Terms of Reference

Investor Membership

Download a copy of our Terms of Reference.

Any organisation that falls into one of the following categories is eligible to sign up as an Investor Member of the FAIRR Initiative. We encourage organisations to register at the firm-level rather than the fund-level.

Application Process

1. Investor Membership is open to all institutional investors (i.e. asset owners/managers).

2. To become an Investor Member of the FAIRR Initiative, the firm/company must complete and submit an application form. Please note that submitting this form does not guarantee or constitute membership.

3. The FAIRR Executive will review the application and respond within two working days.

Terms and Conditions

Membership of the FAIRR Initiative is free of charge. As an Investor Member, your organisation is encouraged to:

a. Joining an onboarding call with the FAIRR team to discuss how we can best partner with your organisation.

b. Providing the FAIRR Initiative with your firm’s legal name and company logo, which will be displayed on our website solely for purposes of identifying your firm as a member of the FAIRR Initiative, and not to imply support of, or participation in, any collaborative engagement unless explicitly authorised by you to do so. Please note that further use of your firm’s name or logo is strictly prohibited without explicit consent.

c. Participating in the FAIRR Initiative’s annual Investor Feedback Survey. The results are used only for internal purposes and to guide the ongoing development of our organisational strategy.

d. Considering the materiality of ESG issues in the food and agriculture sector, when consistent with your fiduciary responsibilities.

Conditions:

e. Individual user access credentials must not be shared with anyone other than the primary user. The individual user who is registered for the individual account must be the sole user of that account.

f. FAIRR’s research and data is solely for the use of individuals with login access and must not be shared externally.

g. Investor Members of FAIRR retain full independence of their investment activities.

NOTE: The word ‘Membership’ is used solely to refer to an Investor Member’s access to the FAIRR Initiative network and resources. It does not explicitly or implicitly imply support of our other projects or collaborative engagements. To sign on to any of FAIRR’s individual engagements or public statements, Investor Members must first state their desire and intention to do so. This must happen independently of the membership application. Members will be made aware of opportunities to sign on to new engagements and phases throughout the year via bespoke communications from the FAIRR Initiative.

Member Benefits

• Becoming an Investor Member of the FAIRR Initiative puts your organisation at the heart of a global network of investors seeking to understand and manage ESG issues linked to protein supply chains. As an Investor Member, your organisation has the option to: Interact with a growing global network of investors.

• Access issue expertise, best practice guidance and cutting-edge research on the risks and opportunities in the food and agriculture sector, particularly protein supply chains.

• If relevant, participate in facilitated engagements, which enable direct dialogues with food and agriculture sector companies. These are supplemented with progress reports and impact assessments for the duration of the engagement.

• Access the FAIRR Initiative’s science-based research and reports, as well as receive policy updates on engagements with governments, regulators and industry bodies aimed at addressing the ESG risks surrounding intensive animal agriculture and sustainable policies and business practices.

• Access data, benchmarks, and evaluation tools, which help to quantify material risks and opportunities, and identify leaders and laggards within the global food supply chain.

• Join investor-relevant events related to food, agriculture and the protein value chain, animal and plant-based protein production and consumption. This includes panels and roundtables on ESG issues that have traditionally been underexplored by the market. These events offer investors opportunities to learn, network and share knowledge in a variety of global locations.

Constraints /No Acting in Concert

Members agree to refrain from any activity that may lead to an obligation for a mandatory take-over bid or that is in any way non-compliant with applicable local law, including competition law, company law and/or capital markets law requirements. In particular, none of the Members shall:

• Facilitate collective decision-making among investors regarding investment decisions and shareholder vote;

• Provide recommendations to investors to divest, make any other investment decisions or vote in a particular way;

• Promote or facilitate deals in any investments in companies covered by any FAIRR research or reports;

• Engage in any activity which amounts to market abuse;

• Require investors to support individual shareholder resolutions;

• Enter into any agreement with competitors to allocate customers or divide up geographic markets in which they compete;

• Enter into any agreement with competitors to boycott investee companies or limit new entrants into the market; or

• Share commercially or competitively sensitive information including pricing, financial projections, terms of contracts, product innovations, employee compensation, confidential

Termination of Membership

Members of the FAIRR Initiative may terminate their membership at any time by submitting notice in writing to the FAIRR Initiative of their request. Within five working days, the FAIRR Initiative will confirm receipt of the notice, revoke access to all FAIRR’s Member-only research, data and services and confirm termination of membership. The former Member’s company name and logo will be removed from our website, as well as any other communications where we highlight the constituents of the FAIRR Investor Network.

About the FAIRR Initiative

Established in 2015 by the Jeremy Coller Foundation, the FAIRR Initiative is an investor network that raises awareness of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities in the food sector.

Our organisation engages in proactive dialogues with investors, food companies and stakeholders around material ESG issues, such as deforestation, water scarcity and public health. We help investors to identify and prioritise these factors through cutting-edge research, which they can then integrate into their decision-making processes. Furthermore, we enable investors to exercise their influence as responsible stewards of capital while safeguarding the long-term value of their investment portfolios. Members of the FAIRR Initiative are encouraged to participate in all areas of FAIRR’s work, yet there is no obligation to formally sign on to any of our engagements or public statements, nor are we prescriptive about the practical utilisation of our research or data. We recognise that investors will tailor the use of FAIRR’s resources to suit the needs of their individual teams. Investor Members retain full independence of their activities.

Governance and Organisational Structure

The Jeremy Coller Foundation is a registered charity (no. 1163970) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 9696841) in England and Wales. The oversight of both the Jeremy Coller Foundation and the FAIRR Initiative rests with the Board of Trustees, consisting of four individuals, one of whom is Jeremy Coller. The FAIRR Initiative has a separate and distinct Executive Team and staff. Its budget, strategy and work plans are approved by the Board on an annual basis and the organisation reports on its KPIs and progress each quarter.

The Jeremy Coller Foundation and the FAIRR Initiative are neither owned nor controlled by Coller Capital. The only affiliation they have is through their shared founder, Jeremy Coller.