Premier Miton Emerging Markets Sustainable Fund
SRI Style:
Sustainability Tilt
SDR Labelling:
Sustainability Impact label
Product:
OEIC
Fund Region:
Emerging Markets
Fund Asset Type:
Equity
Launch Date:
21/04/2023
Last Amended:
Oct 2024
Dialshifter (
):
Fund Size:
£7.30m
(as at: 30/04/2024)
Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:
£382.00m
(as at: 31/03/2024)
Total Responsible Ownership Assets:
£3029.00m
(as at: 31/03/2024)
Total Assets Under Management:
£10712.00m
(as at: 31/03/2024)
ISIN:
GB00BP69NK61, GB00BP69NM85, GB00BP69NJ56, GB00BP69NF19, GB00BP69NL78
Contact Us:
Objectives:
The aim of the fund is to achieve two key objectives: attractive financial returns and positive environmental and societal progress over the long term, being five years or more. The minimum recommended holding term is at least five years. This does not mean that the fund will achieve the objective over this, or any other, specific time period and there is a risk of loss to the original capital invested.
Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:
The strategy aims to deliver long term capital appreciation through investment in emerging and frontier market companies offering exposure to sustainable growth themes, as identified through a material revenue alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their underlying targets. The portfolio managers believe that companies which can identify and invest to solve key challenges of sustainable development are able to deliver higher growth and more persistent value creation. They believe that emerging markets are at the frontline of this challenge and that emerging market companies are uniquely placed to identify accretive opportunities and deliver solutions. They follow a robust, repeatable process to identify attractively valued, high-quality financially sustainable companies and build a high-conviction portfolio overseen through engaged stewardship to deliver on their two objectives: attractive risk-adjusted financial returns and measurable environmental and societal impact.
Primary fund last amended:
Oct 2024
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.
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/
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)
Fund has a strategy that focuses on sustainability issues in the property sector - they may eg use GRESB / BREEAM scores to inform investment decisions.
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
A significant focus on investments that aim to protect, improve and, or restore natural habitat.
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.
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas 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
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.
Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Find funds that have policies that set out their position on ethical or 'personal values' based issues. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.
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.
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 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 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.
Meeting Peoples' Basic Needs
Fund focuses on (ie directs a significant proportion of its investment towards) green infrastructure, eg the clean energy supply chain. See fund details.
Fund has a responsible food production or agriculture theme or strand of investment. Funds may have a single theme or many themes. See fund information.
Healthcare and or medical theme or area of investment - the fund may have a single theme or many themes
Gilts & Sovereigns
Find funds that do not invest in / exclude 'sovereigns' - debt issued by governments. See eg https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sovereign-debt.asp
Banking & Financials
Find funds that include banks as part of their holdings / portfolio.
Fund excludes financial services companies with widely criticised, aggressive lending practices where interest rates are typically very high, includes ‘doorstep lending’)
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
Fund Governance
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 funds where more than half of the funds' assets are invested in smaller or medium sized companies (i.e. below around £5 -10 billion).
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
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.
Funds that are specifically marketed as ‘Impact investments funds' will work to deliver both financial performance and specific, measurable positive, real world social and/or environmental benefits. Strategies vary.
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
50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.
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 with few exclusions - typically for example exclude tobacco or companies that breach commonly adopted standards or norms such as the UN Global Compact.
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 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 use internationally agreed standards, conventions and 'norms' to help direct where the fund can and cannot invest (e.g. the UN Global Compact, UN Sustainable Development Goals). Read fund literature for further information.
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
Fund that only invest in cash to aid the practical management (buying and selling) of assets. These funds do not use additional financial instruments.
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.
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment funds’ which 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.
Find funds that are available via a tax efficient ISA product wrapper.
Labels & Accreditations
Find funds that have chosen to adopt one of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) SDR labels. Please note: there are a range of reasons why potentially relevant funds may not use an SDR label eg. adopting a label may be work in progress, the manager may not yet be allowed to do so because of the product type, a manager may feel their fund is insufficiently aligned to SDR requirements. Read fund literature and / or our blogs for further information.
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 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 funds run by fund managers that apply Responsible ownership or 'Stewardship' policies to all or most of their investment assets. This means active involvement (e.g. voting, dialogue) with the companies they invest in across funds (not normally limited to ethical or SRI options.) Read fund literature for further information.
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).
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.
Collaborations & Affiliations
Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.
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
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
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 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
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 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
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.
Find fund management companies that have published a Climate Risk policy or statement that is signed / owned by their Chief Executive.
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.
This asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions by reducing their emissions. Calculations and scope vary.
Find fund management companies that are working to reduce their own (fund management company) carbon/greenhouse gas emissions.
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:
The fund aims to deliver positive, measurable social and environmental impact. The fund looks to achieve this in two ways. First, through the company contribution to impact which is achieved by investing in companies which are allocating capital to address unmet or underserved needs aligned with global sustainable development and which, as a result, will deliver positive, measurable social and environmental impact, as measured by individual company KPIs. Secondly, through investor contribution to impact, achieved by supporting and enhancing the impact of the portfolio companies through stewardship activities.
The UN sustainable development goals and sub-goals (SDGs) serve as an independent, universally-agreed framework for global priorities and as such provide the context for the fund managers’ identification of activities aligned with global sustainable development. These goals and sub-goals have been distilled down to a selection of key investable sustainable themes, each of which aligns to at least one of the SDGs.
- Financial Inclusion: companies that provide the financial services that are essential to achieve sustainable economic development on a global scale
- Health & Wellbeing: companies whose products and services help increase the health and wellbeing of the global population
- Sustainable Infrastructure: companies that are enabling the advancement of society and increasing business efficiency through the improvement of physical infrastructure
- Energy transition: companies whose activities contribute to the transition away from fossil fuels towards affordable and clean energy
- Food productivity & safety: companies that enhance food standards and improve agricultural productivity, thereby helping to feed the world’s growing population in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner
- Circular Economy: companies that aim to reduce the amount of waste within society, increase levels of recycling and therefore decrease the negative environmental impact that results from the use of virgin materials
- Economic & social mobility: companies that provide or facilitate quality education, decent employment, entrepreneurship or higher economic productivity which supports sustainable economic development and social mobility to reverse economic and social inequalities
- Digital development & resilience: companies that are driving innovation in computing which drive improvements for the environment and society in areas such as security of networks and system efficiencies
- Sustainable cities & communities: companies that help make human settlements safe, resilient and sustainable
- Biodiversity: companies that facilitate or provide solutions to conserve and restore the world’s natural capital, or the level of plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organism species within an ecosystem.
In order to be considered eligible for investment, companies must contribute to one of the investable themes through material alignment to one or more of the SDG sub-goals, while at the same time adhering to the principle of ‘do no material harm’, which is to say that no material part of the business should represent an obstacle to the achievement of any of the SDGs. This is supported by a selection of negative screens which exclude certain business activities or behaviours considered unsustainable.
The fund has a sustainable investing policy which outlines the team’s sustainable investing approach, including the ESG criteria applied to the investments that are selected, and an overview of the long term sustainable themes applied to the fund. Other Premier Miton funds which have non-financial objectives may have a different sustainable or responsible policy.
Process:
The fund has two key objectives: attractive financial returns and positive environmental and societal progress over the long term, being five years or more. In order to achieve this the fund managers require that all of the companies held in the portfolio meet their definition of ‘sustainable’. In order to establish if a company is truly sustainable the fund managers must be able to answer three key questions:
- Is what the company does sustainable?
- Is how the company operates sustainable?
- Can the company earn a long-term sustainable financial return?
The strategy will invest in companies that are domiciled or incorporated in emerging or frontier markets or which derive the majority of their assets, revenues or profits from those markets. The fund managers are not restricted to names in the MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark and look for ideas across local emerging and frontier markets, and across the market capitalization spectrum. In total, these companies represent a starting universe of around 3,500 stocks.
The fund managers use a proprietary quantitative screen in order to narrow down the investment universe. Their Financial Sustainability Screen looks at a number of financial metrics which the fund managers believe are indicators of long-term attractive risk-adjusted returns, supported by back-testing of returns. The metrics they use identify 7 key factors: returns, cashflow, consistency, leverage, resource efficiency, innovation and momentum. They target companies in the top 2 quintiles, reducing the universe to approximately 1,400 stocks.
Once a company has been flagged as being potentially interesting, the fund managers first screen for daily trading liquidity and apply the fund’s negative screens and norms-based exclusions, thereby reducing the universe further to approximately 800-850 stocks. The fund managers then undertake comprehensive fundamental research to ensure that the initial indicators of financial sustainability are borne out by further investigation.
The fundamental research process is based on meetings with company management. The fund managers aim to develop a thorough understanding of the key elements of the company’s business strategy relative to the industry dynamics. They look at management’s skill in deploying the company’s resources and managing their risks and how this is likely to translate into the future earnings and cash generation of the business. These discussions form the basis for their financial forecasts over 5 years, and valuation of the company’s shares, as well as their assessment of the company’s sustainability profile. They are looking for a management team with a track record of creating value across the business’ ecosystem, a level of financial conservatism appropriate to the stage of development of the business and industries with secular as opposed to cyclical growth drivers, with concentration conducive to consistent economic value creation. They would normally expect the majority of the portfolio to be made up of businesses which are able to demonstrate consistent industry-leading outcomes, generating cash and able to reinvest in customer value to sustain their competitive advantage ensuring value creation for their entire ecosystem. They call these companies “Resilient-reinvestors”. They also look for companies which they believe will become “Resilient-reinvestors” in the future but which are at an earlier stage of their development. These businesses are leading their industry in innovation, generating cash and investing in new products and services in order to take market share which will drive future sustainable value creation. They call these companies “Leader-innovators”. Their focus on innovation and reinvestment is founded on a belief that industry leadership is most reliably maintained when achieved through an unwavering focus on the creation of long-term customer value as opposed to short-term profit. Through this process the fund managers arrive at an answer for the third of the questions posed above.
The fund managers are also looking to understand how the business allocates capital to address areas of under-investment in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Fund Managers use a theory of change framework to assess each company’s contribution. The company-level theory of change comprises 5 key stages:
Step 1 – identify the problem
The fund managers use third-party comparative data and research to determine that progress towards sustainable development priorities identified by the SDG sub-goals is lagging. Examples of data used include the World Bank Financial Inclusion Index and the World Health Organisation Global Health Observatory statistics. This assessment may be global or specific to particular countries, regions or demographic groups. This allows the fund managers to determine that an under-served community or unmet need exists.
Step 2 – identify the alignment
The fund managers analyse the company’s products and services to understand how they contribute positively to addressing the specific needs identified above. The company’s alignment is allocated to a sustainable investment theme.
Step 3 – quantify the alignment
Companies are eligible for investment if they are investing a material portion of company capital to develop and deliver products and services which support the identified development priorities. The fund managers determine material to be 20% or more. For most companies suitable metrics for determining alignment are capital expenditure, operating expenditure or spending on research and development. If this data is unavailable the fund managers may use other metrics as a proxy for capital allocation, for example, share of assets, revenue or earnings, dependent on the most suitable metric for the business activity. However, these may not be appropriate for all businesses and therefore for financials services firms, for example, the fund managers may additionally use metrics such as new or existing loans or insurance policies, client numbers or value-of-new-business.
Step 4 – identify and measure the outcome
The fund managers identify specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the positive impact enabled by the company’s products and services. We consider this the company’s contribution to positive impact. The most appropriate KPIs for each company will differ depending on the nature of the business and the sustainability theme it belongs to. A list of potential indicators per theme is maintained with preferred indicators being those that are recognised by appropriate industry bodies, for example IRIS+ database indicators from the GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network), or those specified by the United Nations as part of their own assessment of the progress of the SDGs. However, one of the challenges in emerging markets is the availability of data to allow measurement of the positive impact enabled by a company’s products and services and standardised KPIs may be unavailable. In this case, the fund managers will work with companies to select the most relevant metric available and engage with companies to improve their data disclosure. In some situations, the fund managers may estimate KPIs through the performance assessment of an alternative company metric. The fund managers may rely on our 3rd party data providers in this estimation. The fund managers assess the KPIs chosen over a rolling 5 year period (annualised), where data is available for that time period, to ensure the company contribution is positive and growing. The choice of a 5 year time horizon is designed to allow for analysis of positive impact through business cycles and is aligned to our financial performance objective.
Step 5 – consider the obstacles to alignment
Companies may have both positive and negative impacts on the world through the products and services they offer and through their operations. The fund aims to invest in companies which do not have materially negative impacts. The fund managers assess this when considering the activities of the business during the research process and in addition the fund excludes certain business activities and behaviours as detailed below. Through this ‘theory of change’ process the fund managers arrive at an answer for the first of the questions posed above.
The fund managers believe that the way a company manages its ESG risk profile is integral to understanding both the company’s overall financial sustainability and their suitability as a sustainable investment. They believe that companies which demonstrate sustainable business practices through appropriate management of their ESG risk profile will command a higher premium in the market due to the lower risk of value destruction. Deficiencies in the identification, management and the processes to mitigate ESG risks on the part of a company may result in negative financial consequences which impact value creation within the business’ ecosystem. Meanwhile the failure to identify and appropriately allocate capital to positive ESG changes may result in the loss of business opportunities to disruptive competitors. As such a qualitative and quantitative assessment of a company’s ESG performance is fully integrated into their fundamental analytical process. The fund managers review a number of key environmental and social metrics, where that data is available, to provide an insight into the operations and outcomes of the business. These include greenhouse gas emissions, other resource intensity data, diversity data, board composition and the adoption of human rights and labour relations policies amongst other. The fund managers use a variety of inputs including research from ISS, Ethical Screening, Net Purpose, other third party ESG data including Sustainalytics ESG risk ratings and data from Impact Cubed, and most importantly proprietary analysis following meetings and specific engagements with management teams. In addition to the fund managers’ holistic review of the business, they have enshrined a number of unacceptable behaviours and activities in a set of formal negative screens outlined in the fund’s Sustainable Investing policy.
Through this assessment of ESG risks the fund managers arrive at an answer for the second of the questions posed above.
Where the fund managers are able to clearly answer ‘yes’ to each of these questions, the company in question is included in the fund’s ‘aligned universe’ which comprises approximately 150 stocks. Of these, the fund mangers estimate that approximately 80 are likely to be attractively valued at any one time. From this pool of companies the fund managers build a portfolio of between 40 and 60 stocks in order to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns.
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:
In-House Resources
Premier Miton’s Head of Responsible Investing is part of the investment team and brings significant experience and skills to further enhance our responsible investing approach and to ensure that we are well positioned to manage current and prospective clients’ money in a world that is increasingly focusing on sustainability. Responsible investing activities are directed by Premier Miton’s Chief Investment Officer with implementation led by our Head of Responsible Investing supported by an Responsible Investing analyst, alongside the investment team. Oversight of activities, as well as reviewing the related policies, is provided by Premier Miton’s investment and product governance structures.
An internal Responsible Investing Oversight Committee (RIOC) monitors the responsible investing process to support our strategic objectives and comply with responsibilities to various stakeholders, including but not limited to, regulators and clients. This includes overseeing the integration of ESG factors in investment decision making, implementation of stewardship activities, publication of disclosures as well as adherence to relevant rules and regulations. A subcommittee of the RIOC considers the characteristics, eligibility and appropriateness of holdings in responsible and sustainable funds or any other holdings across the group where specific ESG criteria are required. This subcommittee is charged with identifying stewardship and responsible investing related matters to fund managers and can determine escalation activities including undertaking further analysis, engaging with company management, voting or the sale a position in extreme circumstances and if considered appropriate.
External Resources
The fund managers subscribe to a number of independent providers of ESG data and research including Ethical Screening, ISS (Governance Quality Score, Climate Solutions, Fossil Fuels and Extractives Norms-Based Research and Proxy Voting Research), Sustainalytics ESG Risk Scores, CDP global disclosure data, Transition Pathway initiative data, Bloomberg and Integrum ESG.
Memberships and Affiliations
Premier Miton is a signatory to or participant in a number of stewardship and responsible investing related initiatives and industry bodies.
- PRI - We became a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing in January 2020 and completed our second assessment on our responsible investing activities in 2023 using the process of completing the assessment as an annual review of responsible investing activities. We were rated 4 out of a possible 5 stars for the headline ‘Policy Governance and Strategy’ section which is an improvement from 3 stars received previously. At an asset class level, we scored 4 out of 5 stars in the ‘Direct Investing - Listed Equity’ and ‘Direct Investing - Fixed Income’ sections.
- Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative - We support the transition to a net-zero carbon economy having become a signatory to the NZAM in 2022. Our net zero strategy was approved by the board of Premier Miton Group plc in 2023.
- Investor Forum - In 2022 Premier Miton became a member of the Investor Forum, a formalised group of institutional investors that facilitate collective engagement on material issues with listed UK companies. The aim is to position stewardship at the heart of the investment decision-making process by facilitating dialogue and creating long term solutions that help build trust between companies and their shareholders. As members, we will be strengthened in our ability to engage with and influence investee companies on environmental, social and governance matters.
- Climate Action 100+ - In December 2021 Premier Miton joined Climate Action 100+, a global investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. As signatories, our aim is to mitigate investment exposure to climate related risks and help secure ongoing sustainable returns for investors through collaborative engagement activities that hold select companies to account on their disclosure and climate related commitments.
- Carbon Disclosure Programme (CDP) - In 2020 we participated for the first time in CDP by submitting a climate change disclosure for Premier Miton Group plc. The aim of this work is to set an internal benchmark for climate risk management and to highlight areas where we need to improve. For our fourth year of completion in 2023 we maintained our score of ‘B.’ This is above the ‘C’ global average and in line with the ‘B‘ average for financial services companies.
- Votes Against Slavery - Modern slavery is a pervasive risk to business, supply chains, society and our economy. Rathbones convened the ‘Votes Against Slavery’ collaborative initiative to coordinate the response of the investment community and help provide the necessary accountability for and compliance to the UK Modern Slavery Act. Over 20 investment firms representing £3.2 trillion have since joined this initiative and collectively challenge FTSE350 companies that have failed to meet their requirements. We have worked with this collaborative initiative since 2021 to engage with relevant companies held in our portfolios.
- UK Stewardship Code - We are also delighted that our last application to the Financial Reporting Council has been accepted and we subsequently remained a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code in 2023.
- Investment Association – We support the work of the Investment Association, participating in a number of committees and working groups, including the Sustainable and Responsible Investment Committee and attending the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation Implementation Forum, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Implementation Forum and inputting into other groups as required.
SDR Labelling: Sustainability Impact label
Literature
Fund Holdings
Voting Record
Disclaimer
Premier Miton Disclaimer - Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided as at the date of submission, we regret that we cannot accept responsibility for any omissions or errors.
The sustainable investment policy provided has not yet been updated to fully reflect the new requirements of SDR.
Fund Name | SRI Style | SDR Labelling | Product | Region | Asset Type | Launch Date | Last Amended |
|
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Premier Miton Emerging Markets Sustainable Fund |
Sustainability Tilt | Sustainability Impact label | OEIC | Emerging Markets | Equity | 21/04/2023 | Oct 2024 | |
ObjectivesThe aim of the fund is to achieve two key objectives: attractive financial returns and positive environmental and societal progress over the long term, being five years or more. The minimum recommended holding term is at least five years. This does not mean that the fund will achieve the objective over this, or any other, specific time period and there is a risk of loss to the original capital invested. |
Fund Size: £7.30m (as at: 30/04/2024) Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £382.00m (as at: 31/03/2024) Total Responsible Ownership Assets: £3029.00m (as at: 31/03/2024) Total Assets Under Management: £10712.00m (as at: 31/03/2024) ISIN: GB00BP69NK61, GB00BP69NM85, GB00BP69NJ56, GB00BP69NF19, GB00BP69NL78 Contact Us: contactus@premiermiton.com |
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Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG OverviewThe strategy aims to deliver long term capital appreciation through investment in emerging and frontier market companies offering exposure to sustainable growth themes, as identified through a material revenue alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their underlying targets. The portfolio managers believe that companies which can identify and invest to solve key challenges of sustainable development are able to deliver higher growth and more persistent value creation. They believe that emerging markets are at the frontline of this challenge and that emerging market companies are uniquely placed to identify accretive opportunities and deliver solutions. They follow a robust, repeatable process to identify attractively valued, high-quality financially sustainable companies and build a high-conviction portfolio overseen through engaged stewardship to deliver on their two objectives: attractive risk-adjusted financial returns and measurable environmental and societal impact. |
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Primary fund last amended: Oct 2024 |
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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
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Sustainability theme or focus
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Sustainable transport policy or theme
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Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship
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UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy
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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus
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Report against sustainability objectives
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Green / Sustainable property strategy
Fund has a strategy that focuses on sustainability issues in the property sector - they may eg use GRESB / BREEAM scores to inform investment decisions.
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
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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
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Resource efficiency policy or theme
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Favours cleaner, greener companies
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Waste management policy or theme
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Nature / biodiversity based solutions theme
A significant focus on investments that aim to protect, improve and, or restore natural habitat. 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
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Fracking and tar sands excluded
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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
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Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity
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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.
Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement
The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)
Require net zero action plan from all/most companies
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Labour standards policy
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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
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Ethical policies
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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.
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.
Armaments manufacturers avoided
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Civilian firearms production exclusion
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Alcohol production excluded
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Gambling avoidance policy
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Pornography avoidance policy
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Animal testing - excluded except if for medical purposes
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Human rights policy
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Child labour exclusion
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Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy
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Green infrastructure focus
Fund focuses on (ie directs a significant proportion of its investment towards) green infrastructure, eg the clean energy supply chain. See fund details.
Responsible food production or agriculture theme
Fund has a responsible food production or agriculture theme or strand of investment. Funds may have a single theme or many themes. See fund information.
Healthcare / medical theme
Healthcare and or medical theme or area of investment - the fund may have a single theme or many themes Gilts & Sovereigns
Does not invest in sovereigns
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Invests in banks
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Predatory lending exclusion
Fund excludes financial services companies with widely criticised, aggressive lending practices where interest rates are typically very high, includes ‘doorstep lending’)
Invests in insurers
Funds that do or may invest in insurance companies. Governance & Management
Governance policy
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Avoids companies with poor governance
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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
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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
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
Over 50% small / mid cap companies
Find funds where more than half of the funds' assets are invested in smaller or medium sized companies (i.e. below around £5 -10 billion).
Invests in small, mid and large cap companies / assets
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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.
Described as an ‘impact investment fund’
Funds that are specifically marketed as ‘Impact investments funds' will work to deliver both financial performance and specific, measurable positive, real world social and/or environmental benefits. Strategies vary.
Positive environmental impact theme
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Positive social impact theme
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Invests in environmental solutions companies
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Invests in social solutions companies
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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
Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’
50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.
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
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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.
Limited / few ethical exclusions
Find funds with few exclusions - typically for example exclude tobacco or companies that breach commonly adopted standards or norms such as the UN Global Compact.
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.
Assets mapped to SDGs
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Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria
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Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria
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Norms focus
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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
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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
No ‘diversifiers’ used other than cash
Fund that only invest in cash to aid the practical management (buying and selling) of assets. These funds do not use additional financial instruments.
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.
Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact
Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment funds’ which 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.
Available via an ISA (OEIC only)
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SDR Labelled
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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.
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 policy for non SRI funds (AFM company wide)
Find funds run by fund managers that apply Responsible ownership or 'Stewardship' policies to all or most of their investment assets. This means active involvement (e.g. voting, dialogue) with the companies they invest in across funds (not normally limited to ethical or SRI options.) Read fund literature for further information.
Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research
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In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)
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Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)
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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. Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory
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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
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Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers
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Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies
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UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)
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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 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 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.
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
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.
Publish 'CEO owned' Climate Risk policy (AFM company wide)
Find fund management companies that have published a Climate Risk policy or statement that is signed / owned by their Chief Executive.
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.
Carbon offsetting – do NOT offset carbon as part of net zero plan (AFM company wide)
This asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions by reducing their emissions. Calculations and scope vary.
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. 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:The fund aims to deliver positive, measurable social and environmental impact. The fund looks to achieve this in two ways. First, through the company contribution to impact which is achieved by investing in companies which are allocating capital to address unmet or underserved needs aligned with global sustainable development and which, as a result, will deliver positive, measurable social and environmental impact, as measured by individual company KPIs. Secondly, through investor contribution to impact, achieved by supporting and enhancing the impact of the portfolio companies through stewardship activities.
The UN sustainable development goals and sub-goals (SDGs) serve as an independent, universally-agreed framework for global priorities and as such provide the context for the fund managers’ identification of activities aligned with global sustainable development. These goals and sub-goals have been distilled down to a selection of key investable sustainable themes, each of which aligns to at least one of the SDGs.
In order to be considered eligible for investment, companies must contribute to one of the investable themes through material alignment to one or more of the SDG sub-goals, while at the same time adhering to the principle of ‘do no material harm’, which is to say that no material part of the business should represent an obstacle to the achievement of any of the SDGs. This is supported by a selection of negative screens which exclude certain business activities or behaviours considered unsustainable.
The fund has a sustainable investing policy which outlines the team’s sustainable investing approach, including the ESG criteria applied to the investments that are selected, and an overview of the long term sustainable themes applied to the fund. Other Premier Miton funds which have non-financial objectives may have a different sustainable or responsible policy.
Process:The fund has two key objectives: attractive financial returns and positive environmental and societal progress over the long term, being five years or more. In order to achieve this the fund managers require that all of the companies held in the portfolio meet their definition of ‘sustainable’. In order to establish if a company is truly sustainable the fund managers must be able to answer three key questions:
The strategy will invest in companies that are domiciled or incorporated in emerging or frontier markets or which derive the majority of their assets, revenues or profits from those markets. The fund managers are not restricted to names in the MSCI Emerging Markets benchmark and look for ideas across local emerging and frontier markets, and across the market capitalization spectrum. In total, these companies represent a starting universe of around 3,500 stocks.
The fund managers use a proprietary quantitative screen in order to narrow down the investment universe. Their Financial Sustainability Screen looks at a number of financial metrics which the fund managers believe are indicators of long-term attractive risk-adjusted returns, supported by back-testing of returns. The metrics they use identify 7 key factors: returns, cashflow, consistency, leverage, resource efficiency, innovation and momentum. They target companies in the top 2 quintiles, reducing the universe to approximately 1,400 stocks.
Once a company has been flagged as being potentially interesting, the fund managers first screen for daily trading liquidity and apply the fund’s negative screens and norms-based exclusions, thereby reducing the universe further to approximately 800-850 stocks. The fund managers then undertake comprehensive fundamental research to ensure that the initial indicators of financial sustainability are borne out by further investigation.
The fundamental research process is based on meetings with company management. The fund managers aim to develop a thorough understanding of the key elements of the company’s business strategy relative to the industry dynamics. They look at management’s skill in deploying the company’s resources and managing their risks and how this is likely to translate into the future earnings and cash generation of the business. These discussions form the basis for their financial forecasts over 5 years, and valuation of the company’s shares, as well as their assessment of the company’s sustainability profile. They are looking for a management team with a track record of creating value across the business’ ecosystem, a level of financial conservatism appropriate to the stage of development of the business and industries with secular as opposed to cyclical growth drivers, with concentration conducive to consistent economic value creation. They would normally expect the majority of the portfolio to be made up of businesses which are able to demonstrate consistent industry-leading outcomes, generating cash and able to reinvest in customer value to sustain their competitive advantage ensuring value creation for their entire ecosystem. They call these companies “Resilient-reinvestors”. They also look for companies which they believe will become “Resilient-reinvestors” in the future but which are at an earlier stage of their development. These businesses are leading their industry in innovation, generating cash and investing in new products and services in order to take market share which will drive future sustainable value creation. They call these companies “Leader-innovators”. Their focus on innovation and reinvestment is founded on a belief that industry leadership is most reliably maintained when achieved through an unwavering focus on the creation of long-term customer value as opposed to short-term profit. Through this process the fund managers arrive at an answer for the third of the questions posed above.
The fund managers are also looking to understand how the business allocates capital to address areas of under-investment in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Fund Managers use a theory of change framework to assess each company’s contribution. The company-level theory of change comprises 5 key stages:
Step 1 – identify the problem The fund managers use third-party comparative data and research to determine that progress towards sustainable development priorities identified by the SDG sub-goals is lagging. Examples of data used include the World Bank Financial Inclusion Index and the World Health Organisation Global Health Observatory statistics. This assessment may be global or specific to particular countries, regions or demographic groups. This allows the fund managers to determine that an under-served community or unmet need exists.
Step 2 – identify the alignment The fund managers analyse the company’s products and services to understand how they contribute positively to addressing the specific needs identified above. The company’s alignment is allocated to a sustainable investment theme.
Step 3 – quantify the alignment Companies are eligible for investment if they are investing a material portion of company capital to develop and deliver products and services which support the identified development priorities. The fund managers determine material to be 20% or more. For most companies suitable metrics for determining alignment are capital expenditure, operating expenditure or spending on research and development. If this data is unavailable the fund managers may use other metrics as a proxy for capital allocation, for example, share of assets, revenue or earnings, dependent on the most suitable metric for the business activity. However, these may not be appropriate for all businesses and therefore for financials services firms, for example, the fund managers may additionally use metrics such as new or existing loans or insurance policies, client numbers or value-of-new-business.
Step 4 – identify and measure the outcome The fund managers identify specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the positive impact enabled by the company’s products and services. We consider this the company’s contribution to positive impact. The most appropriate KPIs for each company will differ depending on the nature of the business and the sustainability theme it belongs to. A list of potential indicators per theme is maintained with preferred indicators being those that are recognised by appropriate industry bodies, for example IRIS+ database indicators from the GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network), or those specified by the United Nations as part of their own assessment of the progress of the SDGs. However, one of the challenges in emerging markets is the availability of data to allow measurement of the positive impact enabled by a company’s products and services and standardised KPIs may be unavailable. In this case, the fund managers will work with companies to select the most relevant metric available and engage with companies to improve their data disclosure. In some situations, the fund managers may estimate KPIs through the performance assessment of an alternative company metric. The fund managers may rely on our 3rd party data providers in this estimation. The fund managers assess the KPIs chosen over a rolling 5 year period (annualised), where data is available for that time period, to ensure the company contribution is positive and growing. The choice of a 5 year time horizon is designed to allow for analysis of positive impact through business cycles and is aligned to our financial performance objective.
Step 5 – consider the obstacles to alignment Companies may have both positive and negative impacts on the world through the products and services they offer and through their operations. The fund aims to invest in companies which do not have materially negative impacts. The fund managers assess this when considering the activities of the business during the research process and in addition the fund excludes certain business activities and behaviours as detailed below. Through this ‘theory of change’ process the fund managers arrive at an answer for the first of the questions posed above.
The fund managers believe that the way a company manages its ESG risk profile is integral to understanding both the company’s overall financial sustainability and their suitability as a sustainable investment. They believe that companies which demonstrate sustainable business practices through appropriate management of their ESG risk profile will command a higher premium in the market due to the lower risk of value destruction. Deficiencies in the identification, management and the processes to mitigate ESG risks on the part of a company may result in negative financial consequences which impact value creation within the business’ ecosystem. Meanwhile the failure to identify and appropriately allocate capital to positive ESG changes may result in the loss of business opportunities to disruptive competitors. As such a qualitative and quantitative assessment of a company’s ESG performance is fully integrated into their fundamental analytical process. The fund managers review a number of key environmental and social metrics, where that data is available, to provide an insight into the operations and outcomes of the business. These include greenhouse gas emissions, other resource intensity data, diversity data, board composition and the adoption of human rights and labour relations policies amongst other. The fund managers use a variety of inputs including research from ISS, Ethical Screening, Net Purpose, other third party ESG data including Sustainalytics ESG risk ratings and data from Impact Cubed, and most importantly proprietary analysis following meetings and specific engagements with management teams. In addition to the fund managers’ holistic review of the business, they have enshrined a number of unacceptable behaviours and activities in a set of formal negative screens outlined in the fund’s Sustainable Investing policy.
Through this assessment of ESG risks the fund managers arrive at an answer for the second of the questions posed above.
Where the fund managers are able to clearly answer ‘yes’ to each of these questions, the company in question is included in the fund’s ‘aligned universe’ which comprises approximately 150 stocks. Of these, the fund mangers estimate that approximately 80 are likely to be attractively valued at any one time. From this pool of companies the fund managers build a portfolio of between 40 and 60 stocks in order to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns.
Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:In-House Resources Premier Miton’s Head of Responsible Investing is part of the investment team and brings significant experience and skills to further enhance our responsible investing approach and to ensure that we are well positioned to manage current and prospective clients’ money in a world that is increasingly focusing on sustainability. Responsible investing activities are directed by Premier Miton’s Chief Investment Officer with implementation led by our Head of Responsible Investing supported by an Responsible Investing analyst, alongside the investment team. Oversight of activities, as well as reviewing the related policies, is provided by Premier Miton’s investment and product governance structures.
An internal Responsible Investing Oversight Committee (RIOC) monitors the responsible investing process to support our strategic objectives and comply with responsibilities to various stakeholders, including but not limited to, regulators and clients. This includes overseeing the integration of ESG factors in investment decision making, implementation of stewardship activities, publication of disclosures as well as adherence to relevant rules and regulations. A subcommittee of the RIOC considers the characteristics, eligibility and appropriateness of holdings in responsible and sustainable funds or any other holdings across the group where specific ESG criteria are required. This subcommittee is charged with identifying stewardship and responsible investing related matters to fund managers and can determine escalation activities including undertaking further analysis, engaging with company management, voting or the sale a position in extreme circumstances and if considered appropriate.
External Resources The fund managers subscribe to a number of independent providers of ESG data and research including Ethical Screening, ISS (Governance Quality Score, Climate Solutions, Fossil Fuels and Extractives Norms-Based Research and Proxy Voting Research), Sustainalytics ESG Risk Scores, CDP global disclosure data, Transition Pathway initiative data, Bloomberg and Integrum ESG.
Memberships and Affiliations Premier Miton is a signatory to or participant in a number of stewardship and responsible investing related initiatives and industry bodies.
SDR Labelling: Sustainability Impact label LiteratureFund HoldingsVoting RecordDisclaimerPremier Miton Disclaimer - Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided as at the date of submission, we regret that we cannot accept responsibility for any omissions or errors. The sustainable investment policy provided has not yet been updated to fully reflect the new requirements of SDR. |