Indian Subcontinent Sustainability
Launched in 2006, the strategy invests in companies based in or having significant operations in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
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Launched in 2006, the Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Strategy is a long-term, equity-only strategy that aims to invest in shares of high-quality companies positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, the sustainable development of the region. Given the size of the economy and the investment universe, the majority of the strategy’s 30-60 investments are in Indian-listed companies.
Now available to investors in the EEA and Switzerland as an Irish-domiciled VCC.
The Indian subcontinent: An attractive destination for long-term investors
Strategy highlights: a focus on quality and sustainability
- Companies must contribute to sustainable development and make a net-positive impact to a more sustainable future. Portfolio Explorer >
- We invest in high-quality companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials. How we pick companies >
- We avoid companies linked to harmful activities and engage and vote for positive change. Our position on harmful products >
- Our approach is long-term, bottom-up, high conviction and benchmark agnostic
- We focus on capital preservation as well as capital growth – we define risk as the permanent loss of client capital
Latest insights
Strategy update: Q1 2023
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability strategy update: 1 January - 31 March 2023
During the course of this quarter, we exited one position from our Indian Subcontinent Sustainability strategy.
This was Mahindra Logistics (India: Industrials), a third-party logistics services provider in India. Mahindra Logistics was slowly establishing a growing presence outside of their key customer, the Mahindra Group, and stood to benefit from consistently consolidating a large and inefficient logistics market in the country. However, through this journey, they remained diversified across a number of different logistics services and we struggled to build further conviction in the focus and evolution of the franchise.
Through this quarter, we did not initiate any new positions in the strategy. Rather, we chose to continue adding to some of our high-conviction holdings in the portfolio at more reasonable valuations.
Some examples of these additions were Blue Dart Express (India: Industrials), HDFC (India: Financials) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (India: Financials). Similar to Mahindra Logistics, Blue Dart Express – an express logistics provider – stands to benefit from the structural growth tailwinds of formalised logistics and infrastructure across India. The company continues to be stewarded by a very long-tenured management team that maintain an unwavering focus on express logistics, where quality and timeliness of delivery allow for greater pricing power.
HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank continue to demonstrate their risk-aware cultures, with stewards building the businesses for the long term. Both financial services groups continue to be well positioned to enjoy the structural and sustainable tailwinds of growth from increasing access to financial services across the country.
In a scenario of rising geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty, we continue to believe that bottom-up analysis, with a focus on fundamental quality and sustainable growth tailwinds, is the best route to tapping into the opportunities and protecting against the risks of investing in the Indian subcontinent.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
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Strategy update: Q4 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability strategy update: 1 October - 31 December 2022
Over the course of another turbulent quarter, our focus remained on bottom-up stock picking – we continue to believe that identifying competent stewards who manage growing, resilient franchises, with quality financial profiles, continues to be the best route to delivering sound, absolute returns over the long term.
During the quarter, we initiated a position in Tata Chemicals (India: Materials). Tata Chemicals is one of the world’s leading producers of soda ash. Soda ash is used in a wide variety of end applications, including laundry, glass manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and increasingly the renewables supply chain. Soda ash capacity remains tightly balanced and any spurt in demand should help leading incumbents, such as Tata Chemicals. Tata Chemicals is also investing in increasing its capacity. Over the last decade, the company has slowly evolved into a focused, sustainable chemistry business by diversifying away from fertilisers and salt. The company is also improving the health of its balance sheet under the stewardship of its parent. We believe it is attractively valued given the tailwinds and the improving quality of financials.
We have also added to Aavas Financiers (India: Financials) as valuations have become more reasonable. Aavas is a leading provider of mortgages in rural India with a reputation for a conservative credit culture and affordable rates. It is perhaps the only way to build a resilient lending business long term. Aavas helps improve financial inclusion and the quality of housing infrastructure in rural India, while fostering gender equality through increased participation of women in home ownership. Aavas has been patiently investing in technology and leadership today to be able to grow sustainably for many years to come. We believe Aavas to be one of the best-managed small businesses globally.
We also increased our holdings in Dr. Lal PathLabs (India: Health Care) and Computer Age Management Services (India: Information Technology) as valuations became a bit more reasonable. Dr. Lals is well positioned to continue delivering affordable, quality diagnostic services to a broad section of Indian society. Rising scale ensures they can continue delivering the best quality at an affordable price while maintaining profitability. Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) is a technology provider to the financial services industry. CAMS has built a solid reputation of trust, serving the mutual fund industry through their registrar services. There are similar opportunities emerging within data privacy in financial services and insurance. These are long gestation opportunities best served by companies with long-term horizons and exceptional customer-focused cultures who can patiently build a reputation of trust. Trust is perhaps the best barrier to entry as it takes decades to build yet has to be earned every day.
We sold the strategy’s holdings in VST Tillers Tractors (India: Industrials). VST is a well-managed farm equipment business with a leading position in tilling equipment. There are long-term headwinds to the use of tilling equipment given their detrimental role in topsoil erosion. Additionally, rising competitive intensity from leaders, such as Mahindra and Kubota, increase risks to VST’s ambitions of growing their tractor franchise. We will continue to observe their evolution as we like the family’s stewardship, steady professionalisation of management and their conservative approach to financials.
We trimmed the portfolio’s holdings in Elgi Equipments (India: Industrials) due to full valuations in the face of rising headwinds, particularly in Europe and the US. Elgi continues to be well positioned to benefit from the industrial cycle in India while slowly expanding its global footprint. They have the necessary ingredients of patience, conservatism and a strong focus on customers to become a world class compressor manufacturer in the coming decades. We believe this journey should be rewarding for shareholders in the long term.
In a scenario of rising geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty, we continue to believe that bottom-up analysis, with a focus on fundamental quality and sustainable growth tailwinds, is the best route to tapping into the opportunities and protecting against the risks of investing in the Indian subcontinent.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Strategy update: Q3 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability strategy update: 1 July - 30 September 2022
Over the course of another turbulent quarter, our focus remained on bottom-up stock picking – we continue to believe that identifying competent stewards who manage growing, resilient franchises with defensive financial profiles continues to be the best route to delivering sound absolute returns over the long term.
As a result, we have initiated positions in three new companies in the portfolio. The first addition is Triveni Turbines (India: Industrials) – India’s leading steam turbine maker with an eye on global expansion. Stewarded by the Sawhney family, Triveni has ambitions to build a simple, focused business in turbines that can compete on a global scale. Triveni’s niche of small turbines is an area that requires long-term, trust-based relationships with customisation of end products and a robust aftermarket presence. The results are resilient financials in the form of steady cash generation and a net cash balance sheet.
We also initiated a position in a hospitality business, the leading hotels franchise in India. The company is stewarded by long-term owners, who have spent the recent down cycle in tourism and hospitality making the business leaner and stronger. With the most iconic brand in the country, a franchise that is becoming more asset light through management contracts, and with the potential for a recovery in hospitality and tourism, we believe there is a long runway here for growth in profitability of the core business.
The third addition to the portfolio is an Indian IT services and embedded software provider focused on the automotive sector. The two co-founders of the company remain in the position of Chair and CEO, and have consistently managed the business for the long term, building strong relationships with key automotive OEMs globally. They have recently taken a decision to shrink the business to a third of its original revenue base – a difficult decision in the short term, but one that ensures a focus on their core competence in auto engineering over the long term. To us, this is a great indicator of stewards who can resist short-term market pressures to build sound, sustainable franchises. The company’s focus is on software and services related to electric vehicles and automated driving systems, benefiting from a long runway for growth in the coming years.
During this quarter, we also exited two positions – Indigo Paints (India: Materials) and Voltas (India: Industrials). While we continue to respect the long-term managers at both companies, we struggled to build conviction in the ability of the franchises to continue to gain in strength in hyper-competitive environments. Both companies were also at full valuations with little margin for error, leading us to sell out of these holdings.
In a scenario of increasingly greater geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty, we continue to believe that bottom-up analysis, a focus on fundamental quality and sustainable growth tailwinds, is the best route to tapping into the opportunities and protecting against the risks of investing in the Indian subcontinent.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Strategy update: Q2 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability strategy update: 1 April - 30 June 2022
Over the course of another turbulent quarter, we continued to focus on our bottom-up stock picking – remaining centered on companies with long-term stewards, resilient franchises, and defensive balance sheets.
We initiated one new position over the last few months, a trusted intermediary between mutual funds and retail investors. This is a business built on trust developed over decades, with high barriers to entry that new competitors have struggled to disrupt. The company is the largest in the industry, benefiting from the financialisation of savings as the middle class continues to grow in India. Watched over by long-term stewards in the form of HDFC who own 15% of the business through various entities, we think the business has the potential to continue evolving into different areas of the ecosystem, aided by a robust balance sheet.
Through this quarter, we also continued adding to our existing holdings that continued to have attractive long-term growth prospects, at very reasonable valuations. HDFC, India’s largest mortgage financier, was one such example. The proposed merger between HDFC and their subsidiary bank remains an exciting point in their journey, which should lower the cost of funds for the historically wholesale-funded mortgage business and enable access to a nation-wide branch network.
To fund some of these transactions, we trimmed positions in companies where increasingly full valuations could impact long-term returns, such as Elgi Equipments (India), the leading compressor manufacturer in the country. While we continue to admire the founder-led culture, ambition, and focus on quality, we remain conscious of the cyclicality of the underlying business.
We remain unable to predict short-term macroeconomic policies or the environments they might produce. In markets such as these, we remain focused on the bottom-up fundamentals of companies – identifying long-term stewards, resilient franchises with sustainable growth tailwinds and healthy financials.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Named new investments disclosed relate to holdings with a portfolio weight over 1%. It is not a recommendation or solicitation to purchase or invest in any fund. Differences between the representative account-specific constraints, currency or fees and those of a similarly managed fund or mandate would affect results.
Proxy voting: Q1 2023
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability proxy voting: 1 January - 31 March 2023
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter, there were 14 resolutions from six companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we did not vote against any resolutions.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Proxy voting: Q4 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability proxy voting: 1 October - 31 December 2022
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter there were 16 resolutions from 12 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we did not vote against any resolutions.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Proxy voting: Q3 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability proxy voting: 1 July - 30 September 2022
Proxy voting by country of origin
Proxy voting by proposal category
During the quarter there were 174 resolutions from 25 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against one resolution.
We voted against the election of a director at Dabur as we do not believe they are truly independent. (one resolution)
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
Proxy voting: Q2 2022
Indian Subcontinent Sustainability proxy voting: 1 April - 30 June 2022
During the quarter, there were 110 resolutions from 20 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we did not vote against any resolutions.
Source for company information: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. This stock information does not constitute any offer or inducement to enter into any investment activity. Portfolio data shown is from representative strategy accounts of the strategy shown above. Proxy voting chart numbers may not add to 100 due to rounding. SHP means: Shareholder Proposal.
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For illustrative purposes only. Reference to the names of example company names mentioned in this communication is merely for explaining the investment strategy and should not be construed as investment advice or investment recommendation of those companies. Companies mentioned herein may or may not form part of the holdings of Stewart Investors. Holdings are subject to change.
Certain statements, estimates, and projections in this document may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Stewart Investors’ current assumptions and beliefs, in light of currently available information, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual actions or results may differ materially from those discussed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. There is no certainty that current conditions will last, and Stewart Investors undertakes no obligation to correct, revise or update information herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: Stewart Investors investment team and company data. Securities mentioned are all holdings which have/have had a portfolio weight over 0.5% from representative Asia Pacific Sustainability Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan Sustainability Strategy, Asia Pacific Leaders Sustainability Strategy, European Sustainability Strategy, European (ex UK) Sustainability Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Leaders Sustainability Strategy, Global Emerging Markets Sustainability Strategy, Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Strategy, Worldwide Sustainability Strategy and Worldwide Leaders Sustainability Strategy accounts up to 31 March 2023.
The Stewart Investors supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full list of SDGs can be found on the United Nations website.
Source for Climate Solutions and impact figures: © 2014–2023 Project Drawdown (drawdown.org). Source for Human Development Pillars: Stewart Investors investment team.
Source for climate solutions and human development analysis and mapping: Stewart Investors investment team. Contributions are defined by the team as demonstrable contributions to any solution, either direct (directly attributable to products, services or practices provided by that company), or enabling (supported or made possible by products or technologies provided by that company).
Investment terms
View our list of investment terms to help you understand the terminology within this document.
Fund data and information
Fund prices and details
Click on the links below to access key facts, literature, performance and portfolio information for the funds and share classes available in this jurisdiction:
Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Fund
| Fund name | Fund type | Currency | Price | Daily change | Price date | Factsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class III (Acc) | Irish UCITs | USD | 10.29 | -0.22 | 30 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class E (Acc) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 10.39 | -0.24 | 30 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class E (Acc) | Irish UCITs | USD | 10.29 | -0.22 | 30 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class I (Acc) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 10.26 | -0.24 | 30 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class VI (Acc) | Irish UCITs | EUR | 10.39 | -0.24 | 30 May 2023 | |
| Stewart Investors Indian Subcontinent Sustainability Class VI (Acc) | Irish UCITs | USD | 10.29 | -0.22 | 30 May 2023 |
Share prices are calculated on a forward pricing basis which means that the price at which you buy or sell will be calculated at the next valuation point after the transaction is placed. Where a fund price is marked XD, this means that the fund is currently Ex-Dividend. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of shares and income from them may go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. Please note that the yield quoted above is not the historic yield. It is considered that the yield quoted represents the current position of investments, income and expenses in the fund and that this is a more accurate figure. Investors may be subject to tax on their distribution. The yield is not guaranteed or representative of future yields. You should be aware that any currency movements could affect the value of your investment. The Funds within the First Sentier Investors Global Umbrella Fund plc (Irish VCC) are denominated in USD or EUR.
Following the UK departure from the European Union, the First Sentier Investors ICVC, an open ended investment company registered in England and Wales ("OEIC") has ceased to qualify as a UCITS scheme and is instead an Alternative Investment Fund ("AIF") for European Union purposes under the terms of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (2011/61/EU). Accordingly, no marketing activities relating to the OEIC are being carried out by Stewart Investors in the European Union (or the additional EEA states) and the OEIC is not available for distribution in those jurisdictions. We have made documents available for existing EU investors in the ICVC which can be accessed here.
