting records as part of their ESG risk management research and analysis.
Ada Fintech is owned by Redington and combines the firm’s internal technical innovation, research, and investment consultancy expertise with leading third-party data integrations to provide holistic fintech solutions for its clients and the wider industry. Given the sustained growth of ESG and emphasis on quality research and disclosure, stewardship data is a key component in Ada Fintech’s offering and a strong focus for further development and innovation.
Ada Fintech’s new stewardship solution comprises two main features: Fund Level Stewardship and Stewardship Insights, with voting data provided by impact focused Fin-Tech firm, Tumelo.
Fund Level Stewardship provides a complete look-through on each portfolio holding, including how a manager has voted on all shareholder proposals to build an accurate picture of votes cast over time.
Stewardship Insights enables clients to look across their entire stewardship data set and discover the most important votes cast by managers. Ada Fintech then applies a “significance rating score” to enable investors to pinpoint material insights such as hidden votes and potential manager conflicts.
Adam Jones, Managing Director at Ada Fintech and Redington CTO, commented: “In a world where investors are expected to put increasing emphasis on evidencing research and holding managers accountable on ESG engagement, gaining access to the relevant data and insight remains a challenge.
“We have a responsibility to change that, and so have ploughed our combined technology and investment consultancy expertise into developing a meaningful, useable solution. Drawing upon Tumelo’s leading voting research differentiates this further and means users can see exactly how managers are engaging with companies and achieve absolute clarity as to whether their actions are supporting their long-term ESG goals.”
Georgia Stewart, Chief Executive at Tumelo, commented: “Responsible investors are increasingly interested in how their fund managers are engaging with and voting at the companies their money is invested in. The solution we have developed with Ada Fintech enables investors to easily view and monitor how their fund managers have voted on crucial shareholder proposals. Whereas for years stewardship has been an afterthought, this tool allows investors to put stewardship under the spotlight during the fund selection process. We hope this partnership and the greater transparency it delivers will create better outcomes for beneficiaries as well as for society over the long term.”
Paul Lee, Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investment Strategy at Redington commented: “Voting and engagement are the mainstays of a responsible approach to investment. They hold many of the keys to enabling investors to deliver real-world change and sustainable investment returns. The launch of Ada Fintech’s stewardship solution signals a material shift in providing holistic access to investors on critical and complex stewardship data points such as voting and engagement records. It’s an innovation in our marketplace and we’re proud to support, and be part of, Ada Fintech’s journey.”