Modern Slavery

Opening statement from senior management

River and Mercantile is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within its business and supply chain.

Structure of the organisation

River and Mercantile is a client focused asset management specialist working closely with clients in the UK, Europe, and North America. River and Mercantile Group Limited (the “Company”) is the ultimate parent of a group of companies (the “Group”), which includes River and Mercantile Asset Management LLP.

The Group’s head office is based at 30 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AL.

Procedures

As part of our efforts to monitor and reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring within our supply chains, we apply a risk-based approach and review our largest suppliers and those suppliers who we deem operate in a sector where the risk of slavery and human trafficking is higher for compliance with the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”). This review includes:

the review of their modern slavery statements
a review of their modern slavery policies
a detailed questionnaire to understand organisational measures designed to prevent slavery and human trafficking (only for those who are deemed to operate in a higher risk sector or jurisdiction).

Our procedures are designed to:

establish and assess areas of potential risk in our business and supply chains
monitor potential risk areas in our business and supply chains
reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains

Risk and compliance

The Group will at least annually evaluate the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of modern slavery occurring in its supply chain in accordance with the procedures outlined above. We do not consider that we operate in high-risk sectors or locations because of the nature of our business. Many of our suppliers are financial and professional services organisations, including banks, information service providers, lawyers and accountants. Other suppliers include providers of IT equipment, cleaning services, printing and consumables.

Given the nature of the services that we offer and the goods and services that we procure, the Company’s board of directors considers that the risk of slavery or human trafficking in our business and its supply chain is low. The employment and procurement practices operated by the business ensure that it is viewed as an excellent employer. We expect a high level of ethical conduct from our employees and those businesses who we engage with. We protect the rights of our employees through our employment policies and practices, which prohibit discrimination and encourage diversity.

Where we have identified a potential risk, such risks will be investigated in accordance with our anti-slavery policy and remediated and mitigated as soon as possible.

Sign-off

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Group's anti-slavery and human trafficking statement for the current 2021/2022 financial year.

Alex Hoctor-Duncan, Chief Executive Officer
River and Mercantile Group Limited

Approved in May 2022 (updated July 2022)