MASHINIi

ASHMORE GROUP PLC.

ASHM.LSE | Fund management activities

Ashmore Group PLC is a United Kingdom-based company that operates as a specialist emerging markets asset manager. The company manages investments on behalf of institutions, including corporations, public sector entities, private clients, charities, endowments and foundations. Ashmore focuses solely ...Show More

Ethical Profile

Mixed.

Ashmore Group, an emerging markets asset manager, presents a mixed ethical profile. The company actively restricts investments in controversial weapons like cluster munitions and screens against international sanctions lists. Its Ashmore Foundation has awarded over USD 6 million to social benefit projects, including agroforestry and solar initiatives in emerging markets. However, reports from 2023 indicate a mean gender pay gap of 13.2% and an ethnicity pay gap of 6.6%. While employee reviews suggest competitive compensation, some critics point to being 'understaffed' and a 'lack of training'. Ashmore maintains robust anti-money laundering and anti-bribery policies, alongside a confidential whistleblowing mechanism.

Value Scores

Better Health for All0
-100100
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity0
-100100
Fair Pay & Worker Respect20
-100100
Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing10
-100100
Honest & Fair Business0
-100100
Kind to Animals0
-100100
No War, No Weapons-10
-100100
Planet-Friendly Business-50
-100100
Respect for Cultures & Communities30
-100100
Safe & Smart Tech0
-100100
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products-30
-100100

Better Health for All

0

Ashmore Group, an asset manager, makes significant direct investments in healthcare infrastructure and services. This includes a USD 150 million investment in a multidisciplinary clinic in Kazakhstan

1
, and investments in Pharco KSA for manufacturing essential medicines for chronic and primary care
2
, with Pharco having supported large-scale public health initiatives like Hepatitis C elimination in Egypt
3
. Ashmore has also invested USD 100 million in healthcare infrastructure in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
4
, USD 10 million in oncology and diagnostics clinics in Morocco
5
, and USD 33 million in healthcare infrastructure in Colombia
6
. The company has established an Impact Debt investment team
7
and offers dedicated ESG strategies that support public health priorities
8
. Through The Ashmore Foundation, the company donates 0.5% of its profit before tax
9
, having awarded over USD 6 million for projects with social benefits, including public health improvements, across 31 emerging countries, focusing on disadvantaged communities
10
. The Foundation also provided COVID-19 related grants
11
and USD 100,000 in emergency relief and medical supplies for the Ukraine crisis
12
. As an asset manager, Ashmore's revenue is from fees, and it restricts investments in companies involved in controversial weapons
13
and can customize portfolios to exclude sectors like alcohol, gambling, and tobacco
14
. Its core business activities do not have direct safety implications, health risks, addiction potential, or involve health data management, clinical trials, or food products.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

0

Ashmore Group Plc operates as an asset manager primarily for institutional clients, with 96% of its Assets Under Management (AuM) from institutional clients

1
and 4% from intermediary retail clients
2
. The company's business model does not involve direct lending or deposit services to consumers, nor does it offer consumer credit products or operate financial service access points. Its core activities are asset management, which lies outside the scope of direct financial inclusion activities such as fair pricing, consumer lending, or providing financial literacy programs for underserved populations. While the Ashmore Foundation, a separate entity, engages in microfinancing
3
and financial training for low-income women entrepreneurs
4
and makes grants for social and economic opportunities
5
, these are not direct financial services provided by Ashmore Group Plc itself. Evidence for profit reinvestment (0.5% of profit before tax)
6
does not precisely match any defined tier threshold in the rubric.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

20

Ashmore Group reported 0 reportable accidents in its UK or overseas premises for FY2021/22

1
and FY2019/20.
2
The company's voluntary employee turnover rate was 7%.
3
The unadjusted gender pay gap was 10.18% in 2024,
4
and the ethnicity pay gap was 6.6% in 2023.
5

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

10

Ashmore Group's Supplier Code of Conduct applies to all its suppliers, outlining basic ethical requirements including the prohibition of forced, bonded, or involuntary labor and child labor.

1
Its standard template terms and conditions for suppliers also include clauses forbidding the use of slavery and human trafficking.
2
As an asset manager, Ashmore does not procure or trade physical commodities, making the 'fair_trade_cert_share' and 'materials_risk_index' KPIs not applicable. The Ashmore Foundation, a separate entity, partners with Fair Trade USA to scale a program for coconut farmers in the Philippines
3
and with Visayan Forum to address modern slavery, having rescued and sheltered almost 20,000 survivors.
4

Honest & Fair Business

0

The Group's external audit covered 89% of its profit before tax.

1
Ashmore maintains robust anti-money laundering and anti-bribery policies, which are regularly reviewed for effectiveness and include ongoing staff training.
2
These policies are also required for service providers, and the company operates a compliance monitoring program covering financial crime risks.
3
The company has comprehensive whistleblower policies and procedures, providing staff with a clear, accessible, and confidential process to raise concerns through an independent reporting line and a third-party agency.
4
The Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee acts as the nominated Board Director for whistleblowing, and no whistleblower incidents were reported during the year.
5

Kind to Animals

0

The company, Ashmore Group PLC, operates as an asset manager. Its core business model does not involve direct animal-related activities such as product manufacturing, animal testing, animal agriculture, or direct management of animal-related operations. Therefore, KPIs related to cruelty-free certification, alternative testing, humane operations, ethical input substitution, cage-free sourcing, animal testing policy/volume, innovation investment in animal-free tech, animal agriculture ethics, and animal-free R&D collaboration are not applicable. While the Ashmore Foundation, linked to the company, has conserved 330 hectares of natural forest, the rubric's positive tiers for wildlife conservation impact are based on a percentage of revenue funding, which is not provided.

1
Similarly, evidence regarding supplier codes of conduct and public policy engagement relates to general ethical requirements or broader ESG initiatives, not specifically to animal welfare compliance or advocacy.
2
Consequently, no KPIs could be scored based on the provided evidence and rubric criteria.

No War, No Weapons

-10

Ashmore Group, an asset manager, does not derive revenue from arms or defense contracts, aligning with its core business model. The company screens all investments against UN Security Council, EU/UK Sanctions, and US Office of Foreign Assets and Control lists.

1
Ashmore has a firm-wide policy, published in May 2020
2
and updated in October 2025,
3
that restricts investments in companies engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and maintenance of controversial weapons. These weapons are defined to include cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines, nuclear, depleted uranium, chemical, and biological weapons. An excluded companies list is maintained by Compliance and reviewed quarterly.
4
For its ESG-dedicated fund range, Ashmore excludes companies generating over 10% of revenue from defense.
5
In early 2022, The Ashmore Foundation donated USD 100,000 for humanitarian aid in Ukraine,
6
which represented approximately 0.03% of the company's 2022 net revenue of £262.5 million.
7
Ashmore is a signatory to the UN Global Compact (since 2019)
8
and UN Principles for Responsible Investment (since 2013),
9
reaffirming its commitment to the UNGC's 10 principles, which include human rights. The company's procurement is not defense-related.

Planet-Friendly Business

-50

Ashmore Group's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, including operational and financed emissions, amounted to approximately 3.9 million tCO2e as of June 30, 2025.

1
The company has a net-zero target year of 2050 for 10% of its Group AuM, with interim decarbonisation targets of at least 22% by 2025 and 49% by 2030.
2
Ashmore is a TCFD signatory since January 2020
3
and reports consistent with TCFD recommendations, with the exception of recommendation 3 (identification of risks and opportunities) and recommendation 5 (scenario modelling).
4
The company acquired additional climate data in 2023
5
, focused on assessing climate scenario analysis use cases in 2024
6
, and reviewed portfolio metrics across NGFS scenarios, also considering the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.
7
Ashmore discloses its exposure to companies active in the fossil fuel sector, which was 15.79% of its portfolio's market value in 2024
8
, and uses stranded asset data as a metric for investment management.
9
Through its Ashmore Foundation, the company supports programs like Plant Your Future and IDEP Foundation, which help impoverished farmers transition to sustainable agroforestry and provide livelihood alternatives, addressing climate justice and just transition.
10

Respect for Cultures & Communities

30

Ashmore, through The Ashmore Foundation, has partnered with over 75 local organizations since 2008.

1
The company actively protects cultural sites, with 97% of the Carajas National Forest remaining a protected area in partnership with local institutes, and 330 hectares of natural forest conserved in West Bali.
2
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes are not applicable to the company's operations as an asset manager.
3
Similarly, the social license concept is not applicable to its business model.
4

Safe & Smart Tech

0

Ashmore Group PLC processes personal data in accordance with applicable privacy laws, including GDPR in the UK and EU, and maintains a register of data processing activities.

1
As of June 30, 2021, no enforcement actions were in progress against Ashmore entities by any financial services regulators globally, and the company has a Regulatory Development Steering Group to monitor legislative and regulatory changes.
2
All employees receive mandatory online training and undertake mandatory testing in information security, including cybersecurity.
3
The company also conducts regular vulnerability testing of its networks and systems using a specialist service provider and routinely deploys security updates, with proactive identification and remediation of vulnerabilities.
4
Ashmore states that individuals have rights under data protection law, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection, data portability, and withdrawal of consent.
5
However, the company's data retention policy states a minimum retention period of six years for personal data.
6
There are no documented data breaches.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

-30

Ashmore Group has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including recycling programs for waste paper, photocopier toners, and other disposable materials

1
. The company encourages electronic scanning
2
, defaults to two-sided printing
3
, and maintains a clear desk policy to minimize paper use
4
. It also provides obsolescent computers to Computer Aid International
5
and disposes of any unusable units in an environmentally friendly fashion
6
. Additionally, Ashmore uses sustainably sourced and FSC-accredited paper for marketing materials and business stationery
7
. For hazardous waste, unusable obsolete computers are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner
8
. Ashmore's Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers to comply with environmental laws
9
, make practical efforts to avoid waste
10
, and encourages environmental stewardship in their own supply chains
11
, with Ashmore able to request and review sustainability-related information from them
12
.

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AI-generated analysis based on publicly available data. Not financial advice. Ratings are expressions of opinion derived from automated models and may contain inaccuracies. See our Risk Disclosure for full details.