Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has won the investment team of the year award for the second year in a row for its sustained momentum in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

The company further developed and expanded the range of ESG funds and solutions for clients, driven by increasing demand from the parent insurance company as well as its wider external client base including insurers.

Much of its work in sustainability involves recognising the increasing regulatory pressures around climate-related financial risks for insurers. Thus, it has been supporting insurance clients on climate by providing inputs to scenario testing and support with climate change disclosures.

The team's funds and strategies have also performed strongly over the challenging environments in 2020 and 2021.

RLAM sought to capitalise on specific themes of the last two years to ride the market waves. For one, it has been focused on growth investing over value. The latter, which includes leisure, oil, and retail, has endured since 2020 one of its worst periods for a while. The former, including technology, healthcare, engineering, and chemistry has seen its long-term prospects accelerate due to the pandemic.

Technology in particular has been a boon for the team. Most of the large technology companies trade on higher valuations than they did pre-pandemic, as their earnings have increased, and their long-term prospects have strengthened.

Similarly, the team has benefited from an active management approach. Its belief is centred on the unprecedented levels of disruption at the individual company level, and significant risks and opportunities for those on the right side of them.