How we inhabit
We believe change starts at home. We try to inhabit our own ecosystem in a manner that ensures a sustainable future for all. From the Green Team at our offices to our work in conservation and with communities globally, we aim to help preserve our natural world and support a better tomorrow for future generations.
Our corporate sustainability strategy is focused on five areas — energy, waste, water, sustainable travel and responsible procurement — with the aim of reducing and mitigating our carbon footprint.
Ninety One Green, a grassroots initiative of champions within the business, drives our efforts to be more sustainable and ensures our actions are aligned with our mission to exceed clients’ expectations in everything we do.
Investments involve risk; losses may be made.
Working with communities
Our Corporate Social Investment strategy spans three pillars: conservation, education and community development. We also support employee-driven initiatives.
Conservation
Ninety One partners with Tusk Trust on the annual Tusk Conservation Awards. These awards were co-created in 2013 to celebrate the people who work with wildlife and communities in Africa to protect the continent’s natural assets. We also work with BCP, which addresses deforestation in wildlife-rich areas of Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Education
Changeblazers was launched in 2020 to support under-resourced students through undergraduate qualifications and postgraduate research projects. Our first undergraduate cohort completed their first year in 2021 and achieved an average academic grade of 71%. The undergraduate programme assists candidates facing financial challenges towards qualifications in fields such as finance, engineering, computer science, psychology and education. In providing postgraduate funding, we supported more than 10 research projects at five universities in 2021. Examples of intended outcomes of the research include: informing control and management of mosquito-borne disease in rural areas; understanding the dynamics of human-development issues, environmental concerns and approaches to infrastructure in unplanned, informal settlements; and supporting the development of a national strategic plan to strengthen rehabilitation within the health system.
In 2022, there are more than 60 students on the undergraduate programme. Postgraduate funding will continue to be directed to research projects focused on outcomes that could improve the lives of ordinary South Africans. Examples of other education-related initiatives include supporting The Bookery, which promotes literacy development in under-resourced primary schools across South Africa. We also supported ASISA Foundation’s financial literacy and education programmes, aim to improve financial outcomes for South Africa's most vulnerable groups through the transfer of knowledge and skills development.
Our partnership with songo.info, a sports and education charity, continued. Our support enables songo.info to reach more children in the township of Kayamandi in the Western Cape.
Community development
Community initiatives supported in 2022 included assisting the Matsila Community in Limpopo to move water infrastructure onto solar energy. The project made access to water more sustainable for more than 10,000 households, for domestic use as well as agricultural purposes.
Ninety One also supported Bulungula Incubator, a nonprofit organisation that alleviates poverty in one of the poorest districts in South Africa. It is located in Mbhashe Municipality in the Eastern Cape. We provided funding for its healthcare initiative, which delivers quality care to people who would otherwise have to travel long distances to obtain it. Bulungula Incubator was the runner-up in the Daily Maverick Community Champion of the Year (2021) awards for its COVID-related healthcare intervention.
Employee-driven charity support
Over the financial year, we supported employee-driven community funds and charity-matching initiatives including initiatives in South Africa, Movember (men’s health) in the UK, disaster-relief initiatives, and appeals to help those affected by the war in Ukraine and the KwaZulu-Natal riots and flooding.
Recent highlights:
- Developed a transition plan for our Scope 1 and 2 emissions aligned with science-based target methodology.
- Made progress on our emissions in 2021:
- Scope 1 emissions reduced by 95%.
- Scope 2 emissions reduced by 14%.
- Purchased and retired 11,000 carbon credits with respect to Ninety One’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 (category 6) emissions.
- Launched Ninety One Green – an employee resource group that looks to implement sustainability initiatives across the business.
- Launched Giki Zero programme to help employees measure their personal carbon footprints.
- Funded more than 60 student bursaries and 10 student research projects through the Changeblazers programme.
- Provided better access to water for more than 13,500 people in two communities through solar-powered borehole infrastructure.
- Established relationship with The Bookery that will contribute to improving literacy in South Africa.
