Asset classes

Our investment process has four components, summarised in the diagram below. These are: identifying attractive opportunities, thematic-company research, portfolio construction and engagement.

Our investment process

1. Identifying attractive opportunities: we use proprietary tools to compute an forecasted return and a sustainability rating for every stock. The sustainability rating establishes the extent to which a company’s core business is helpful or harmful to society or the environment. In addition, the rating assesses whether a company has appropriate structures, policies and practices in place for managing their social, environmental and governance risks. We then rank the stocks by their forecasted return and sustainability rating.

2. Thematic company research: our analysts conduct thematic research from both an industry-wide and company-specific perspective. This involves a thorough understanding of key environmental, social and governance issues that materially impact on a company’s profitability; and which are undervalued by the market.

3. Portfolio construction: our fund managers are responsible for portfolio construction. They determine the optimal weight of a stock based on analysts’ research conviction, risk modelling, and their own judgement.

4. Engagement: we promote environmental sustainability and social wellbeing where we consider that this is either aligned with the improvement of financial performance or risk management.