Fund Name | SRI Style | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brown Advisory US Sustainable Growth Fund | Sustainability Select | SICAV/Offshore* | USA | Equity | 03/04/2017 | |
As at: 31/12/23 |
||||||
OverviewRequested update from fund manager - Fund last updated April 2022
The Brown Advisory U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund is based on long-term fundamental, bottom-up stock picking. The Fund seeks competitive risk-adjusted returns over a full market cycle through a concentrated portfolio of companies that we believe offer durable fundamental strengths, sustainable competitive advantages and compelling valuations. These companies are building powerful business models on a foundation of Sustainable Business
|
||||||
FiltersFund informationSustainabilityEnvironmental policy Sustainability policy Limits exposure to carbon intensive industries Resource efficiency policy or theme Sustainability theme or focus Environmental damage and pollution policy Favours cleaner, greener companies UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy Sustainability focus UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus Report against sustainability objectives Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship Climate Change & EnergyNuclear 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 Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity Targeted Positive InvestmentsInvests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies Human RightsHuman rights policy Child labour exclusion Responsible supply chain policy or theme Social / EmploymentSocial policy Health & wellbeing policies or theme Diversity, equality & inclusion Policy (fund level) Favours companies with strong social policies Meeting Peoples' Basic NeedsWater / sanitation policy or theme Ethical Values Led ExclusionsTobacco and related product manufacturers excluded Armaments manufacturers avoided Alcohol production excluded Gambling avoidance policy Pornography avoidance policy Gilts / government bonds - exclude all Gilts / government bonds - exclude some Animal testing - excluded except if for medical purposes Civilian firearms production exclusion Governance & ManagementGovernance policy Anti-bribery and corruption policy Avoids companies with poor governance Digital / cyber security policy Encourage board diversity e.g. gender Encourage TCFD alignment for banks & insurance companies UN sanctions exclusion Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity Fund GovernanceESG integration strategy Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee Asset Size & MetricsOver 50% large cap companies Invests in small, mid and large cap companies Invests mostly in large cap companies How The Fund WorksBalances company 'pros and cons' / best in sector Positive selection bias Negative selection bias Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria ESG weighted / tilt Focus on ESG risk mitigation SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website Assets mapped to SDGs Impact MethodologiesAims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes') Measures positive impacts Invests in environmental solutions companies Invests in social solutions companies Invests in sustainability / ESG disruptors Labels & AccreditationsRSMR rated (OEIC funds only) Eurosif Transparency SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU) Intended Clients & Product OptionsIntended for investors interested in sustainability Available via an ISA (OEIC only) Portfolio SRI / ESG options available (DFMs) Multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options available (DFMs) Bespoke SRI / ESG portfolios available (DFMs) Fund management company informationAbout The BusinessESG / 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) Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide) 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) ResourcesIn-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 & AffiliationsPRI signatory Climate Action 100+ or IIGCC member AccreditationsPRI A+ rated (AFM company wide) Engagement ApproachRegularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide) Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide) Company Wide ExclusionsReview(ing)carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide) Climate & Net Zero TransitionEncourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide) Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide) In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide) TransparencyPublish 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 Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide) |
||||||
PolicyThe strategy intends to invest in companies with measurable ESG outcomes, as determined by Brown Advisory, and seeks to screen out particular companies and industries. In addition to our proprietary and qualitative ESG analysis, we rely on a third-party provider to apply a rules-based screening process which seeks to identify companies that may have controversial business involvement, as determined by Brown Advisory.
|
||||||
ProcessIntegrated ESG Research One of the managers’ means of discerning the companies that are likely to outperform the broad market over the long term is to find fundamentally strong companies that are using sustainability drivers to add value for shareholders. We refer to these specific sustainability drivers as Sustainable Business Advantages or ‘SBA’. There are three distinct ways companies can use SBA to improve their financial position:
Research includes a business-focused assessment of the company’s sustainably driven opportunities, such as particular product lines which satisfy demand for an environmental solution, or a business model whose sustainable attributes contribute to a revenue, cost or overall competitive advantage to the company. Sustainable Business Advantages make great companies even better and add to bottom line performance. The financial impact of these sustainability drivers is not easily extracted from the financial data available to most investors. As a result, many investment managers are not well-equipped to understand how a company’s prospects are likely to be influenced by exogenous factors such as the firm’s operating environment, changing consumer preferences, or natural resource constraints. In addition to their SBA and Sustainable Opportunity analysis, the ESG/Sustainable research analysts complete a thorough ESG risk assessment of every company in our pipeline of potential investments and all investments active in our equity strategies, with the goal of uncovering any undesired risks associated with the company that might not be revealed by a traditional investment research approach. The portfolio managers utilise their own expertise as well as independent third-party ESG research. The managers develop a proprietary view on over 30 factors, including:
In addition to meetings with management, competitors and customers, the team has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt. |
||||||
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate StrategiesBrown Advisory has 25 colleagues who are wholly or predominantly dedicated to our sustainable Investing practice. These colleagues are embedded into the firm’s institutional or private client, endowment and foundation businesses. We have not seen any departures from this team in the last 12 months, rather we have added to it and plan to continue strengthening the team in the years ahead. Brown Advisory has had Sustainable Investing expertise at the firm since the firm’s founding. Our first dedicated Sustainable strategy was launched in 2009, and we began formalising our ESG research team with the hire of Emily Dwyer in 2014. Members of our sustainable investing team include:
Investment Leadership
ESG Research
Private Client, Endowment and Foundations Sustainable Investing Solutions
Brown Advisory has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt.
We also utilise our partnerships to contribute to and benefit from thought leadership in the following coalitions and memberships within which we have participated over the past year:
We continually enhance and improve this process year over year by capturing new forms of data.
Brown Advisory has also established a Sustainable Investing Advisory Board. This board was established to help us focus on our business strategy as we build out our sustainable investing capabilities beyond our ESG focused strategies. Among the strategic guidance that this board provides, they advise our investment teams as to how they might consider incorporating ESG factors into investment decisions in ways that have clear fundamental benefits. The board includes members from Brown Advisory, as well as external sustainable investing experts. Please see here for board members. |
||||||
Literature
Last amended: 22/01/24 06:58 |
This report is for information purposes only and is intended to complement existing services used by UK based financial advisers only. sriServices is not authorised to give investment advice. The information on this site does not in any way constitute advice, recommendation or endorsement of any product or service. Investment decisions should not be based on this information alone. sriServices cannot be held in any way responsible for decisions made or advice offered as a result of using this site.
Whilst we take care to ensure information is as accurate as possible at time of publication we recommend you/financial advisers confirm specific fund details with fund providers. Please see www.sriServices.co.uk for additional information and for our contact details.
© Copyright sriServices 2024
05/03/2024