Conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRAs) pose significant material risks — for people on the ground, the companies operating in these contexts, and the investors holding these companies in their portfolio.

Investors are taking notice. 84% of the world’s largest asset managers now cite geopolitical confrontation as a top-three systemic risk. Yet many investor responses remain reactive, siloed, and inconsistent — precisely when a systemic, standardized approach is needed most.

That’s why Heartland Initiative and TrustWorks Global have co-developed the Investor Guidance for Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: Portfolio Analysis and Company Engagement. It offers a practical framework at two levels:
🔹 A portfolio-level methodology to identify and prioritize the holdings with the greatest geographic, relational, and operational proximity to conflict and human rights risk
🔸 A company-level playbook for active stewardship: the right questions to ask in engagement, the red flags to watch for, and how to turn dialogue into meaningful company action

As former Unilever CEO and sustainable business advisor Paul Polman notes in his foreword: “It gives asset owners and managers what they have long lacked: a way to know where their portfolios touch conflict, violence, and fragility, and a framework for asking portfolio companies the hard questions before a crisis forces the question on them.”

The Guidance has been developed with investors, for investors — peer-reviewed and endorsed by representatives from the world’s leading asset managers, asset owners, and investor associations.

We are grateful to the following partners for all their support:

Andra AP-fonden (AP2)

de Pury Pictet Turrettini

Everence Financial

Fondation Ethos

Investor Alliance for Human Rights

LBP AM

Miller/Howard Investments

SFG – Sustainable Finance Geneva

SHARE—Shareholder Association for Research and Education

Storebrand AM

Wespath

University Pension Plan Ontario