Get the right experience for you. Please select your location and investor type.
Human development pillars
We map companies to 10 broad pillars that we believe encapsulate the essence of human development.
Porfolio ExplorerWhat are the human development pillars and why invent your own?
The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) was created ‘to emphasise that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone’. The Index works well as a high-level measure and countries that score well on it genuinely do tend to be delivering for their citizens, and vice versa. However, like all metrics it has its limits. Many companies that we think are sustainable don't map directly to the United Nations Human Development Index, so we have thought about how it could be expanded.
Looking at many different sources, we have determined ten broad pillars that we think capture the essence of human development in a more thorough way. We believe the companies we invest in should all be contributing to at least one of these in a meaningful way.
These pillars cover a range of areas that we think are central to human development and quality of life for people around the world, particularly in developing countries. While many of the contributions that our companies are making are not ground breaking, they are no less powerful or important to sustainable human development.
To us, sustainable human development is the essential medicines in Bangladesh, the first time mortgages in India, the gas cookers in rural China and the safe low-toxicity paint in India that are helping and will continue to help hundreds of millions of people in developing countries to live longer, better and healthier lives.
Investment terms
View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this website.
Our 10 human development pillars
Nutrition
Healthcare and hygiene
Water and sanitation
Energy
Housing
Employment
Finance
Standard of living
Education
Information technology
Investment terms
View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this website.
Copyright © 2025 Stewart Investors.
Material on this website is intended to provide general information only. Such material does not into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider these matters before acting on the information and consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement for any product named on this website before making an investment decision. Any opinions expressed in videos are the opinions of the individual participant and are subject to change without notice. Such opinions are not a recommendation to hold, purchase or sell a particular financial product and may not include all of the information required to make such a decision. Before making any such decision you should consult a financial adviser.