Modern Slavery: How Investors Can Help the Victims

With profits from forced labor estimated at US$150 billion a year, some companies in global portfolios could be unwittingly associated with modern slavery. The good news: businesses and investors can help tackle the problem-individually and through collaboration.

Investors, for example, can assess the risks of modern slavery in their own portfolios by using a tailored research approach. This effort is helped by the obligations of many companies, under modern slavery regulations, to assess and report risks in their operations and supply chains.

Collaboration comes into play when investors engage directly with companies to understand how they're managing modern slavery risk in their businesses and to encourage them to take concrete steps to reduce it. We believe that it's critical to have a clear idea of corporate best practices in managing modern slavery risk when engaging with companies. It enables investors to understand the company better and to understand-and act on-the risks.

In other words, engagement has two benefits: better investment insights and better corporate practices, which can help push back against practitioners of modern slavery and relieve the human suffering they cause. It's exciting to watch firms deepen their engagement with modern slavery, with many realizing that taking a stand against modern slavery helps not only its victims but their own brands.