Asset Management

Schroders and Hermes press HSBC to drop coal completely

Investor group including one of the bank's biggest shareholders takes aim at three-country exemption to climate-friendly policy

Workers carrying baskets filled with coal in the Gabtoli region of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Workers carrying baskets filled with coal in the Gabtoli region of Dhaka, Bangladesh Photo: Getty Images

Schroders and Hermes are among a group of investors pressing HSBC to drop its financing of coal power plants in three south-east Asian countries — the only exceptions to a climate-friendly energy policy the bank introduced last year.

The UK fund managers and their allies have put their names to a letter sent to John Flint, chief executive of HSBC. They argue the bank should fall into line with peers such as Barclays and Standard Chartered and call a complete halt to financing new coal plants anywhere in the world.

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