In Short
| Name | Stewart Investors Worldwide Leaders Sustainability Fund |
| Asset Class | Equity |
| Geography | Global |
| Theme/Sub-class | - |
| NordSIP Category | Core/Impact |
| Article 8/9 | Article 9 |
| Fund Profile | Available here |
| Hållbarhetsprofilen | - |
| Morning Star | Available here |
| Product/Strategy | Ireland-domiciled UCITS |
| ISIN | IE00BK1PN152 |
| Availability | Institutional investors in Europe, Canada and Hong Kong |
| Manager | Lead PM: Sashi Reddy; Co-PM: David Gait |
Strategy description
The Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies which both contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development, achieving positive social and environmental sustainable outcomes.
Positive social sustainability outcomes include the enablement of improved health and wellbeing; access to income-generating and enterprise opportunities; fair employment and workplace safety; access to education and learning opportunities; communication and access to information; financial inclusion; sustainable transport and mobility; better access to housing, water, sanitation and electricity; and social inclusion and reduced inequality.
Positive environmental sustainability outcomes include more careful, efficient and productive use of natural resources; reduced waste and improved waste management; the wider adoption of circular economy practices and measures; the adoption of renewable and cleaner energy technologies; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; reduced water, air and other environmental pollution; a slowing in the rate of land degradation, land use change and loss of forests and biodiversity; and measures and technologies that enable climate change adaptation and resilience.
The hallmarks of our investment strategy are an exclusive focus on companies that contribute to and benefit from sustainable development; a research-driven, fundamental, bottom-up approach to the selection and ongoing analysis of investments; a focus on the quality and sustainability attributes of every company; a focus on company stewardship and sound governance; a long-term investment horizon; and a commitment to engagement in order to address sustainability concerns and issues.
SRI Highlights
The Stewart Investors strategies available to European clients are aligned to SFDR Article 9 and we will report in line with these requirements.
Portfolio Explorer (updated quarterly on our website) provides the sustainability positioning of the companies we invest in across our regional and global strategies. Each company is mapped to Project Drawdown climate solutions, human development pillars and the Sustainable Development Goals. For each company we also provide our investment rationale, sustainability positioning, risks and areas for engagement.
Fund-level ESG/Sustainability reporting, outlining how the portfolios are contributing to social and environmental sustainable outcomes is also available on the website.
Currently Sustainalytics and RepRisk are the main external providers of ESG data – Stewart Investors use these services to validate in-depth analysis of companies. Stewart Investors also uses ISS for carbon foot printing and CDP for emissions data. ISS scenario reports are available to clients on request to meet our reporting obligations but are not used as part of the investment process. In addition, they use Net Purpose for impact and company level climate change targets data.
Competitive Advantage
The following factors differentiate Stewart Investors from their competitors.
Experience
First sustainability strategy launched in 2005
Long termism
- Some companies held > 20 years
- Ten-year horizon at point of investment
- Engaged relationships with investee companiesPositive impact
- Companies must contribute to sustainable development
- Sustainability analysis is integral to the investment process
- Engage and vote to improve sustainability outcomesPerformance
- Strong long-term absolute returns across cycles
- Significantly lower downside risk
Exclusions
International Norms: companies whose activities clearly infringe international agreements and which are complicit in human rights abuses (following the UN guiding principles and OECD guidelines).
Fossil fuel / Thermal coal: companies that derive over 10% of their revenues from the extraction of thermal coal, oil and gas companies whose production derived from oil sands is 1% or more of total production and extractives companies undertaking exploration and production activities in sensitive areas.
All Weapons including Anti-personnel mines, Cluster munitions, Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Weapons
Tobacco: companies that derive any turnover from the manufacture of tobacco products or derive 10% or more of turnover from the sale of tobacco products.
Gambling: companies whose core business is gambling, such as casinos or derive 10% or more of their total revenues from gambling, such as hotels or restaurants.
Pornography: companies involved in the production or distribution of pornographic materials or retailers that derive more than 3% of turnover from the sale of such material.
Alcohol: companies that derive any turnover from the production of alcoholic beverages, that derive over 33% of turnover from selling alcohol or derive over 10% from bottling, wholesale or sale.
