Fund Filters
Sustainability
Environmental policy
Sustainability policy
Limits exposure to carbon intensive industries
Resource efficiency policy or theme
Sustainable transport policy or theme
Sustainability theme or focus
Environmental damage and pollution policy
Favours cleaner, greener companies
Sustainability focus
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus
Report against sustainability objectives
Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship
Circular economy theme
Nature & Biodiversity
Deforestation / palm oil policy
Plastics policy / reviewing plastics
Unsustainable / illegal deforestation exclusion policy
Avoids genetically modified seeds/crop production
Genetic engineering exclusion
Climate Change & Energy
Nuclear exclusion policy
Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy
Invests in clean energy / renewables
Fracking and tar sands excluded
Clean / renewable energy theme or focus
Arctic drilling exclusion
Fossil fuel reserves exclusion
Energy efficiency theme
Require net zero action plan from all/most companies
Paris aligned fund strategy
Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion – indirect involvement
Targeted Positive Investments
EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy holdings 5-25% of fund assets
Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies
Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies
Human Rights
Human rights policy
Child labour exclusion
Responsible supply chain policy or theme
Social / Employment
Social policy
Health & wellbeing policies or theme
Favours companies with strong social policies
Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Water / sanitation policy or theme
Demographic / ageing population theme
Responsible food production or agriculture theme
Healthcare / medical theme
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Ethical policies
Animal welfare policy
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded
Armaments manufacturers avoided
Alcohol production excluded
Gambling avoidance policy
Pornography avoidance policy
Gilts / government bonds - exclude all
Animal testing - excluded except if for medical purposes
Governance & Management
Governance policy
Avoids companies with poor governance
Encourage board diversity e.g. gender
Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity
Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee
Asset Size & Metrics
Over 50% small / mid cap companies
Invests in small, mid and large cap companies
How The Fund Works
Balances company 'pros and cons' / best in sector
Limited / few ethical exclusions*
Positive selection bias
Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria
SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website
Assets mapped to SDGs
All assets (except cash) meet published sustain'y criteria
Impact Methodologies
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')
Measures positive impacts
Positive environmental impact theme
Positive social impact theme
Invests in environmental solutions companies
Invests in social solutions companies
Invests in sustainability / ESG disruptors
Described as an ‘impact investment fund’
Aim to deliver positive impacts through engagement
Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’
Labels & Accreditations
RSMR rated (OEIC funds only)
Eurosif Transparency
SFDR Article 9 fund / product (EU)
Intended Clients & Product Options
Faith friendly
Intended for investors interested in sustainability
Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact
Fund management company information
About The Business
ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)
Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)
Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)
Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)
Specialist positive impact fund management company
Boutique / specialist fund management company
Integrates ESG factors into all / most fund research
In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)
Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)
Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise
Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers
Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)
Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
UKSIF member
Climate Action 100+ or IIGCC member
Fund EcoMarket partner
GFANZ member (AFM company wide)
Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)
PRI A+ rated (AFM company wide)
B Corp certified (AFM company wide)
Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)
Engaging on climate change issues
Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues
Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues
Engaging on governance issues
Company Wide Exclusions
Review(ing)carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)
Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)
Coal divestment policy (AFM company wide)
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)
Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)
Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)
Carbon offsetting - offset carbon as part of our net zero plan (AFM company wide)
In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)
Publish 'CEO owned' Climate Risk policy (AFM company wide)
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)
Voting policy includes net zero targets (AFM company wide)
Committed to SBTi / Science Based Targets Initiative
Transparency
Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)
Full SRI policy information on company website
Full SRI policy information available on request
Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)
Dialshifter
This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by…
WHEB Asset Management LLP’s mission is to advance sustainability and create prosperity through positive impact investments.
Impact Investment:
We are an impact investor; which means we consider the positive social and environmental impact of our investments as a critical part of our investment process. We also measure and report the impact of our investments. When we consider impact, we consider the products or services created by the company. We also consider the way in which the company creates those products and services. This includes environmental, social and governance considerations.
Impact Criteria for the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund:
We are the manager of the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund (“the Fund”). The Fund invests in companies providing solutions to sustainability challenges and we apply this principle rigorously using fixed criteria: Specifically, at least half of the company’s revenues must be derived from businesses with positive impact related to our sustainability investment themes. As a consequence, over 80% of companies in the MSCI World Index do not qualify as investments for the Fund. The provision of solutions to sustainability challenges is by definition a positive impact activity. With approximately 85% of aggregate revenues coming from sustainability solutions, we are confident that the Fund’s overall impact is strongly positive.
Ethical Outcomes
In addition, when we analyse companies, we consider potential negative impacts associated with their products and services as well as their operations. We only invest in companies where we are clear on the overall positive impact of the business.
As a result of this approach, we have never invested in any company with activities substantially related to the provision of: alcoholic beverages, cosmetics where animal testing has been involved, gambling products or services, fossil-fuel exploration or production, intensive farming practices, nuclear power generation, pornographic materials, tobacco products, unsustainable timber products or weapons.
We consider these products to have a significant negative impact. Companies that have significant activities in these areas would not be considered to have an overall positive impact and would therefore be ineligible for investment[i].
Our investment process actively reviews the environmental, social and governance quality of a business. Companies with persistently poor practices regarding equal employment opportunities, human rights and environmental management are highly unlikely to be selected for investment. If a company is considered particularly weak on any single metric in our fundamental analysis profile, scoring a zero, it will not be qualified for investment.
Safeguards
Consideration of impact is central to our investment process. Our experienced Investment Team carries out all analysis of impact and environmental, social and governance factors. Additional tools that underpin and safeguard this approach include:
- A current list of the Fund’s holdings, along with a brief impact rationale for them, is always available on our website.
- Our internal Investment and Risk Committee reviews the Investment Team’s decisions on a monthly basis. Our independent Investment Advisory Committee reviews the decisions again every four months with a specific remit to consider the fund’s compliance with the stated positive impact philosophy, policies and objectives of the fund.
- The minutes of the meetings of the Investment Advisory Committee are published on the website and include a summary of the committee’s discussions of each stock purchased for the fund.
[1] We define ‘significant’ as more than 5% of revenues.
Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…
Consideration of climate change, both in terms of the risks and opportunities that it creates for companies held in our portfolio, has been a core part of the fund’s positioning since its inception.
The principle objective of the strategy is to invest in companies that are enabling and benefiting from the transition to a zero carbon and more sustainable economy. As a consequence, a <2 degree Celsius scenario is embedded in our investment strategy. We therefore believe the portfolio is highly aligned with an aggressive carbon reduction scenario (as, for example, set out in the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario).
Nonetheless, each year, we attempt to improve the way we approach and integrate these issues into our investment process and fund, based on improving knowledge and tools. For example, in 2020, WHEB was delighted to become a founding signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers[1] initiative and commit to a goal of net zero emissions from our investment portfolio by 2050 or sooner.
This initiative builds on the Net Zero Carbon 10 (NZC10) initiative that we became a member of in 2019. and also complements our own target to be a net zero carbon business by 2025, also set in 2019.
The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative represents a very significant undertaking. In it, WHEB has committed to have at least 50% of the emissions produced by WHEB investee companies covered by net zero carbon commitments by 2025 and by 2030 to have covered by such commitments.
Critically, under the initiative we have also committed to absolute carbon emission reductions. This includes having a net zero carbon portfolio by 2050 at the latest. We have also set an interim target to achieve absolute carbon reductions by 2030 that are consistent with a 50% global reduction in carbon emissions. This 50% reduction is what is considered necessary to achieve global net zero carbon emissions goal by 2050. These commitments cover WHEB’s entire investable assets. Our Net Zero Carbon Policy covering operational emissions can be found at https://www.whebgroup.com/media/2021/02/202004-NZC-Policy-Operational-emissions.pdf
[1] https://www.netzeroassetmanagers.org/