Our investment philosophy of owning best in class companies has always been well aligned with principles of responsible investing. We have the view that companies which adhere to best industry practices on issues related to environment, social and governance (ESG) norms, benefit from these practices in the long run. Over time we have worked to define more specifically what a Socially Responsible portfolio would look like and have used the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing (UNPRI) as a guide. The Global Reporting Initiative has also been incredibly useful in quantifying risks associated with Responsible Investing and it continues to expand to better enable us in our efforts.
The UNPRI covers Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues with an emphasis on encouraging disclosure, defining targets and continued progress towards those targets. The GRI is a common global framework that companies can adopt to measure certain ESG factors (eg. greenhouse gases). We believe in this approach which emphasizes transparency and positive engagement through shareholder involvement. With that in mind, segregated client portfolios allow us to exclude any companies or industries which may contravene a client’s values or beliefs.