When we invest on behalf of our clients, who entrust us with their savings, we strive to embody both qualities. These qualities also guide our analysis of companies and their management teams.
We are frequently asked how we narrow down a universe of 15,000 Asian and emerging market companies to about 50 in our portfolio. This question is especially relevant now that we invest globally, expanding our universe to 65,000 companies, making the challenge even greater.
Portfolio manager Sashi Reddy provides an update on the Worldwide Leaders Strategy, discussing the AI race, new investments, and reflecting on the mistakes.
Despite Italy's challenging macroeconomic indicators, such as political instability and low fertility rates, the country remains a hub of innovation and dynamic businesses.
A few years ago, sustainable investment was much in favour. The tide turned decisively in 2022. Today, opinions about the future of sustainable investment are polarised.
Humanity is using nature 1.7 times faster than Earth’s biocapacity can regenerate. This is clearly unsustainable. We need to take urgent action to evolve our economic system from linear to circular.
We have decided to remove the word ‘Sustainability’ from the Stewart Investors fund names. Why? Three and a half slow-burning thoughts have combined to make it the right time.
Access to affordable diagnostics is crucial for healthcare, but it's a challenge in poorer countries. The Access to Medicines Foundation incentivises diagnostic companies and Stewart Investors partners with them to analyse investments.
Like many other environmental and social risks, biodiversity risks and impacts can be hard to assess as they are either hidden from the outside or occur deep in company supply chains.
The political chaos and the steady news flow emanating from India’s sensationalist media is often perceived as a risk. We disagree. It is no different to what we see in any other democratic society.
Access to Medicines Index promotes best practices, accelerates uptake by pharma companies, raises standards, and improves medicine access. We rely on this index to assess companies' approach to this critical issue.
Our investment approach favours companies that provide products and services that meet basic needs, solve difficult problems and seek to do more with less. A result of our investment philosophy means that we avoid companies that have a significant negative impact on the natural environment.
Access to Medicines' latest research on Access to Generics highlights areas for improvement and guides investors on driving better health and business outcomes, setting higher standards for affordable and accessible medicine globally.
Biodiversity is the term commonly used to refer to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. It is not a marketable good or product, nor a service; it is the living web that connects the tangible and intangible elements of healthy ecosystems.
Over the past year, our Asia and Global Emerging Markets portfolios have increased exposure to Chinese equities. As bottom-up stockpickers, we are optimistic about the potential returns from owning some of China’s best businesses at reasonable valuations.
In Ohio, the blend of hard work, good business sense, independent thinking and the ability to take risks when appropriate, has delivered a group of companies that are well worth stopping for.
In an update on the Worldwide Sustainability strategy, portfolio manager Nick Edgerton discusses the healthcare exposure in the portfolio, electrification, plus engaging on the issue of conflict minerals.
An update on our collaborative engagement on conflict minerals in the semiconductor supply chain and the Responsible Minerals Initiative Investor Network.
OpenAI released GPT-4, the sophisticated Large Language Model (LLM) behind ChatGPT, one year ago. Over that year, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has never been out of the news and the market cap of US tech stocks has risen by 50%
Sashi Reddy and Sujaya Desai speak to Pensions & Investments about the importance of stewardship, and how we look for management teams who have the intention and ability to leave businesses in much better shape than they found them in.
Prioritising long-term growth over short-term gains takes confidence and vision from high-quality management. Great stewardship through long-term decision making benefits businesses in myriad ways but it doesn’t manifest the same way in every company.
Every year we produce around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste worldwide. Of the seven billion tonnes of waste amassed to date, less than 10% of this has been recycled. The remaining 90% is buried in landfills, makes its way overseas to be burnt, or is lost into the environment where it can live for up to 400 years.
The Indian subcontinent has been a fantastic investment destination over the last few decades. Investment returns in the subcontinent have been primarily driven by India since she liberalised her economy in 1991.
India is home to many high-quality companies. Our past decades of investing in the Indian subcontinent has demonstrated that exceptional businesses managed by competent, conservative stewards deliver disproportionately better returns through cycles.
Commuters on the London Underground would be familiar with the warning to “mind the gap”. The investment industry is in dire need of a similar warning but with an extra A – “Mind the GAAP”.
As the human effects of climate change continue to intensify around the world, asset owners and managers are rightly grappling with their responsibilities to help avoid catastrophe.
On a recent trip to Europe, Hanna Ranstrand visited various companies who are building their businesses through acquisitions. Here, Hanna discusses these companies in more detail.
How do the Stewart Investors team seek to address diversity? Sashi Reddy discusses the investment team’s approach, and why fostering diversity of thought is not just important but crucial in implementing the team’s investment philosophy for the long term.
Welcome to our climate report. In the report we share a baseline of our climate change-related risks, opportunities and impacts, from which our progress towards zero-carbon portfolios and operations can be assessed in the years ahead.
Finding there was a lack of information on smallholder farmer supply chains and their environmental impact, we commissioned research with NIRAS-LTS International to learn more.
Emerging trends like cloud computing, automation, connectivity, and AI offer attractive opportunities for investors. These companies are often well positioned in the face of broad sustainability tailwinds and characterised by steady growth streams, so one can understand the allure.
We believe judgement is a better guide to voting than a rules-based approach. Our voting policy is based on a parsimonious set of principles and key considerations that in our judgement are likely to be applicable to all companies in the vast majority of circumstances.
Heating and air conditioning usage account for a large percentage of the energy consumed in the average American home. By installing energy-efficient HVACR systems, Watsco, Inc. are assisting home owners to reduce their environmental footprint and tackle climate change.
Struggling to clearly articulate the world of ESG investing? You’re not alone. Learn more about our sustainable development framework. Jack Nelson explains.
In a recent essay, Santa Fe economist Brian Arthur challenges economists to describe the world in more than algebraic terms. Our focus on quality and people leads us to embrace stories and narrative.
Sashi Reddy and David Gait of Stewart Investors speak to G. V. Prasad, Chairperson and Managing Director at Dr. Reddy’s an Indian pharmaceutical company.
Europe is seldom considered the most exciting place to invest. This is mainly because European index returns – a proxy for average market returns – have been modest over most time frames. But Europe offers some excellent investment opportunities for active investors willing to seek out its treasures.
Investing in healthcare companies seems an obvious choice for sustainable investors. After all, any company that helps cure disease, and improve health and wellbeing must be making a positive contribution to sustainable development.
Emerging markets have evolved from basic tech tasks to producing world-leading firms. Companies like Mercado Libre and Avast drive innovation, reduce inequality, and offer optimism for future growth.
Even enthusiastic European equity investors understand why many don't share their excitement. Many savers believe their options are limited to average market returns from index-tracking funds, which often appear mediocre.
While a strong culture can sustain a business, a toxic culture can break it. As sustainable investors, it’s always important to understand how the culture of companies we invest in can impact how they treat their employees and customers and, ultimately, influence the wider world.
The Strategy did well in 2020, thanks in part to the generosity of central banks globally, while the real economy tried to shake off a pandemic. However, we believe that the real opportunity for investors in the subcontinent should be in the decade ahead. We are optimistic for two reasons.
Education is often inaccessible, especially for girls, who face early marriage and abuse. Jack Nelson discusses with Camfed leaders the importance of girls' education and its social benefits in Africa.
‘Payable days’ measures how long a company takes to pay its suppliers. While finance courses often teach that longer payment times indicate strong bargaining power and a strong franchise, we disagree.
Our investment philosophy emphasises the cultures and people behind businesses. We believe long-term success stems from unique cultures that resist short-term pressures, think diversely about opportunities and risks, and maintain operational focus to deliver strategies consistently.
Time-horizons matter. In a world beset by an ever-expanding list of developmental, environmental and economic challenges, a long-term mind-set is crucial if companies are to not only survive, but contribute and benefit from the necessary changes required over the coming decades.
Since our first sustainable development-focused strategy launched in 2005, human development has been a key focus area given our long history of investing in Asia Pacific and emerging markets.
In the sequel to Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’, Alice climbs ‘Through the Looking-Glass’ and finds another fantastical world, absent of reason and where everything is reversed. This crisis of logic is all too evident when in investing in Asia Pacific.
If asked to list climate change solutions, many of us would start with renewable energy. It is obviously a key one given the use of fossil fuels for energy is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Growing investor concerns about climate and societal crises have contributed to the burgeoning demand for ‘sustainable investment’ funds that take into consideration environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a framework for investors and businesses to unite for cleaner practices. One goal which many investors and businesses are placing emphasis on is SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
At Stewart Investors, we invest in 'quality companies' through a rigorous ESG evaluation process that has been in place for over three decades. Our ESG analysis is integrated with assessments of management, franchise, and financials to ensure comprehensive evaluation.
As it is just over 12 months since we instigated the plastic pellet loss investor initiative, we thought we would take the opportunity to provide you with an update and summary of progress since our last update in March 2019.
Recent history in Brazil has seen a push towards identifying and weeding out the linkages between corporate and political networks that have intertwined over decades to breed a culture of impunity.
This rule of thumb was coined in order to combat a common challenge facing teams trying to solve complex problems. In pursuits like investing, there is a tendency to increase the number of people providing input to the point that the team gets bloated and functions less efficiently.
Today, asset owners have numerous investment options, each with compelling reasons for their attractiveness. Aggressive, untested monetary policies have fueled years of above-average equity returns, leading many strategists to predict strong returns for investors.
Our Hippocratic oath is something we all hold dearly and have all signed. It underpins our investment philosophy, which is based on identifying quality stewards of strong franchises with good long-term prospects.
We used to send letters to companies and stock exchanges extolling the virtues of single share classes, tag along-rights and ‘one share, one vote’. Today, we actively seek out companies with dual share classes. What has changed?
Why is Asia still regarded as a separate asset class by investors? At first glance, it looks like an artificial construct, made up of 15 countries with very little in common, other than crude proximity on a global map.
We consider the tax rates paid by companies that we might invest in on behalf of our clients important because it impacts our assessment of Quality of Management, Franchise and Financials.
Sharing resources has gone on for as long as humans have been living in tribes. But without the enabling role of the internet or mobile devices it is hard work in a large complex society with a myriad of goods and services. The internet is now helping to solve this problem.
In 2010, Puma pioneered a new form of corporate reporting. The German sportswear company produced an environmental profit and loss account, which estimated the company and its supply chain to have caused €145m of environmental damage that year, relative to €202m of net profit.
The stock market and bond market have their origins in the financial revolution of the late 17th century. The stock market developed to provide funds for overseas trading companies, like the English East India Company, while the bond market funded the state, mostly raising funds for waging of war.
At first glance, the financial system seems nonsensical. The more you examine it, the less sense it makes. Ideally, it should support long-term economic growth, but it resembles a fantasy land filled with peculiar characters and absurd tasks. Lewis Carroll’s Alice would be very much at home.
Plastic is wonderful stuff. It is lightweight, so less carbon intensive to move around. It is durable, mouldable and less energy intensive to make than aluminium or glass. It helps reduce food waste and decreases the risk of food contamination.
Japan's taijin kyofusho is a social phobia that discourages risk-taking. It means non-conformist companies like Unicharm and Hoya thrive by prioritising long-term thinking and stakeholder interests, positioning themselves for sustainable growth.
Stewardship is central to our investment philosophy at Stewart Investors, and the importance of the quality of incoming leadership cannot be understated. The risk, however, is that we arrive at conclusions too quickly or use the wrong measuring tape.
