Having recently invested in its responsible investment team and expanded its ESG integration practices, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) won praise from judges this year for having "really taken the reins on stewardship, and their engagement with the water sector is to be commended", winning this year's award from Insurance Asset Risk for Responsible asset manager investor of the year.

RLAM has a dedicated responsible investment team assessing ESG factors and engaging with companies, and has adopted ESG integration practices across all of its asset classes.

The business is able to leverage the fact that its biggest client remains its parent company insurer, which it works with closely to deliver its responsible investing needs.

As a bondholder in the UK water sector, RLAM has been actively engaging with UK water utility companies, probing them on water management practices, affordability schemes, and their plans to adapt to a warming climate.

RLAM also believes in exercising its voting rights and, in a typical year, will vote at hundreds of company meetings, comprising thousands of resolutions across global investment markets. Though it will start engaging with companies privately about its expectations and concerns, it will also work with other investors or speak publicly to the press where it hasn't seen progress.