OMR EdenTree European Equity Life
SRI Style:
Sustainable Style
SDR Labelling:
-
Product:
Life
Fund Region:
Europe ex UK
Fund Asset Type:
Equity
Launch Date:
17/10/2008
Last Amended:
Jun 2025
Dialshifter (
):
Fund Size:
£0.27m
(as at: 30/09/2021)
ISIN:
GB00B3DD1H06
Objectives:
The Fund’s aim is to achieve long-term capital growth over five years or more with an income through a diversified portfolio of European (ex-UK) companies. The EdenTree European Equity Fund aims to invest at least 80% in European (ex-UK) companies by investing in companies which make a positive contribution to society and the environment through sustainable and socially responsible practices.
Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:
As mentioned above, this fund invests in companies which make a positive contribution to society and the environment through sustainable and socially responsible practices. The fund seeks to invest at least 70% in companies which the Manager believes operate sustainable businesses. It will therefore identify companies with positive sustainable business characteristics, by following EdenTree’s Sustainability Approach. This approach assesses, in a systematic way, multiple dimensions of sustainability, making for a rounded assessment of a company’s practices. Companies with material exposures to particular aspects of sustainability are assessed more closely on those topics.
Primary fund last amended:
Jun 2025
Information directly from fund manager.
Fund Filters
Sustainability - General
Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.
Find funds which substantially focus on sustainability issues
Find funds that have documented policies or thematic investment approaches relating to investment in more sustainable, greener transport methods. These will typically set out a preference for companies that run, enable or support more sustainable methods of transport. See fund information for further detail.
A core element of these funds aim to encourage higher sustainability standards across business practices through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/
The delivery of the shift to a sustainable future is a core feature of this fund and its investment strategy. See eg https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/
Fund has a theme or investment strand focused on the shift to a circular economy (where products are reused and recycled not incinerated or dumped). See eg https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview
Environmental - General
Funds that have policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out the fund's stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Funds that limit or 'reduce' their exposure to carbon intensive industries (ie sectors which are major contributors to climate change. Funds vary - some funds may be 'underweight' in this area which means they may have some investment in highly carbon intensive areas. Funds of this kind may choose companies they consider to be 'best in sector' and encourage ever higher standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further details.
Funds that have written policies explaining the approach they take when companies damage the environment or are significant polluters. Funds of this kind may work with companies to encourage higher standards, or exclude companies - sometimes dependent on the situation. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Find funds that have a policy or theme that relates to managing natural resources more efficiently. Funds with this policy will be likely to favour companies that make (or enable the) more efficient use of resources - and either avoid or encourage change amongst companies with lower standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Funds that aim to invest in companies with strong or market leading environmental policies and practices. Strategies vary - in particular the balance between 'financial' aspects and environmental benefits. Some may invest substantially in solutions or 'positive impact' companies - others may invest in more conventional companies providing certain environmental criteria are met. See fund information for further detail.
Find funds that have a written policy or theme on waste management - typically a view to encouraging higher levels of recycling and better efficiency / reducing waste.
Nature & Biodiversity
Find funds that have a written biodiversity policy or theme aimed at encouraging and improving environmental protection and safeguarding the natural world (sometimes referred to as the preservation or enhancement of 'natural capital'). See eg https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity
A significant focus on investments that aim to protect, improve and, or restore natural habitat.
Find funds that have policies in place designed to ensure they do not invest in companies that are significantly involved in deforestation. This typically relates to palm oil plantations where biodiversity loss is a major concern (as well as other issues). Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Find funds that have policies in place explaining that they avoid companies involved in illegal and/or unsustainable deforestation. This may relate to palm oil, cattle farming or other concerns. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Fund has a responsible palm oil policy which is likely to focus on the producers of palm oil and deforestation issues with a view to informing investment decisions (and / or engagement) to support and encourage high standards.
Fund has a sustainable fisheries policy that will inform where it can and can not invest
Fund has a policy which sets out their expectations for how investee assets should manage water
Climate Change & Energy
Funds that have policies (documented strategies that explain their position on) climate change related issues such as greenhouse gas/carbon emissions, net zero, transitioning to lower carbon. Strategies vary. Read fund details for further information.
Funds that avoid investing in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Funds vary: some may exclude all companies that extract oil. Others may have exposure to oil extraction via more diversified energy companies. See fund literature to confirm details.
Funds that avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Funds that avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions. See fund literature for further details.
Funds that avoid investing in companies with coal, oil and gas reserves. See fund information for further details.
Find funds where investment in clean / renewable energy companies an other assets is central to their investment selection strategy. The proportion of the fund that is directly or indirectly invested in renewable energy varies between funds and over time. See fund information for further details.
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage the transition to lower carbon activities through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Fund funds that have an energy efficiency theme - typically meaning that a fund manager is focused on investing in organisations that manage - or help others to manage - energy use more carefully and less wastefully - and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Funds that hold companies in the clean energy and renewable energy sectors (at the time research was supplied). Fund strategies vary, in particular the proportion of investment in these areas may vary significantly. Check fund literature for details.
Find funds that have policies which say they avoid or limit their investment in the nuclear industry. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Fund has a supply chain decarbonisation policy which sets out its position on the need to reduce carbon emissions throughout the investment chain. This will inform where the manager can and can not invest.
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
This fund has a strategy that aims ensure its holdings will gradually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The ultimate aim is to achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary. Read fund information.
Find funds that require all, or almost all, of the companies it invests in to have a ‘net zero action plan’ - meaning that the companies they invest in have worked out how they will, over time, reduce their total carbon (and other greenhouse gas) emissions to nil.
Social / Employment
Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards
Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information.
Find funds with policies or themes that set out their approach to health and wellbeing issues. Funds of this kind typically aim to invest in companies with high standards - or encourage high standards. Themed funds are likely to have more of an emphasis on this area. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Find individual funds that have a written diversity policy – where the fund manager will aim to select companies with a carefully considered, sound approach to diversity. This should ideally cover a range of issues including gender, ethnicity, disability, beliefs, sexual orientation, etc.
All mining companies excluded
Fund has a policy aimed at protecting vulnerable workers such as those on zero hour / informal contracts working in the gig economy
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Find funds that exclude companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.
Find funds that avoid companies with military contracts of any kind. This may include medical supplies, food, safety equipment, housing, etc. Fund strategies vary. See fund liteterature for more information.
Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.
Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.
Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information.
Find funds with policies that require specific animal welfare standards to be met. These may reference well-known welfare standards (3Rs - Replace, Reduce, Refine) or certification schemes. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Find funds that avoid companies that test their products on animals for purposes other than medical benefit (e.g. for cosmetics). Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Human Rights
Find funds that have policies relating to human rights issues. Funds of this kind typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some fund managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Find funds that have policies in place to ensure they do not invest in companies that employ children.
Find funds with policies that exclude companies or other assets where regimes are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that have policies or a theme that relates to the responsible management of supply chains. These may relate to employment issues, notably people employed by their suppliers, as well as the sourcing of materials and products. See fund literature for further information.
The fund has a policy which excludes assets with involvement in Modern Slavery
Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Find funds that have policies or themes that set out their position on investment in the water sector and/or sanitation. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Healthcare and or medical theme or area of investment - the fund may have a single theme or many themes
Fund has a policy on ‘antimicrobial resistance’ - which is when organisms that cause infection can survive treatment - which is commonly associated with the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming and a threat to our health.
Banking & Financials
Find funds that include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.
Find fund managers that only invest in banks and other financial institutions that implement the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures recommendations on climate change related financial disclosures - which aim to help financial markets measure and respond to climate risk.
Will avoid banks that have a large part of their loan book (or other assets) invested in fossil fuels companies - particular coal, oil and gas.
Find funds that avoid investing in insurance companies that insure major fossil fuels companies – particularly coal, oil and gas. Strategies (eg definition of ‘major’) vary. See fund literature for further information.
Funds that do or may invest in insurance companies.
Governance & Management
Find fund options that have policies that relate to corporate governance issues such as board structure, executive remuneration, bribery and/or corporate corruption. These funds will typically avoid companies with poor practices. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that aim to avoid investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards. See fund literature for further information.
Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list
Find funds that have policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination. See fund literature for further information.
Fund managers encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)
Find fund managers that encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity
The fund manager requires the companies they invest in to report on climate risks that are relevant to their business in their report and accounts
Fund Governance
Find funds that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature.
Environmental, social and governance issues are part of this fund’s reporting of their ‘value’ to clients. AoV reporting is a statutory requirement. Including ESG factors in its calculation is not.
Asset Size
Find a fund that invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational)companies.
Targeted Positive Investments
Find funds that invest >25% of their capital towards companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.
Find funds that invest >50% of their capital in companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.
Impact Methodologies
Find funds that specifically set out to help deliver positive environmental impacts, benefits or 'real world' outcomes.
Find funds that specifically state that they aim to deliver positive social (i.e. people related) impacts and/or outcomes.
Find funds that direct investment towards companies where a major part of their business is about solving environmental challenges. e.g. companies helping to address climate change.
Find funds that invest in companies where a major part of their business is specifically aimed at helping to address social challenges. e.g. companies helping to address poverty.
Find funds that specifically set out to invest in companies that are regarded as 'disrupting' existing business practices - typically through the development of innovative (sustainability aware) products and/or practices.
Fund aims to deliver positive environmental and or social impacts (real world benefits) through its engagement with investee assets
This fund has an explanation of the way in which the manager believes things need to change in order to deliver a more sustainable future, which they are working to help achieve.
How The Fund Works
Find funds that focus on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.
Find funds where their main approach is to apply positive or negative ethical, social and / or environmental screens. Strictly screened funds are likely to exclude more companies than other related fund options. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that invest more heavily in those that have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to a fund's strategy you should expect it to invest in most sectors. Strategies vary.
Aims to avoid companies that do significant harm. This originates from the EU’s sustainable finance ‘DNSH’ (do no significant harm) work, which is not necessarily used by UK investors.
Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.
Find funds that have an ESG strategy (which is typically focused on avoiding companies that pose environmental, social or governance related risks) with additional criteria such as positive and/or negative screens, themes and stewardship strategies.
A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).
Find funds that have published explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. fund decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).
This fund does not use stock lending for performance or risk purposes.
Unscreened Assets & Cash
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets
All assets held in the fund - except cash - meet the sustainability criteria published in fund documentation.
Intended Clients & Product Options
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Find funds designed for clients who care about ethical and values-based issues, often alongside sustainability issues also.
Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.
Fund Management Company Information
About The Business
Find fund management companies that are smaller or specialise in particular areas - notably, ideally ESG related. Strategies vary.
Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.
Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.
Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)
Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.
Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.
The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.
Find fund management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an in-house (company wide) diversity improvement programme - meaning that they are working to ensure that within their own businesses they employ people from diverse backgrounds - often typically focused on ethnicity and/or sex.
Find fund management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).
Asset manager has information on their website that explains how they treat 'vulnerable clients' (as set out in FCA regulation)
This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).
Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.
Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)
Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)
Collaborations & Affiliations
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
Find fund management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association
Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/
Resources
Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.
Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.
Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.
Accreditations
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'
Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.
Engagement Approach
Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.
Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.
Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global
Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)
Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets
working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.
Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets
Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards
Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.
Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term.
Company Wide Exclusions
Find fund management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.
Find fund management companies that avoid investment in fossil fuel companies (e.g. coal, oil and gas) across all of their funds. (and/ or other assets.)
This asset manager excludes direct investment in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.
Asset management company excludes companies with fossil fuel reserves across all assets/funds
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Fund management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.
Fund manager AGM / EGM voting strategy has processes in place that mean they will normally be expected to vote in a way that will encourage the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.
See https://sciencebasedtargets.org/
Transparency
Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.
Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Find fund management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.
Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:
Sustainability Approach
Companies operating as sustainable businesses
The Fund seeks to invest at least 70% in companies identified which operate sustainable businesses. Following EdenTree’s Sustainability Approach, these companies are assessed in a systematic way, considering multiple dimensions of social and environmental sustainability to encompass a rounded assessment of a company’s practices
Sustainability criteria and themes
The suitability of potential assets is assessed across six key areas of sustainable business practice: Climate Change & Environment, Employment & Labour, Human Rights, Business Ethics, Community and Corporate Governance. In addition, investments aligned to the following sustainability themes are also favoured: Education & Financial Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing, Sustainable Solutions, and Social Infrastructure
Excluded sectors and activities:
- The Fund will avoid investment in companies which have a material involvement (10% or more) in alcohol and tobacco production, conventional weapon production, gambling, publication of violent or explicit materials, intensive farming, fossil fuel exploration and production and high interest (sub-prime) lending.
- It will also avoid companies that have exposure to the manufacture of unconventional weapons, where these are defined as nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, land mines and cluster bombs.
- The Fund will seek to avoid companies using animals to test cosmetics, beauty or household products.
Oppressive Regimes
- The Fund will avoid companies and governments with material operations in oppressive regimes.
- The Fund’s proprietary means of assessing oppressive regime risk is based on an assessment by Freedom House and Transparency International and operates on a case-by-case basis.
- For further information on our screening process please see Oppressive Regimes.
Process:
Our responsible and sustainable criteria form a core part of our investment approach and are integrated into our stock selection and management processes. Our dedicated in-house team of responsible investment (RI) analysts considers each of our investments on the basis of their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials and long-term sustainable return potential. We believe that those companies which have a well-developed approach to managing ESG risk are more likely to offer good quality, long-term investment potential.
We pride ourselves on our independent thought and analysis and are not afraid to adopt positions which do not conform to conventional thinking or prevailing consensus. We do not have model portfolios or preferred stock lists, preferring to give fund managers the flexibility and responsibility to implement investment strategies that best match the needs of our investors. Finally, our investment process places a strong emphasis on portfolio diversification at all levels, including geographical, sector, company size and investment theme, with the aim of reducing risk. Please see below the summary of the Fund’s investment process:
Stock Selection
We look for businesses that are out of favour but intrinsically sound, and where a change in circumstance or economic conditions will bring about a recovery both in company fundamentals and improved investor sentiment, thus leading to superior returns. We actively look to invest in companies which we believe have strong sustainable characteristics and this will then then be confirmed by our robust and comprehensive screening process managed by our Responsible investment team.
As value-orientated investors, we are seeking to buy undervalued companies which nonetheless have the ability to generate strong profits and cashflows and to grow these over time. Often taking a contrarian view from the ‘investment’ herd, we seek out-of-favour businesses, with robust balance sheets, and an underappreciated potential to enhance cashflows and create value for long term investors.
Identification of potential opportunities starts with a quantitative approach to find companies which appear cheap in terms of forward valuation multiples, which is followed by more in-depth analysis of both quantitative and qualitative factors to ensure the companies are not ‘value traps’, but have strong business franchises, so can maintain and grow these cashflows. Each prospective holding is subject to our Responsible & Sustainable screening process which helps to develop a more holistic view of a company using a wider mosaic of information which informs our understanding of the opportunities and risks associated with each holding.
The companies we invest in can be seen to fall into one of three broad buckets:
- Income Accumulators: unfashionable businesses with strong free cash generation operating in relatively mature industry but which nonetheless should continue to grow over time.
- Contrarian Plays: businesses suffering from short term challenges but where we believe that these fears are overstated, and there are strong grounds to believe the businesses will recover.
- Hidden Value: businesses which are seen as mature businesses but where the market has overlooked longer term structural growth opportunities from new technology or new market opportunities.
Our value-orientation naturally draws us to focus on companies on attractive valuation multiplies, although this is far from the only consideration. We also look for companies which have strong market positions, re-invest back into the business (whether that be in terms of growth investment in capital equipment, innovation, brand or people), as well as looking for opportunities to benefit from longer-term structural trends, particularly in terms of sustainable solutions but also in terms of scientific and technological advances.
We may use various quantitative tools to screen particular areas of the investment universe once a compelling structural trend has been identified, in order to identify potential valuation anomalies. This may be conducted to evaluate relative valuation of a prospective idea.
When assessing potential candidates for the Fund, we place particular importance on three attributes:
- the company is capable of delivering strong short to medium-term cashflows
- the company is in a good position to grow revenues over the medium to long term
- the business aligns well with our Responsible & Sustainable approach to investment
These steps are not mutually exclusive, but they help us to determine the investment thesis and whether the valuation is attractive enough to offer enough upside potential to compensate for potential downside risks. The degree of upside that we look for in a new equity investment will vary depending on factors such as market capitalisation, visibility of earnings with preference given the cash returns in the near term, the stability of earnings in different economic and market environments, and the degree of leverage within the business.
Fundamental investment analysis and decision-making process
Assessment of upside potential
Our approach to the fundamental analysis of a company will be tailored to best suit the type of company we are investing in and its present circumstances. However, an emphasis on assessment of the ability of the company to generate high and sustainable cashflows which can be returned to shareholders and the outlook for the company given the prevailing macroeconomic conditions is common across holdings. We believe it is important to remain flexible about valuation techniques; they each have strengths and weaknesses, and the intention is to build a robust framework of information and to avoid simply choosing measures that satisfy confirmation bias.
- For Income Accumulators, we are interested in established companies operating in relatively stable markets which generate an attractive level of earnings and cashflow enabling them to pay a high and growing level of income through dividends (or via share buybacks though flexible nature of these payments would generally mean we would place less emphasis on them). In considering the sustainability of income payouts we would consider both financial and business factors. In our examination of financial factors, we would concentrate on fundamental analysis in areas such as earnings and cashflow coverage, the strength of the balance sheet (both in terms of the level of leverage and refinancing risk), historic stability of revenues and earnings margins, pricing power and the degree of inflation protection. In terms of the business, we would look at more qualitative factors such as the quality of the management, their market position, that they are maintaining the strength of their franchise through investment in innovation, brand, workforce, etc, as well as the degree to which the business face competitive or structural threats and opportunities. In general, these are companies which will tend to have a lower risk profile, we expect to offer stable, but growing, income streams and provide a stable base for the wider portfolio.
- For Contrarian Plays, we focus on catalysts for a re-rating, such as an increase in cashflow and earnings (which may be company-specific or related to the industry or economic cycle – e.g. for banks) that have potential to drive margin improvements, multiple expansion and reversion to mean valuations across a sector (or historical averages).
- For Hidden Value, we seek to understand the nature of the opportunity, the impact of an innovation or strategic shift of the business’s efficiency or new market opportunity (e.g. alternative energy and sustainability markets), conducting scenarios for growth in cashflows (the incremental cost of growing revenues, plus prevailing macro trends), employing techniques such as discounted cashflow and earnings growth analysis, as well as forecasts of prospective returns on operating assets. This bucket has the potential to generate the highest levels of alpha.
Assessment of downside risk
By investing in companies trading on low valuations, the Fund often takes contrarian positions which go against the prevailing consensus for the outlook for businesses. This could potentially lead to the risk of investment in companies in poor financial health or which are structurally challenged (value traps).
To minimise this risk, the investment process includes focused analysis of.
- The balance sheet, cash requirements and refinancing needs of companies facing short term negative trading conditions.
- An assessment of the outlook for the company in terms of the danger there will be no short- to medium-term improvement in operating conditions and the extent to which economic and market development may impact on product demand and the profitability of the business.
- Responsible Investment screening, which can highlight potential ESG risks and opportunities, and those the business may face as a result to the shift towards a more sustainable economy.
The team believes the extra layer of due diligence provided by the Responsible Investment Team provides potential informational advantages, which is especially important given the Fund invests in companies that have been neglected or priced for poor outcomes.
Historical governance analysis may also be reflected in our assessment of the financial health of the company; propensity for off balance sheet leverage or future contingent liabilities. Similarly, the governance and remuneration reports can enable a broader assessment of the underlying drivers and sources of cash generation, capital expenditure requirements. Key KPIs around remuneration framework can provide insight as to how free cash flow will be deployed, i.e. M&A, dividends, buybacks etc. enabling the analyst to undertake a thorough examination of a company’s willingness and ability to pay dividends.
More broadly, in considering a company’s management quality, we assess Board independence, tenure, and experience, in order to assess the focus on shareholder value, organisational culture to deliver future potential. The process outlined above will typically involve a meeting or call with management as part of the due diligence process.
Quantitative screens typically contain a wide range of metrics in order to get a full picture regarding the source of valuation anomaly, including but not restricted to: fundamental metrics such as free cash flow (FCF) yield, Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), Net Debt/EBITDA, and Interest Cover, as well as valuation metrics such as EV/EBITDA, Price to Earnings and Price to Book. It must also be noted that quantitative analysis is only part of the overall due diligence process that goes into identifying prospective investments and typically forms the basis of consensus data gathering. Typically, quantitative screens will not reflect our estimates from our proprietary insights.
Portfolio Construction
The Fund’s investment process is primarily driven by bottom up, value orientated, stock picking. The Fund’s intention is to create a well-diversified portfolio in terms of countries, industrial sectors and at an individual stock level consisting of a portfolio of 50-70, With no stock accounting for more than 5% of a fund (and a soft cap which involves not adding to any holding which accounts for more than 3% of the Fund and generally looking to take profits when holdings exceed this amount). We strongly believe in the merits of low portfolio turnover, believing that high trading activity acts as a drag on performance. There is a desire to ensure a broadly diversified portfolio in terms of geographic, industry and sector allocations and whilst there are no set constraints, the Fund is subject to extensive risk modelling to ensure it is not overly exposed to any of these factors. At a higher level we will consider the exposure of the Fund to defensives, cyclicals and financials.
Over time the tilt of the portfolio will change depending on our views on financial and economic conditions as well as underlying valuations of the various market segments which will mean the behaviour of the Fund towards differing economic conditions will change over time. At its heart, the positioning of the Fund will be driven by stock picking with areas of the market which offer the best opportunities to invest in companies at low valuations, strong cash flow characteristics and good market positions having the highest weightings.
Sell Discipline
Each company in the portfolio undergoes regular review with the fund manager making a decision based on the valuation, business fundamentals, economic and financial and investment environment as well as how it sits with the overall portfolio, and whether it should remain. The portfolio is subject to regular review by our CIO and analysis by the investment oversight committee, headed by the Head of Investment Risk Management to ensure that the Fund Manager is not undertaking any excessive or undue concentration, stock specific, sector or country risk. Any previously invested stocks which fail the ongoing screening process will be sold in a timely fashion taking account of market conditions to ensure this is in the best interests of the clients. All holdings must be divested within a 3-month time frame but normally the sells will be carried out in a much more timely fashion. There have been no deviations from this process.
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:
The five person Responsible Investment (RI) Team is part of the wider Investment Team, and provides the specialist in-house resource for ESG screening, engagement, voting and thought-leadership. All members of the Investment Team are required to have an understanding of responsible and sustainable investing, and to include this into their thinking and analysis for the Responsible & Sustainable & Green fund range. The RI analysis is subject to peer review by the whole team with agreed sign off to ensure quality control and consistency. Our dedicated RI Team biographies are detailed below:
- Carlota Esguevillas, Head of Responsible Investment – Prior to joining the firm, Carlota worked for a leading sustainability consultancy advising global companies on their ESG strategies and disclosures. She holds a First-Class Honours BA in Geography from Oxford University, a master’s certificate with distinction in Business & Human Rights from Bergen University, and the Investment Management Certificate (IMC). She is also a member of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association’s (UKSIF) Industry Development Committee.
- Amelia Gaston, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Amelia holds a BA in Geography from Durham University and previously worked as a Responsible Investment Analyst at LGPS Central, one of the UK Pension Pools. Amelia holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. She leads EdenTree’s work on climate and environmental issues.
- Hayley Grafton, Senior Responsible Investment Analyst – Hayley leads on the firm's approach to corporate governance and proxy voting. She holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC), and is a member of the StePs (Stewardship Professionals) Association. Previously, Hayley worked at Mercer, where she focused on the firm's stewardship approach and activity across portfolio funds in her role as a Sustainable Investment Specialist.
- Cordelia Dower-Tylee, Responsible Investment Analyst – Cordelia holds an MA in History from the University of Edinburgh, and a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from the University of Cambridge. She has previously worked with the International Water Management Institute and has experience in a green-focused corporate advisory firm. She leads EdenTree’s environmental work, with an emphasis on water, and supports the company’s work on governance.
- Aaron Cox, Impact Strategist – Aaron joined EdenTree in June 2022 and is Impact Strategist within the Responsible Investment Team. Prior to joining EdenTree, Aaron had roles at First State Investments (now First Sentier), Jupiter and Majedie and as a writer and researcher with a focus on ESG and sustainable investing. He started his career as a derivatives broker in Sydney. Aaron has a BA in English from the University of New South Wales, Post Grad Certificate in Environmental Economics from SOAS and Certificate in Sustainable Investing from Harvard Business School. He is currently undertaking a post graduate research project at Birmingham University on computational linguistic methods to identify sustainability stretch goal tensions and the risk of greenwashing and corporate misbehaviour.
ESG risk exposure is constantly monitored by our data providers, ISS & Sustainalytics, who flag potential violations of global norms. In addition, if any of our holdings breach our screens, we are immediately notified by our data providers and can then review the breach with the ultimate sanction of divestment if we deem it necessary. Furthermore, periodically stocks and instruments held within our funds are reviewed by the RI Team to ensure that they remain suitable, whilst the team monitors any negative news flow, engaging with companies to provide clarity and assess the risk level involved.
Our Responsible Investment Team hold overall responsibility of the ESG process. Whilst this involves some input from senior management, we view it as a crucial component of our investment decision-making process vis-à-vis determining a security’s suitability for portfolio inclusion on responsible grounds, that this ownership sits with the RI Team.
Our RI team conducts research and analysis from publicly available materials including:
- Company literature (annual reports, websites and sustainability reports)
- Industry or trade body publications and websites
- Non-governmental organisations (NGO) reports and websites e.g. Banktrack
- Government and academic research
- Investor benchmark initiatives
EdenTree plays a leading and longstanding role across multiple organisations. They are signatories, members and subscribers to a number of industry partnerships and initiatives including:
Signatory organisations
- Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI);
- UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association (UKSIF);
- Global Impact Investing Network;
- UK Stewardship Code FRC;
- Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC);
- Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR);
- Financing a Just Transition Alliance;
- World Benchmarking Alliance;
- Access to Nutrition Initiative;
- Access to Medicine Initiative;
Collaborative engagement initiatives
- PRI Advance Human Rights - Human Rights;
- IIGCC Banks Working Group - Climate Change;
- CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project);
- Climate Action 100+ - Climate Change;
- Nature Action 100+ - Biodiversity;
- Investor Action Group on Anti-Microbial Resistance - Water & AMR;
- Valuing Water Initiative - Water;
- Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals - Water & Chemicals;
- Microfibre pollution initiative - Plastics Pollution;
- 30% Club Investor Group - Diversity;
- WBA – Digital Inclusion Group - Digital rights;
- Good Work Coalition - Good work;
- Votes Against Slavery - Modern slavery
- Find it, Fix it, Prevent it initiative on modern slavery
EdenTree believes these partnerships signals their commitment to having an active and positive role in the investment community. Collaborations are critical to driving change, whilst learning from expert sources allows them to provide more for their clients. EdenTree also sits on UKSIF’s Analyst Committee, which advises on the development of UKSIF’s knowledge sharing programme on evolving sustainability issues. They also sit on the PRI’s Circular Economy Reference Group, which explores how investors can better integrate the principles of a circular economy into investment processes. EdenTree’s CIO, Charlie Thomas, sits on the IA’s Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee.
Responsible Investment Advisory Panel Overview
In addition to the review provided by the RI Team, this team itself has independent oversight from an external advisory panel of senior industry practitioners with expertise in the field of responsible investment. The EdenTree Responsible Investment Advisory Panel (“Panel”) meet three times each year to review the Responsible & Sustainable Fund portfolios, recent investment decisions and to discuss the latest responsible and sustainable research and trends.
The purpose of the Panel is to:
- Help to ensure that the EdenTree Responsible & Sustainable range of funds meet the stated aims and objectives.
- Provide advice in the formulation of policy in the light of changing social and environmental issues. The Panel will provide advice to the RI Team including:
- Advising on emerging issues or topics relevant to RI criteria.
- Provide advice and guidance on individual companies or sectors, and engagement work.
The Panel is made up of a number of industry experts, including:
- Will Oulton – Panel Chair, (former Head of RI at First Sentier)
- Mike Barry – Former Director of Sustainable Business
- Verity Mitchell - Independent Consultant, (former Director of Utilities for HSBC Global Research)
- Julian Parrott – Client Member, Ethical Futures
- Sue Round – Chair of EdenTree Investment Management ACD Board and former CEO
- Annette Ferguson – Independent Consultant (former Head of Sustainable Business at Vodafone)
- Paul Simpson OBE – Strategic Advisor (former CEO of CDP).
Literature
Voting Record
Disclaimer
Regulatory Notice
To obtain further information please speak to your EdenTree representative, visit www.edentreeim.com or call our support team on 0800 011 3821. This document has been prepared by EdenTree Investment Management Limited for Financial Advisors, other intermediaries and other investment professionals only. It is not suitable for private individuals.
This document has been produced for information purposes only and as such the views contained herein are not to be taken as advice or recommendation to buy or sell any investment or interest thereto. A full explanation of the characteristics of the investments is given in the Key Investor Information Document (KIID). Any forecast, figures, opinions statements of financial market trends or investment techniques and strategies expressed are unless otherwise stated, EdenTree Investment Management’s own at the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any forecast made will come to pass. Please note that the value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations, you may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns.
Fund Name | SRI Style | SDR Labelling | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | Last Amended |
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OMR EdenTree European Equity Life |
Sustainable Style | - | Life | Europe ex UK | Equity | 17/10/2008 | Jun 2025 | |
ObjectivesThe Fund’s aim is to achieve long-term capital growth over five years or more with an income through a diversified portfolio of European (ex-UK) companies. The EdenTree European Equity Fund aims to invest at least 80% in European (ex-UK) companies by investing in companies which make a positive contribution to society and the environment through sustainable and socially responsible practices.
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Fund Size: £0.27m (as at: 30/09/2021) ISIN: GB00B3DD1H06 |
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Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG OverviewThis product is linked to the "EdenTree European Equity" fund. The following information refers to the primary fund. As mentioned above, this fund invests in companies which make a positive contribution to society and the environment through sustainable and socially responsible practices. The fund seeks to invest at least 70% in companies which the Manager believes operate sustainable businesses. It will therefore identify companies with positive sustainable business characteristics, by following EdenTree’s Sustainability Approach. This approach assesses, in a systematic way, multiple dimensions of sustainability, making for a rounded assessment of a company’s practices. Companies with material exposures to particular aspects of sustainability are assessed more closely on those topics. |
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Primary fund last amended: Jun 2025 |
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Information received directly from Fund Manager |
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Fund FiltersSustainability - General
Sustainability policy
Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.
Sustainability focus
Find funds which substantially focus on sustainability issues
Sustainable transport policy or theme
Find funds that have documented policies or thematic investment approaches relating to investment in more sustainable, greener transport methods. These will typically set out a preference for companies that run, enable or support more sustainable methods of transport. See fund information for further detail.
Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship
A core element of these funds aim to encourage higher sustainability standards across business practices through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy
Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/
Transition focus
The delivery of the shift to a sustainable future is a core feature of this fund and its investment strategy. See eg https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/
Circular economy theme
Fund has a theme or investment strand focused on the shift to a circular economy (where products are reused and recycled not incinerated or dumped). See eg https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview Environmental - General
Environmental policy
Funds that have policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out the fund's stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Limits exposure to carbon intensive industries
Funds that limit or 'reduce' their exposure to carbon intensive industries (ie sectors which are major contributors to climate change. Funds vary - some funds may be 'underweight' in this area which means they may have some investment in highly carbon intensive areas. Funds of this kind may choose companies they consider to be 'best in sector' and encourage ever higher standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further details.
Environmental damage and pollution policy
Funds that have written policies explaining the approach they take when companies damage the environment or are significant polluters. Funds of this kind may work with companies to encourage higher standards, or exclude companies - sometimes dependent on the situation. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Resource efficiency policy or theme
Find funds that have a policy or theme that relates to managing natural resources more efficiently. Funds with this policy will be likely to favour companies that make (or enable the) more efficient use of resources - and either avoid or encourage change amongst companies with lower standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Favours cleaner, greener companies
Funds that aim to invest in companies with strong or market leading environmental policies and practices. Strategies vary - in particular the balance between 'financial' aspects and environmental benefits. Some may invest substantially in solutions or 'positive impact' companies - others may invest in more conventional companies providing certain environmental criteria are met. See fund information for further detail.
Waste management policy or theme
Find funds that have a written policy or theme on waste management - typically a view to encouraging higher levels of recycling and better efficiency / reducing waste. Nature & Biodiversity
Biodiversity / nature policy
Find funds that have a written biodiversity policy or theme aimed at encouraging and improving environmental protection and safeguarding the natural world (sometimes referred to as the preservation or enhancement of 'natural capital'). See eg https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversity
Nature / biodiversity based solutions theme
A significant focus on investments that aim to protect, improve and, or restore natural habitat.
Deforestation / palm oil policy
Find funds that have policies in place designed to ensure they do not invest in companies that are significantly involved in deforestation. This typically relates to palm oil plantations where biodiversity loss is a major concern (as well as other issues). Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Illegal deforestation exclusion policy
Find funds that have policies in place explaining that they avoid companies involved in illegal and/or unsustainable deforestation. This may relate to palm oil, cattle farming or other concerns. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Responsible palm oil policy
Fund has a responsible palm oil policy which is likely to focus on the producers of palm oil and deforestation issues with a view to informing investment decisions (and / or engagement) to support and encourage high standards.
Sustainable fisheries policy
Fund has a sustainable fisheries policy that will inform where it can and can not invest
Water stewardship policy
Fund has a policy which sets out their expectations for how investee assets should manage water Climate Change & Energy
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy
Funds that have policies (documented strategies that explain their position on) climate change related issues such as greenhouse gas/carbon emissions, net zero, transitioning to lower carbon. Strategies vary. Read fund details for further information.
Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded
Funds that avoid investing in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Funds vary: some may exclude all companies that extract oil. Others may have exposure to oil extraction via more diversified energy companies. See fund literature to confirm details.
Fracking and tar sands excluded
Funds that avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.
Arctic drilling exclusion
Funds that avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions. See fund literature for further details.
Fossil fuel reserves exclusion
Funds that avoid investing in companies with coal, oil and gas reserves. See fund information for further details.
Clean / renewable energy theme or focus
Find funds where investment in clean / renewable energy companies an other assets is central to their investment selection strategy. The proportion of the fund that is directly or indirectly invested in renewable energy varies between funds and over time. See fund information for further details.
Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage the transition to lower carbon activities through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity
Energy efficiency theme
Fund funds that have an energy efficiency theme - typically meaning that a fund manager is focused on investing in organisations that manage - or help others to manage - energy use more carefully and less wastefully - and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Invests in clean energy / renewables
Funds that hold companies in the clean energy and renewable energy sectors (at the time research was supplied). Fund strategies vary, in particular the proportion of investment in these areas may vary significantly. Check fund literature for details.
Nuclear exclusion policy
Find funds that have policies which say they avoid or limit their investment in the nuclear industry. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Supply chain decarbonisation policy
Fund has a supply chain decarbonisation policy which sets out its position on the need to reduce carbon emissions throughout the investment chain. This will inform where the manager can and can not invest.
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
Paris aligned fund strategy
This fund has a strategy that aims ensure its holdings will gradually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The ultimate aim is to achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary. Read fund information.
Require net zero action plan from all/most companies
Find funds that require all, or almost all, of the companies it invests in to have a ‘net zero action plan’ - meaning that the companies they invest in have worked out how they will, over time, reduce their total carbon (and other greenhouse gas) emissions to nil. Social / Employment
Social policy
Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.
Labour standards policy
Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards
Favours companies with strong social policies
Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information.
Health & wellbeing policies or theme
Find funds with policies or themes that set out their approach to health and wellbeing issues. Funds of this kind typically aim to invest in companies with high standards - or encourage high standards. Themed funds are likely to have more of an emphasis on this area. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Diversity, equality & inclusion Policy (fund level)
Find individual funds that have a written diversity policy – where the fund manager will aim to select companies with a carefully considered, sound approach to diversity. This should ideally cover a range of issues including gender, ethnicity, disability, beliefs, sexual orientation, etc.
Mining exclusion
All mining companies excluded
Vulnerable / gig workers protection policy
Fund has a policy aimed at protecting vulnerable workers such as those on zero hour / informal contracts working in the gig economy Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related products - avoid where revenue > 5%
Companies are excluded if they make more than 5% of their revenue from the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco products including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
Controversial weapons exclusion
Find funds that exclude companies which make controversial weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions and chemical weapons. See fund literature for further information.
Armaments manufacturers avoided
Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.
Military involvement exclusion
Find funds that avoid companies with military contracts of any kind. This may include medical supplies, food, safety equipment, housing, etc. Fund strategies vary. See fund liteterature for more information.
Civilian firearms production exclusion
Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.
Alcohol production excluded
Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.
Gambling avoidance policy
Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.
Pornography avoidance policy
Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information.
Animal welfare policy
Find funds with policies that require specific animal welfare standards to be met. These may reference well-known welfare standards (3Rs - Replace, Reduce, Refine) or certification schemes. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Animal testing - excluded except if for medical purposes
Find funds that avoid companies that test their products on animals for purposes other than medical benefit (e.g. for cosmetics). Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information. Human Rights
Human rights policy
Find funds that have policies relating to human rights issues. Funds of this kind typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some fund managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Child labour exclusion
Find funds that have policies in place to ensure they do not invest in companies that employ children.
Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy
Find funds with policies that exclude companies or other assets where regimes are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Responsible supply chain policy or theme
Find funds that have policies or a theme that relates to the responsible management of supply chains. These may relate to employment issues, notably people employed by their suppliers, as well as the sourcing of materials and products. See fund literature for further information.
Modern slavery exclusion policy
The fund has a policy which excludes assets with involvement in Modern Slavery Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Water / sanitation policy or theme
Find funds that have policies or themes that set out their position on investment in the water sector and/or sanitation. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
Healthcare / medical theme
Healthcare and or medical theme or area of investment - the fund may have a single theme or many themes
Antimicrobial resistance policy
Fund has a policy on ‘antimicrobial resistance’ - which is when organisms that cause infection can survive treatment - which is commonly associated with the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming and a threat to our health. Banking & Financials
Invests in banks
Find funds that include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.
Only invest in TCFD (ISSB) aligned banks / financial institutions
Find fund managers that only invest in banks and other financial institutions that implement the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures recommendations on climate change related financial disclosures - which aim to help financial markets measure and respond to climate risk.
Exclude banks with significant fossil fuel investments
Will avoid banks that have a large part of their loan book (or other assets) invested in fossil fuels companies - particular coal, oil and gas.
Exclude insurers of major fossil fuel companies
Find funds that avoid investing in insurance companies that insure major fossil fuels companies – particularly coal, oil and gas. Strategies (eg definition of ‘major’) vary. See fund literature for further information.
Invests in insurers
Funds that do or may invest in insurance companies. Governance & Management
Governance policy
Find fund options that have policies that relate to corporate governance issues such as board structure, executive remuneration, bribery and/or corporate corruption. These funds will typically avoid companies with poor practices. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Avoids companies with poor governance
Find funds that aim to avoid investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards. See fund literature for further information.
UN sanctions exclusion
Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list
Anti-bribery and corruption policy
Find funds that have policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination. See fund literature for further information.
Encourage board diversity e.g. gender
Fund managers encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)
Encourage TCFD alignment for banks & insurance companies
Find fund managers that encourage the banks and insurance companies they invest in to publish climate change related financial information - as set out by the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (with the aim of helping investors measure and respond to climate risk).
Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity
A core element of these funds will aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity
Require investee companies to report climate risk in R&A
The fund manager requires the companies they invest in to report on climate risks that are relevant to their business in their report and accounts Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy
Find funds that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature.
ESG factors included in Assessment of Value (AoV) report
Environmental, social and governance issues are part of this fund’s reporting of their ‘value’ to clients. AoV reporting is a statutory requirement. Including ESG factors in its calculation is not. Asset Size
Invests in small, mid and large cap companies / assets
Find a fund that invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational)companies. Targeted Positive Investments
Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies
Find funds that invest >25% of their capital towards companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.
Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies
Find funds that invest >50% of their capital in companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges. Impact Methodologies
Positive environmental impact theme
Find funds that specifically set out to help deliver positive environmental impacts, benefits or 'real world' outcomes.
Positive social impact theme
Find funds that specifically state that they aim to deliver positive social (i.e. people related) impacts and/or outcomes.
Invests in environmental solutions companies
Find funds that direct investment towards companies where a major part of their business is about solving environmental challenges. e.g. companies helping to address climate change.
Invests in social solutions companies
Find funds that invest in companies where a major part of their business is specifically aimed at helping to address social challenges. e.g. companies helping to address poverty.
Invests in sustainability / ESG disruptors
Find funds that specifically set out to invest in companies that are regarded as 'disrupting' existing business practices - typically through the development of innovative (sustainability aware) products and/or practices.
Aim to deliver positive impacts through engagement
Fund aims to deliver positive environmental and or social impacts (real world benefits) through its engagement with investee assets
Publish ‘theory of change’ explanation
This fund has an explanation of the way in which the manager believes things need to change in order to deliver a more sustainable future, which they are working to help achieve. How The Fund Works
Positive selection bias
Find funds that focus on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.
Negative selection bias
Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.
Strictly screened ethical fund
Find funds where their main approach is to apply positive or negative ethical, social and / or environmental screens. Strictly screened funds are likely to exclude more companies than other related fund options. See fund literature for further information.
ESG weighted / tilt
Find funds that invest more heavily in those that have higher ESG ratings/standards or scores and less heavily in companies with lower ESG ratings. Where this is central to a fund's strategy you should expect it to invest in most sectors. Strategies vary.
Significant harm exclusion
Aims to avoid companies that do significant harm. This originates from the EU’s sustainable finance ‘DNSH’ (do no significant harm) work, which is not necessarily used by UK investors.
Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria
Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.
Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria
Find funds that have an ESG strategy (which is typically focused on avoiding companies that pose environmental, social or governance related risks) with additional criteria such as positive and/or negative screens, themes and stewardship strategies.
Focus on ESG risk mitigation
A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).
SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website
Find funds that have published explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. fund decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).
Do not use stock / securities lending
This fund does not use stock lending for performance or risk purposes. Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 80 – 89%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives > 90%
The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets
All assets (except cash) meet published sustainability criteria
All assets held in the fund - except cash - meet the sustainability criteria published in fund documentation. Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for investors interested in sustainability
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Intended for clients interested in ethical issues
Find funds designed for clients who care about ethical and values-based issues, often alongside sustainability issues also.
Available via an ISA (OEIC only)
Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper. Fund Management Company InformationAbout The Business
Boutique / specialist fund management company
Find fund management companies that are smaller or specialise in particular areas - notably, ideally ESG related. Strategies vary.
Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)
Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.
ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.
Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)
Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)
Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)
Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.
Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.
Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)
The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.
Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research
Find fund management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.
In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an in-house (company wide) diversity improvement programme - meaning that they are working to ensure that within their own businesses they employ people from diverse backgrounds - often typically focused on ethnicity and/or sex.
Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).
Vulnerable client policy on website (AFM company wide)
Asset manager has information on their website that explains how they treat 'vulnerable clients' (as set out in FCA regulation)
Invests in newly listed companies (AFM company wide)
This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).
Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)
Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.
Offer structured intermediary training on sustainable investment
Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)
Offer unstructured intermediary sustainable investment training
Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers) Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
UKSIF member
Find fund management companies that are members of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance association
Fund EcoMarket partner
Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.
Investment Association (IA) member
Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/ Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise
Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.
Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers
Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.
Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors. Accreditations
PRI A+ rated (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)
Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'. Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.
Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.
Engaging on climate change issues
Fund manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that is focused on addressing climate change with investee assets.
Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change
Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.
Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste
Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues
The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global
Engaging to encourage a Just Transition
Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/
Engaging on human rights issues
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards
Engaging on labour / employment issues
Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)
Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues
Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets
Engaging to stop modern slavery
working with the assets they hold to help stamp out modern slavery - where direct or indirect company employees are exploited for business benefits.
Engaging on governance issues
Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets
Engaging on responsible supply chain issues
Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards
Engaging on the responsible use of AI
Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.
Stewardship escalation policy
Escalation policies describe how a manager will proceed if stewardship / engagement activity is not successful in the short term. Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.
Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that avoid investment in fossil fuel companies (e.g. coal, oil and gas) across all of their funds. (and/ or other assets.)
Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)
This asset manager excludes direct investment in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.
Do not invest in companies with fossil fuel reserves
Asset management company excludes companies with fossil fuel reserves across all assets/funds Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)
Fund management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.
Voting policy includes net zero targets (AFM company wide)
Fund manager AGM / EGM voting strategy has processes in place that mean they will normally be expected to vote in a way that will encourage the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)
This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.
Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.
Committed to SBTi / Science Based Targets Initiative
See https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website
Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information available on request
Find fund management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.
Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)
Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards. Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:Sustainability Approach Companies operating as sustainable businesses The Fund seeks to invest at least 70% in companies identified which operate sustainable businesses. Following EdenTree’s Sustainability Approach, these companies are assessed in a systematic way, considering multiple dimensions of social and environmental sustainability to encompass a rounded assessment of a company’s practices Sustainability criteria and themes The suitability of potential assets is assessed across six key areas of sustainable business practice: Climate Change & Environment, Employment & Labour, Human Rights, Business Ethics, Community and Corporate Governance. In addition, investments aligned to the following sustainability themes are also favoured: Education & Financial Inclusion, Health & Wellbeing, Sustainable Solutions, and Social Infrastructure
Excluded sectors and activities:
Oppressive Regimes
Process:Our responsible and sustainable criteria form a core part of our investment approach and are integrated into our stock selection and management processes. Our dedicated in-house team of responsible investment (RI) analysts considers each of our investments on the basis of their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials and long-term sustainable return potential. We believe that those companies which have a well-developed approach to managing ESG risk are more likely to offer good quality, long-term investment potential. We pride ourselves on our independent thought and analysis and are not afraid to adopt positions which do not conform to conventional thinking or prevailing consensus. We do not have model portfolios or preferred stock lists, preferring to give fund managers the flexibility and responsibility to implement investment strategies that best match the needs of our investors. Finally, our investment process places a strong emphasis on portfolio diversification at all levels, including geographical, sector, company size and investment theme, with the aim of reducing risk. Please see below the summary of the Fund’s investment process: Stock Selection We look for businesses that are out of favour but intrinsically sound, and where a change in circumstance or economic conditions will bring about a recovery both in company fundamentals and improved investor sentiment, thus leading to superior returns. We actively look to invest in companies which we believe have strong sustainable characteristics and this will then then be confirmed by our robust and comprehensive screening process managed by our Responsible investment team. As value-orientated investors, we are seeking to buy undervalued companies which nonetheless have the ability to generate strong profits and cashflows and to grow these over time. Often taking a contrarian view from the ‘investment’ herd, we seek out-of-favour businesses, with robust balance sheets, and an underappreciated potential to enhance cashflows and create value for long term investors. Identification of potential opportunities starts with a quantitative approach to find companies which appear cheap in terms of forward valuation multiples, which is followed by more in-depth analysis of both quantitative and qualitative factors to ensure the companies are not ‘value traps’, but have strong business franchises, so can maintain and grow these cashflows. Each prospective holding is subject to our Responsible & Sustainable screening process which helps to develop a more holistic view of a company using a wider mosaic of information which informs our understanding of the opportunities and risks associated with each holding. The companies we invest in can be seen to fall into one of three broad buckets:
Our value-orientation naturally draws us to focus on companies on attractive valuation multiplies, although this is far from the only consideration. We also look for companies which have strong market positions, re-invest back into the business (whether that be in terms of growth investment in capital equipment, innovation, brand or people), as well as looking for opportunities to benefit from longer-term structural trends, particularly in terms of sustainable solutions but also in terms of scientific and technological advances. We may use various quantitative tools to screen particular areas of the investment universe once a compelling structural trend has been identified, in order to identify potential valuation anomalies. This may be conducted to evaluate relative valuation of a prospective idea. When assessing potential candidates for the Fund, we place particular importance on three attributes:
These steps are not mutually exclusive, but they help us to determine the investment thesis and whether the valuation is attractive enough to offer enough upside potential to compensate for potential downside risks. The degree of upside that we look for in a new equity investment will vary depending on factors such as market capitalisation, visibility of earnings with preference given the cash returns in the near term, the stability of earnings in different economic and market environments, and the degree of leverage within the business. Fundamental investment analysis and decision-making process Assessment of upside potential Our approach to the fundamental analysis of a company will be tailored to best suit the type of company we are investing in and its present circumstances. However, an emphasis on assessment of the ability of the company to generate high and sustainable cashflows which can be returned to shareholders and the outlook for the company given the prevailing macroeconomic conditions is common across holdings. We believe it is important to remain flexible about valuation techniques; they each have strengths and weaknesses, and the intention is to build a robust framework of information and to avoid simply choosing measures that satisfy confirmation bias.
Assessment of downside risk By investing in companies trading on low valuations, the Fund often takes contrarian positions which go against the prevailing consensus for the outlook for businesses. This could potentially lead to the risk of investment in companies in poor financial health or which are structurally challenged (value traps). To minimise this risk, the investment process includes focused analysis of.
The team believes the extra layer of due diligence provided by the Responsible Investment Team provides potential informational advantages, which is especially important given the Fund invests in companies that have been neglected or priced for poor outcomes. Historical governance analysis may also be reflected in our assessment of the financial health of the company; propensity for off balance sheet leverage or future contingent liabilities. Similarly, the governance and remuneration reports can enable a broader assessment of the underlying drivers and sources of cash generation, capital expenditure requirements. Key KPIs around remuneration framework can provide insight as to how free cash flow will be deployed, i.e. M&A, dividends, buybacks etc. enabling the analyst to undertake a thorough examination of a company’s willingness and ability to pay dividends. More broadly, in considering a company’s management quality, we assess Board independence, tenure, and experience, in order to assess the focus on shareholder value, organisational culture to deliver future potential. The process outlined above will typically involve a meeting or call with management as part of the due diligence process. Quantitative screens typically contain a wide range of metrics in order to get a full picture regarding the source of valuation anomaly, including but not restricted to: fundamental metrics such as free cash flow (FCF) yield, Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), Net Debt/EBITDA, and Interest Cover, as well as valuation metrics such as EV/EBITDA, Price to Earnings and Price to Book. It must also be noted that quantitative analysis is only part of the overall due diligence process that goes into identifying prospective investments and typically forms the basis of consensus data gathering. Typically, quantitative screens will not reflect our estimates from our proprietary insights.
Portfolio Construction The Fund’s investment process is primarily driven by bottom up, value orientated, stock picking. The Fund’s intention is to create a well-diversified portfolio in terms of countries, industrial sectors and at an individual stock level consisting of a portfolio of 50-70, With no stock accounting for more than 5% of a fund (and a soft cap which involves not adding to any holding which accounts for more than 3% of the Fund and generally looking to take profits when holdings exceed this amount). We strongly believe in the merits of low portfolio turnover, believing that high trading activity acts as a drag on performance. There is a desire to ensure a broadly diversified portfolio in terms of geographic, industry and sector allocations and whilst there are no set constraints, the Fund is subject to extensive risk modelling to ensure it is not overly exposed to any of these factors. At a higher level we will consider the exposure of the Fund to defensives, cyclicals and financials. Over time the tilt of the portfolio will change depending on our views on financial and economic conditions as well as underlying valuations of the various market segments which will mean the behaviour of the Fund towards differing economic conditions will change over time. At its heart, the positioning of the Fund will be driven by stock picking with areas of the market which offer the best opportunities to invest in companies at low valuations, strong cash flow characteristics and good market positions having the highest weightings. Sell Discipline Each company in the portfolio undergoes regular review with the fund manager making a decision based on the valuation, business fundamentals, economic and financial and investment environment as well as how it sits with the overall portfolio, and whether it should remain. The portfolio is subject to regular review by our CIO and analysis by the investment oversight committee, headed by the Head of Investment Risk Management to ensure that the Fund Manager is not undertaking any excessive or undue concentration, stock specific, sector or country risk. Any previously invested stocks which fail the ongoing screening process will be sold in a timely fashion taking account of market conditions to ensure this is in the best interests of the clients. All holdings must be divested within a 3-month time frame but normally the sells will be carried out in a much more timely fashion. There have been no deviations from this process. Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:The five person Responsible Investment (RI) Team is part of the wider Investment Team, and provides the specialist in-house resource for ESG screening, engagement, voting and thought-leadership. All members of the Investment Team are required to have an understanding of responsible and sustainable investing, and to include this into their thinking and analysis for the Responsible & Sustainable & Green fund range. The RI analysis is subject to peer review by the whole team with agreed sign off to ensure quality control and consistency. Our dedicated RI Team biographies are detailed below:
ESG risk exposure is constantly monitored by our data providers, ISS & Sustainalytics, who flag potential violations of global norms. In addition, if any of our holdings breach our screens, we are immediately notified by our data providers and can then review the breach with the ultimate sanction of divestment if we deem it necessary. Furthermore, periodically stocks and instruments held within our funds are reviewed by the RI Team to ensure that they remain suitable, whilst the team monitors any negative news flow, engaging with companies to provide clarity and assess the risk level involved. Our Responsible Investment Team hold overall responsibility of the ESG process. Whilst this involves some input from senior management, we view it as a crucial component of our investment decision-making process vis-à-vis determining a security’s suitability for portfolio inclusion on responsible grounds, that this ownership sits with the RI Team. Our RI team conducts research and analysis from publicly available materials including:
EdenTree plays a leading and longstanding role across multiple organisations. They are signatories, members and subscribers to a number of industry partnerships and initiatives including: Signatory organisations
Collaborative engagement initiatives
EdenTree believes these partnerships signals their commitment to having an active and positive role in the investment community. Collaborations are critical to driving change, whilst learning from expert sources allows them to provide more for their clients. EdenTree also sits on UKSIF’s Analyst Committee, which advises on the development of UKSIF’s knowledge sharing programme on evolving sustainability issues. They also sit on the PRI’s Circular Economy Reference Group, which explores how investors can better integrate the principles of a circular economy into investment processes. EdenTree’s CIO, Charlie Thomas, sits on the IA’s Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee. Responsible Investment Advisory Panel Overview In addition to the review provided by the RI Team, this team itself has independent oversight from an external advisory panel of senior industry practitioners with expertise in the field of responsible investment. The EdenTree Responsible Investment Advisory Panel (“Panel”) meet three times each year to review the Responsible & Sustainable Fund portfolios, recent investment decisions and to discuss the latest responsible and sustainable research and trends. The purpose of the Panel is to:
The Panel is made up of a number of industry experts, including:
LiteratureVoting RecordDisclaimerRegulatory Notice To obtain further information please speak to your EdenTree representative, visit www.edentreeim.com or call our support team on 0800 011 3821. This document has been prepared by EdenTree Investment Management Limited for Financial Advisors, other intermediaries and other investment professionals only. It is not suitable for private individuals. This document has been produced for information purposes only and as such the views contained herein are not to be taken as advice or recommendation to buy or sell any investment or interest thereto. A full explanation of the characteristics of the investments is given in the Key Investor Information Document (KIID). Any forecast, figures, opinions statements of financial market trends or investment techniques and strategies expressed are unless otherwise stated, EdenTree Investment Management’s own at the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any forecast made will come to pass. Please note that the value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations, you may not get back the amount originally invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns. |