Francoise Chan, Executive Director at Intercontinental Trust Ltd (ITL), on ESG leadership, climate responsibility and the evolving role of management companies
Observed every year on 5 June, World Environment Day is a global call for collective action to protect the environment and accelerate sustainable change. This year’s theme places renewed focus on climate resilience, responsible growth and the urgent need for organisations across every sector to rethink how they operate in a rapidly changing world.
For the financial services industry, sustainability is no longer a peripheral issue. Climate change, governance standards, social responsibility and transparency are increasingly shaping investor expectations, regulatory frameworks and business resilience.
In this interview, Francoise Chan discusses how ITL Group, as one of the leading management companies in Mauritius, is embedding ESG principles into its operations, governance structures and long-term strategy. She also reflects on the growing role management companies must play in advancing sustainable finance globally.
1. At ITL, a key value is being “a responsible and sustainable organisation.” What does this mean in practice for your day-to-day operations and decision-making?
At ITL, being a responsible and sustainable organisation means sustainability is not treated as a separate issue, but embedded into the way our business is governed, how risks are managed, and how day-to-day decisions are made, from the governance structures we maintain and the environmental footprint we seek to reduce, to the culture of compliance and integrity we expect of everyone in the organisation.
Operationally, this means applying robust due diligence before and during business relationships, including Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and suspicious transaction reporting, alongside maintaining clear internal policies and standards relating to equal opportunity, conflict of interest, fair working conditions, and confidential channels through which employees can raise concerns. Responsibility towards our people means creating an environment where employees are protected, heard, and treated fairly. From a management perspective, it means ensuring that decisions are ethical, defensible, and aligned with long-term resilience rather than short-term convenience.
2. As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, how do its principles concretely influence ITL’s strategy and culture?
The United Nations Global Compact provides ITL with a recognised international framework for translating values into practical action. Its Ten Principles influence how we approach governance, human rights, labour standards, environmental responsibility, and anti-corruption, and these principles are reflected throughout our business strategy, corporate culture, and daily operations.
At a structural level, the UN Global Compact principles are embedded within ITL’s governance framework. Specific directors have been assigned responsibility for ESG matters at the highest level of the company, and this is reinforced by formal governance structures and committees that exercise direct influence at board level on these same issues. At a cultural level, the framework reinforces the idea that responsibility is shared across the organisation and cannot be confined to a single department.
On labour and human rights, these principles have translated into tangible policies, including our Equal Opportunity Policy, Hybrid Working Policy with flexitime provisions, as well as policies relating to wages, digital security, and privacy. Perhaps the most telling illustration of how these principles have taken root in practice is gender representation: in 2025, 62% of ITL’s managerial positions were held by women, a figure that reflects a culture that has genuinely embraced equality as a working reality. On anti-corruption, all employees receive annual training, and ITL participates in various industry committees including those of Financial Services Commission, Mauritius Finance, and the Ministry of Financial Services as part of collective efforts to strengthen anti-corruption practices within the sector.
In addition, ITL, represented by me, is a member of the UN Global Compact Network Mauritius and Indian Ocean Region (the Network). More broadly, the Network also shapes our priorities for the years ahead, including growing the ITL Foundation to support more social and environmental projects, strengthening talent retention initiatives, and recruiting disabled employees in the coming years. It also connects ITL’s internal efforts with broader global priorities, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
3. Mauritius is increasingly experiencing the effects of climate change, from droughts to coastal erosion. How has this shaped ITL’s approach to sustainability?
Operating in Mauritius means climate change is not an abstract issue, but a visible and growing reality within the national and regional environment in which we operate every day. Although ITL is a service company and does not have the same direct environmental footprint as an industrial operator, we recognise that the broader impacts of climate change still affect the economy, communities, and society as a whole, and this reality influences how we think about our own role and responsibilities.
Internally, we have taken practical steps to reduce our environmental impact, including the electrification of our fleet, increased digitalisation to reduce paper usage, and awareness initiatives around plastics pollution and battery collection. Externally, ITL supports environmental and community initiatives through the ITL Foundation, whose projects are aligned with the SDGs.
Our current approach is pragmatic and transparent. We focus on acting where we can credibly reduce our impact, supporting relevant initiatives, and gradually expanding those efforts over time. At the same time, we acknowledge that, as a service company, we are still at an earlier stage of formal environmental integration, and we believe transparency about this journey is, in itself, part of responsible behaviour. Climate pressures have increased both our awareness and our ambition, and formalising our environmental approach is an important part of where ITL is headed.
4. You’ve highlighted ITL’s ambition to lead in promoting ESG values. What does leadership in this space look like for a management company?
For a management company, ESG leadership is not simply about public positioning or statements. It is about setting a standard in how business is structured, governed, and monitored. It also means demonstrating that strong commercial performance and high governance standards can go hand in hand. Leadership in this space includes influencing the broader financial ecosystem through example, dialogue, and active participation in industry and regulatory initiatives, including our participation in various industry committees as mentioned.
At a structural level, leadership means having formal governance structures with direct influence at the highest company level across Human Rights, Labour, and Anti-Corruption matters. As mentioned, ESG oversight is not delegated downward, but embedded at board level. Leadership is also reflected internally in the way the company operates. Gender representation within ITL’s leadership is also a concrete illustration of this: it is ESG leadership that is visible within the fabric of the organisation, not limited to external commitments. It also extends to how the company behaves as an employer, a corporate citizen, and a service provider.
Ultimately, ESG leadership for a management company means accepting that the role carries a weight that goes beyond client service. It means building trust with clients, with regulators, with employees, and with the wider community. It means contributing actively to a financial services sector that is more transparent, more accountable, and better equipped to serve long-term sustainability outcomes. And it means recognising that the shift from administrative support to stewardship is not simply an evolution of function, but a deeper commitment to accountability.
5. How are ESG considerations integrated into your fund structuring and administration processes?
At ITL, ESG integration begins with governance, risk discipline, and strong control processes. In fund structuring and administration, this means ESG considerations are embedded through the way relationships and structures are assessed, approved, and monitored. The company applies rigorous onboarding and due diligence procedures, including KYC checks, compliance reviews, understanding counterparties and business relationships, and ongoing monitoring throughout the life of a structure.
Our compliance committee structure gives these principles practical application. It serves as the mechanism through which anti-corruption matters are investigated, reviewed, and used to strengthen organisational policies and practices. This institutional discipline is what makes governance meaningful in practice rather than theory. Existing controls relating to conflict management, anti-corruption, documentation, and review processes also form part of what responsible administration looks like in practice.
However, ESG integration remains an evolving process, and ITL is continuing to strengthen and formalise its approach to ensure that, as market expectations evolve, structures remain robust, transparent, and aligned with investor and regulatory expectations around responsible business conduct.
6. How do you influence clients and stakeholders to adopt more responsible and sustainable investment practices?
Influence begins with credibility. Clients and stakeholders are more likely to embrace responsible and sustainable practices when they see that their service provider applies high standards internally. ITL also influences through the conversations we have with clients and stakeholders around transparency, long-term risk, and the importance of good governance and responsible practices.
Our role is not to impose a particular ESG model, but rather to guide clients towards practices that are compliant, aligned with evolving global expectations, and sustainable over the long term. We also reinforce these messages through broader stakeholder engagement, including participation in industry and regulatory platforms such as the Financial Services Commission and the UN Global Compact, as well as through the visible work of the ITL Foundation.
Ultimately, ITL’s influence comes both from the services we deliver and from the example we set as an organisation.
7. What are the biggest challenges in embedding ESG within fund administration, and how do you address risks such as greenwashing?
One of the biggest challenges is materiality. In fund administration, ESG issues do not always present themselves in the same direct way as they might in an operating business with production or industrial impacts. The challenge is therefore determining where ESG is genuinely relevant and where it intersects with risk management, and stakeholder expectations.
Another major challenge is the pace at which the ESG landscape is evolving. Expectations from investors, regulators, and markets are increasing rapidly, while standards may differ across jurisdictions and counterparties may not all be at the same level of maturity.
This brings us to greenwashing, to which our response is to remain disciplined, evidence-based, and cautious at every stage. We rely on robust due diligence, clear policies and procedures, anti-corruption controls, and strong governance processes to ensure that what we communicate reflects what we do. But beyond process, we believe the most durable safeguard against greenwashing is cultural: it is an organisation that holds itself to high standards. All in all, a culture that prioritises substance over image is the most effective defence against the risk of saying more than you can stand behind.
8. As climate pressures intensify, how do you see the role of management companies evolving in driving sustainable finance globally?
Management companies are likely to play a far more strategic role in the years ahead. As climate pressures intensify, sustainable finance will depend not only on investors and policymakers, but also on the intermediaries responsible for structuring, overseeing, and monitoring financial products. The role of management companies will increasingly involve stronger governance, sharper due diligence, greater transparency, more discipline around ESG-related claims, and better alignment between regulatory expectations and operational realities. They will need to help bridge the gap between investor demand, regulatory developments, and what can be implemented credibly in practice.
In many ways, the role is evolving from administrative support towards stewardship and trust-building. For firms like ITL, this creates both a responsibility and an opportunity: the responsibility to help ensure that the financial ecosystem becomes more transparent, credible, and resilient; and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a system better aligned with long-term sustainability outcomes. Globally, management companies can become important enablers of sustainable finance, but only if they are willing to be held to the same standards of transparency, rigour, and integrity that they help apply to the structures they oversee. That is both the challenge and the opportunity that lies ahead, and it is one that ITL is committed to meeting.
