Discrimination has no place, we all need to champion inclusion

We have all seen coverage over recent days of the events across cities in the US in response to George Floyd’s tragic death and the related issues around race, inequality and social justice.

At Standard Life Aberdeen, discrimination has no place. But to say so is not enough by itself so we must continue to look at and address how our behaviours and practices promote inclusion and take action to implement changes where necessary. We all, therefore, have a responsibility to consider how each of us can contribute.

We are a global business with colleagues in the USA and we are doing what we can to support colleagues there. However, these challenges are not specific to the US and, indeed wherever we are in the world, social injustice may persist in some form.

Our purpose ‘Together, we invest for a better future’ guides our approach on these important societal issues. While we have various initiatives to promote inclusion within our company, one of the ways that we can have the biggest impact on the outside is in our investment approach. Challenging companies on their approach to diversity and inclusion will continue to be a core element of our ESG engagement. To do this effectively, we must be able to set an example.

We are committed to listening, learning from and engaging with our black and ethnic minority colleagues. Importantly, we are committed to continuing to do the work to create real change in our business and in society.

Keith Skeoch

Chief Executive Officer