Brown Advisory US Sustainable Growth Fund
SRI Style:
Sustainable Style
SDR Labelling:
Not eligible to use label
Product:
SICAV/Offshore
Fund Region:
USA
Fund Asset Type:
Equity
Launch Date:
03/04/2017
Last Amended:
Apr 2022
Dialshifter (
):
Fund Size:
£3910.00m
(as at: 31/12/2024)
ISIN:
IE00BF1T6S03, IE00BF1T6X55, IE00BG0R3140, IE00BF1T6V32, IE00BF1T6T10, IE00BF1T6W49, IE00BG0R3033
Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:
No response when requested update from manager - Fund last updated April 2022
The Brown Advisory U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund is based on long-term fundamental, bottom-up stock picking. The Fund seeks competitive risk-adjusted returns over a full market cycle through a concentrated portfolio of companies that we believe offer durable fundamental strengths, sustainable competitive advantages and compelling valuations. These companies are building powerful business models on a foundation of Sustainable Business
Advantages (SBA), which we believe can drive attractive long-term performance and risk protection through revenue growth, cost improvements and enhanced franchise value.
Through deep fundamental analysis, managers look for the following qualities in companies they select for the portfolio: strong, experienced management teams, leadership positions in industries with high barriers to entry, high visible revenue streams and good capital allocation decisions made over time. This should all lead to solid economics.
Primary fund last amended:
Apr 2022
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 where there is a significant emphasis on (environmental and social) sustainability. Funds with a 'sustainability theme' typically place more emphasis on the area than funds with a 'sustainability policy' - meaning that it is more likely to drive investment selection. Strategies vary. 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/
Find funds that specifically aim to invest (and manage assets) in ways that help to address all or some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). See https://sdgs.un.org/goals).
Find funds that publicly report their performance against specifically named sustainability objectives (in addition to reporting their financial performance)
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.
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.
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 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.
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
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 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 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 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.
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.
Gilts & Sovereigns
Find funds that avoid investing in 'some' gilts or government bonds. Strategies vary, but this may relate to avoiding specific countries or particular reasons for bond issuance. 'Green gilts' for example would be likely to be acceptable. See fund literature for further information.
Find funds that do not invest in, or exclude, gilts and/or government bonds.
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.
Find funds that have policies explaining how the fund managers take into account digital/cyber security related risks. Funds with cyber policies will typically favour companies with higher standards or that are helping to solve problems - but strategies vary. 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
Fund Governance
Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.
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.
Asset Size
Find funds that invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.
Find a fund that invests in a combination of small, medium and larger (potentially multinational)companies.
Find funds that have SRI strategies and focus their investment stock selection on larger companies. (e.g. over circa £5-£10bn)
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
Funds that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Funds that aim to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Funds that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'impact funds' - although impact measurement is not restricted to impact funds. Strategies vary. See fund information.
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.
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 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.
Find funds that have 'mapped' (reviewed) their investment selection and management strategies to identify which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the fund is helping to address.
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.
Find funds that consider both the 'positive' and 'negative' aspects of company behaviour and make balanced, considered decisions as part of their investment approach. May apply to a range of different issues and policy areas.
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).
Intended Clients & Product Options
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.
Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Finds those that offer an SRI / ESG portfolio option
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer bespoke ('personalised') SRI / ESG portfolio options
Labels & Accreditations
Find funds that are rated by research agency 'Rayner Spencer Mills Research' (awarded 'RSMR Rated' status). Read fund literature or contact RSMR for further information.
Finds funds classified under Article 8 of the EU’s SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements). Article 8 of the SFDR is a set of requirements that apply to financial products that 'promote' environmental or social characteristics with high governance also. These rules do not currently apply to UK funds so many managers may leave this field blank.
Fund Management Company Information
About The Business
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).
Collaborations & Affiliations
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
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.
Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types)
Accreditations
Finds organisations / fund managers that have an A+ PRI rating - meaning they are highly rated according to the 'Principles of Responsible Investment'
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.
Company Wide Exclusions
Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.)
Climate & Net Zero Transition
Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.
Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'.
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.
This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts.
Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:
The strategy intends to invest in companies with measurable ESG outcomes, as determined by Brown Advisory, and seeks to screen out particular companies and industries. In addition to our proprietary and qualitative ESG analysis, we rely on a third-party provider to apply a rules-based screening process which seeks to identify companies that may have controversial business involvement, as determined by Brown Advisory.
The U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund seeks to exclude:
- companies that defy the United Nations Global Compact Principles (UNGC)
- companies that directly manufacture controversial weapons (defined as cluster munitions, land mines, depleted uranium)
- companies that conduct animal testing for non-medical purposes and do not exhibit strong ethical policies and practices
- companies whose primary business activities are directly tied to conventional exploring, extracting, producing, manufacturing or refining coal, oil or gas; companies whose primary business activities are directly tied to producing electricity derived from fossil fuels; companies with significant assets directly invested in conventional fossil fuel reserves.
The U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund seeks to impose investment guidelines on the following business activities in a manner designed to ensure that a company will not be included if it has:
- more than 5% of its revenue derived directly from the manufacture of conventional weapons
- more than 5% of its revenue derived directly from alcohol products
- more than 5% of its revenue derived directly from tobacco products
- more than 5% of its revenue derived directly from adult entertainment
- more than 5% of its revenue derived directly from gambling
One of the managers’ means of discerning the companies that are likely to outperform the broad market over the long term is to find fundamentally strong companies that are using sustainability drivers to add value for shareholders. We refer to these specific sustainability drivers as Sustainable Business Advantages or ‘SBA’. There are three distinct ways companies can use SBA to improve their financial position:
- Revenue Growth: by offering a product or service that helps customers reduce the cost of doing business – energy usage, water intake, raw material usage – helping to drive productivity and efficiency for their customers.
- Cost Improvements: companies that are productivity leaders themselves.
- Enhanced Franchise Value: Improving the overall value of the business franchise through increasing customer loyalty, elevating the brand reputation, and improving employee engagement, retention and recruitment.
Process:
Integrated ESG Research
One of the managers’ means of discerning the companies that are likely to outperform the broad market over the long term is to find fundamentally strong companies that are using sustainability drivers to add value for shareholders. We refer to these specific sustainability drivers as Sustainable Business Advantages or ‘SBA’. There are three distinct ways companies can use SBA to improve their financial position:
- Revenue Growth: by offering a product or service that helps customers reduce the cost of doing business – energy usage, water intake, raw material usage – helping to drive productivity and efficiency for their customers.
- Cost Improvements: companies that are productivity leaders themselves.
- Enhanced Franchise Value: Improving the overall value of the business franchise through increasing customer loyalty, elevating the brand reputation, and improving employee engagement, retention and recruitment.
Research includes a business-focused assessment of the company’s sustainably driven opportunities, such as particular product lines which satisfy demand for an environmental solution, or a business model whose sustainable attributes contribute to a revenue, cost or overall competitive advantage to the company. Sustainable Business Advantages make great companies even better and add to bottom line performance. The financial impact of these sustainability drivers is not easily extracted from the financial data available to most investors. As a result, many investment managers are not well-equipped to understand how a company’s prospects are likely to be influenced by exogenous factors such as the firm’s operating environment, changing consumer preferences, or natural resource constraints.
In addition to their SBA and Sustainable Opportunity analysis, the ESG/Sustainable research analysts complete a thorough ESG risk assessment of every company in our pipeline of potential investments and all investments active in our equity strategies, with the goal of uncovering any undesired risks associated with the company that might not be revealed by a traditional investment research approach. The portfolio managers utilise their own expertise as well as independent third-party ESG research. The managers develop a proprietary view on over 30 factors, including:
- Environmental impacts/benefits of the company’s operations, distribution systems and facilities
- Quality of the company’s environmental policy, safety policy and other management systems
- The company’s track record of compliance with environmental regulations, and the potential for future violations inherent in the company’s business model
- Quality of the company’s resource management practices (level of consumption of raw materials, efficient use and reuse of materials, effective management of waste streams)
- The company’s reputational risks as they relate to ESG issues
In addition to meetings with management, competitors and customers, the team has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt.
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:
Brown Advisory has 25 colleagues who are wholly or predominantly dedicated to our sustainable Investing practice. These colleagues are embedded into the firm’s institutional or private client, endowment and foundation businesses. We have not seen any departures from this team in the last 12 months, rather we have added to it and plan to continue strengthening the team in the years ahead. Brown Advisory has had Sustainable Investing expertise at the firm since the firm’s founding. Our first dedicated Sustainable strategy was launched in 2009, and we began formalising our ESG research team with the hire of Emily Dwyer in 2014.
Members of our sustainable investing team include:
- Carey Buxton – Head of Sustainable Investing Business
- Dune Thorne, CTFA, CWS – Head of Strategic Initiatives U.S. Private Client
- Sarah Yang – Institutional Sustainable Investing Analyst
- Jillian Pruner – Institutional Sustainable Investing Analyst
- Elsa Iovanella – PCE&F Sustainable Investing Analyst
- Ethan Berkwits – Director of Sustainable Investing Messaging
- Julia Dembowski – Sustainable Investing Education Coordinator
- Rebecka Markland – Sustainable Investing Business Intelligence Specialist
Investment Leadership
- Karina Funk, CFA – Chair of Sustainable Investing; Portfolio Manager
- Erika Pagel – CIO of Sustainable Investing; Portfolio Manager
- Amy Hauter, CFA – Head of Sustainable Fixed Income; Portfolio Manager
- Emily Dwyer – Portfolio Manager
ESG Research
- Lisa Fillingame Abraham – ESG Fixed Income Research Analyst
- Katja Dunlap – ESG Fixed Income Research Analyst
- Anna Rudgard – ESG Fixed Income Research Analyst
- Louise Nankiinga – ESG Equity Research Analyst
- Victoria Avara - ESG Equity Research Analyst
- Angela Wilson - ESG Equity Research Analyst
- Lara Wigan - ESG Equity Research Analyst
- Katherine Kroll – Investment Specialist; Engagement Specialist
Private Client, Endowment and Foundations Sustainable Investing Solutions
- Kif Hancock, CFA – Head of International ISG
- Taylor Graff, CFA – Head of Asset Allocation Research
- Morgan Kinsey – ISG Research Analyst
- Elise Liberto – Private Equity Analyst
- Angelina Choi – Portfolio Analyst
Brown Advisory has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt.
We also utilise our partnerships to contribute to and benefit from thought leadership in the following coalitions and memberships within which we have participated over the past year:
- PRI: Principles for Responsible Investment
- SASB: Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
- Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM)
- Ceres
- CDP
- SRI Conference & Community
- TCFD: Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
- Climate Action 100+
- Green Bond Principles
- Intentional Endowments Network
- WISE: Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy
- Confluence Philanthropy
- Mission Investor Exchange
- BASIC: Boston Area Sustainable Investment Consortium
- ICCR: Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility
- Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return (FAIRR)
- US SIF
We continually enhance and improve this process year over year by capturing new forms of data.
Brown Advisory has also established a Sustainable Investing Advisory Board. This board was established to help us focus on our business strategy as we build out our sustainable investing capabilities beyond our ESG focused strategies. Among the strategic guidance that this board provides, they advise our investment teams as to how they might consider incorporating ESG factors into investment decisions in ways that have clear fundamental benefits. The board includes members from Brown Advisory, as well as external sustainable investing experts. Please see here for board members.
SDR Labelling: Not eligible to use label
Fund Holdings
Voting Record
Fund Name | SRI Style | SDR Labelling | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | Last Amended |
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Brown Advisory US Sustainable Growth Fund |
Sustainable Style | Not eligible to use label | SICAV/Offshore | USA | Equity | 03/04/2017 | Apr 2022 | |
Fund Size: £3910.00m (as at: 31/12/2024) ISIN: IE00BF1T6S03, IE00BF1T6X55, IE00BG0R3140, IE00BF1T6V32, IE00BF1T6T10, IE00BF1T6W49, IE00BG0R3033 |
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Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG OverviewNo response when requested update from manager - Fund last updated April 2022
The Brown Advisory U.S. Sustainable Growth Fund is based on long-term fundamental, bottom-up stock picking. The Fund seeks competitive risk-adjusted returns over a full market cycle through a concentrated portfolio of companies that we believe offer durable fundamental strengths, sustainable competitive advantages and compelling valuations. These companies are building powerful business models on a foundation of Sustainable Business
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Primary fund last amended: Apr 2022 |
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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
Sustainability theme or focus
Find funds where there is a significant emphasis on (environmental and social) sustainability. Funds with a 'sustainability theme' typically place more emphasis on the area than funds with a 'sustainability policy' - meaning that it is more likely to drive investment selection. Strategies vary. 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/
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus
Find funds that specifically aim to invest (and manage assets) in ways that help to address all or some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). See https://sdgs.un.org/goals).
Report against sustainability objectives
Find funds that publicly report their performance against specifically named sustainability objectives (in addition to reporting their financial performance) 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. 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.
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.
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. Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded
Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.
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.
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 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.
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. 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. Gilts & Sovereigns
Gilts / government bonds - exclude some
Find funds that avoid investing in 'some' gilts or government bonds. Strategies vary, but this may relate to avoiding specific countries or particular reasons for bond issuance. 'Green gilts' for example would be likely to be acceptable. See fund literature for further information.
Gilts / government bonds - exclude all
Find funds that do not invest in, or exclude, gilts and/or government bonds. 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.
Digital / cyber security policy
Find funds that have policies explaining how the fund managers take into account digital/cyber security related risks. Funds with cyber policies will typically favour companies with higher standards or that are helping to solve problems - but strategies vary. 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 Fund Governance
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee
Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.
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. Asset Size
Over 50% large cap companies
Find funds that invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.
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.
Invests mostly in large cap companies / assets
Find funds that have SRI strategies and focus their investment stock selection on larger companies. (e.g. over circa £5-£10bn) 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
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')
Funds that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.
Measures positive impacts
Funds that aim to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Funds that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'impact funds' - although impact measurement is not restricted to impact funds. Strategies vary. See fund information.
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. 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.
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.
Assets mapped to SDGs
Find funds that have 'mapped' (reviewed) their investment selection and management strategies to identify which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the fund is helping to address.
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.
Balances company 'pros and cons' / best in sector
Find funds that consider both the 'positive' and 'negative' aspects of company behaviour and make balanced, considered decisions as part of their investment approach. May apply to a range of different issues and policy areas.
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). 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.
Available via an ISA (OEIC only)
Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.
Portfolio SRI / ESG options available (DFMs)
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Finds those that offer an SRI / ESG portfolio option
Multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options available (DFMs)
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer multiple SRI / ESG portfolio options
Bespoke SRI / ESG portfolios available (DFMs)
Only applicable for DFM’s & portfolio providers. Find service providers who offer bespoke ('personalised') SRI / ESG portfolio options Labels & Accreditations
RSMR rated
Find funds that are rated by research agency 'Rayner Spencer Mills Research' (awarded 'RSMR Rated' status). Read fund literature or contact RSMR for further information.
SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU)
Finds funds classified under Article 8 of the EU’s SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements). Article 8 of the SFDR is a set of requirements that apply to financial products that 'promote' environmental or social characteristics with high governance also. These rules do not currently apply to UK funds so many managers may leave this field blank. Fund Management Company InformationAbout The Business
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). Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'. 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.
ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types) 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' 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. Company Wide Exclusions
Review(ing) carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)
Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.) Climate & Net Zero Transition
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.
In-house carbon / GHG reduction policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.
Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)
Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'. 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.
Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)
This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts. Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:The strategy intends to invest in companies with measurable ESG outcomes, as determined by Brown Advisory, and seeks to screen out particular companies and industries. In addition to our proprietary and qualitative ESG analysis, we rely on a third-party provider to apply a rules-based screening process which seeks to identify companies that may have controversial business involvement, as determined by Brown Advisory.
Process:Integrated ESG Research One of the managers’ means of discerning the companies that are likely to outperform the broad market over the long term is to find fundamentally strong companies that are using sustainability drivers to add value for shareholders. We refer to these specific sustainability drivers as Sustainable Business Advantages or ‘SBA’. There are three distinct ways companies can use SBA to improve their financial position:
Research includes a business-focused assessment of the company’s sustainably driven opportunities, such as particular product lines which satisfy demand for an environmental solution, or a business model whose sustainable attributes contribute to a revenue, cost or overall competitive advantage to the company. Sustainable Business Advantages make great companies even better and add to bottom line performance. The financial impact of these sustainability drivers is not easily extracted from the financial data available to most investors. As a result, many investment managers are not well-equipped to understand how a company’s prospects are likely to be influenced by exogenous factors such as the firm’s operating environment, changing consumer preferences, or natural resource constraints. In addition to their SBA and Sustainable Opportunity analysis, the ESG/Sustainable research analysts complete a thorough ESG risk assessment of every company in our pipeline of potential investments and all investments active in our equity strategies, with the goal of uncovering any undesired risks associated with the company that might not be revealed by a traditional investment research approach. The portfolio managers utilise their own expertise as well as independent third-party ESG research. The managers develop a proprietary view on over 30 factors, including:
In addition to meetings with management, competitors and customers, the team has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt. Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:Brown Advisory has 25 colleagues who are wholly or predominantly dedicated to our sustainable Investing practice. These colleagues are embedded into the firm’s institutional or private client, endowment and foundation businesses. We have not seen any departures from this team in the last 12 months, rather we have added to it and plan to continue strengthening the team in the years ahead. Brown Advisory has had Sustainable Investing expertise at the firm since the firm’s founding. Our first dedicated Sustainable strategy was launched in 2009, and we began formalising our ESG research team with the hire of Emily Dwyer in 2014. Members of our sustainable investing team include:
Investment Leadership
ESG Research
Private Client, Endowment and Foundations Sustainable Investing Solutions
Brown Advisory has access to numerous third-party ESG ratings and data providers, and our ESG research analysts regularly engage with third-party data providers to ensure that we remain up to date with what is available in the market.
Currently, Brown Advisory subscribes to CDP, MSCI ESG Research Manager, ISS, RisQ and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Data and ratings from these sources are just some of the numerous sources consulted in our efforts to fully understand the sustainable risks and opportunities associated with a given investment.
Please note that although we have access to third-party rating systems, we do not lean on external ESG ratings to determine whether a company is an appropriate fit for our strategies. As our ESG team has long believed, no raw ESG rating can tell an investor whether a company is a sound investment. We believe that primary research is the only way to consistently arrive at well-informed investment decisions. The team first wrote about this in 2018, which can be found in our article Take ESG Ratings with A Grain Of Salt.
We also utilise our partnerships to contribute to and benefit from thought leadership in the following coalitions and memberships within which we have participated over the past year:
We continually enhance and improve this process year over year by capturing new forms of data.
Brown Advisory has also established a Sustainable Investing Advisory Board. This board was established to help us focus on our business strategy as we build out our sustainable investing capabilities beyond our ESG focused strategies. Among the strategic guidance that this board provides, they advise our investment teams as to how they might consider incorporating ESG factors into investment decisions in ways that have clear fundamental benefits. The board includes members from Brown Advisory, as well as external sustainable investing experts. Please see here for board members. SDR Labelling: Not eligible to use label Fund HoldingsVoting Record |