How we invest

Our investment philosophy

We are stewards
Our role is to allocate society’s capital to productive uses, in accordance with our Hippocratic Oath.

We are long-term
Our time horizon is measured in years, not weeks, and we value companies accordingly.

We invest only in companies contributing to a more sustainable future
We engage constructively as owners to help companies on their sustainability journeys.

We invest only in high quality companies
We seek out companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials.

We believe capital preservation is important for capital growth
We define risk as the possibility of the permanent loss of client capital.

Our core investment philosophy has been in place since 1988 and has remained unchanged since then.

It is founded on the principle of good stewardship, by which we mean careful, considered and responsible management of our clients’ funds.

We treat the money we’re entrusted with as if it were our own long-term savings.

We believe our job is to invest our clients’ capital in high-quality companies with strong management teams that are well positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development. We endeavour to pay sensible prices for these investments.

We also believe we have a responsibility to manage our clients’ funds to the mutual benefit of everyone who has a relationship with these companies, including the wider communities in which they operate.

Futhermore

Our approach to sustainable investing

We believe companies that deliver benefits to society and the environment face fewer risks over the long term and are therefore better placed to deliver positive returns to shareholders.

How we pick companies

We have often been asked how we narrow down a universe of 15,000 Asian and Emerging Markets companies to a portfolio of approximately 50. It’s a good question, particularly as now that we invest globally, giving us an investible universe of 65,000 companies, the challenge has become even starker.

Our policies and statements

We launched our first sustainable investment fund in 2005. At that time we were convinced all companies would need to adjust to operating in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, and more companies would need to develop solutions to make economies less carbon intensive