Worldwide Sustainability

Worldwide Sustainability

An unconstrained investment strategy that invests in companies across the world which are positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development.

Our Worldwide Sustainability strategy was launched in November 2012. It is an unconstrained investment strategy, by which we mean it is not restricted to certain countries, and is able to invest in between 40-60 companies all over the world. As with all of our strategies, we are interested in finding only the very best businesses; those with high quality management teams, franchises, and financials, that are well positioned to contribute to, and benefit from, sustainable development.

Strategy highlights: a focus on quality and sustainability

  • Companies must contribute to sustainable development. 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

Proxy voting

Proxy voting: Q2 2024

Worldwide Sustainability proxy voting: 1 April - 30 June 2024

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 446 resolutions from 32 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 26 resolutions.

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at A.O. Smith, Arista Networks, Edwards Lifesciences, EPAM Systems, Fortinet, Markel, Roper Technologies, Spirax Group, Synopsys, Texas Instruments, Veeva Systems and Zebra Technologies as they have been in place for over 10 years and the companies’ have given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (12 resolutions)

We voted against remuneration motions at Assa Abloy as we believe acquisitive businesses should incentivise management on returns as well as shares held. (two resolutions)

We voted against recasting of votes at Natura as we wish to avoid the election of potentially unknown nominees.  We voted against a remuneration proposal which the company highlighted was based on a discrepancy in our third-party research, misrepresenting the underlying proposal. Unfortunately it was too late to reverse the vote. We have alerted our research provider to the error. (two resolutions)

We voted against a proposal regarding transaction of business at Tecan as the company provided no detail on the proposal and we wish to avoid unfettered discretion. (one resolution)

We voted against an amendment to officer exculpation at Veeva Systems as we are not in favour of limiting the responsibility of corporate officers. (one resolution)

We voted against recasting and cumulative voting at WEG as this would allow the board to make changes without shareholder assessment or knowledge of candidates. (three resolutions)

We abstained from voting on requests for a separate board election and the election of a Supervisory Council position at WEG due to insufficient information and our preference for the current family stewards to remain in place. (two resolutions)

We voted against the decision to grant a one-off executive award with short vesting conditions at Zebra Technologies as we did not see sufficient rationale to support it. (one resolution)

We voted against a shareholder proposal at A.O. Smith requesting the company report on hiring practices for people with arrest records as we do not deem it necessary or productive and support the company's hiring process. (one resolution)

We voted against a shareholder proposal regarding board declassification at EPAM Systems as we do not deem it necessary for all directors to stand for election annually and believe this could destabilise the board by allowing excessive turnover. (one resolution)

We voted against a shareholder proposal regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure at Markel as the proposal called for disclosure of emissions from underwriting, insuring and investments, which is not yet widely or reliably reported in the industry, hence we would prefer to discuss the issue with the company. (one resolution)

We abstained from voting on a shareholder proposal to remove supermajority requirements for certain issues at Roper Technologies as the board didn't provide a recommendation. (one resolution)

We voted against a shareholder proposal mandating an independent director serve as Chair at Synopsys as we are confident in the stewardship of the current Chair and former CEO to lead the majority independent board. (one resolution)

We voted for shareholder proposals regarding the right to call a special meeting and requesting a report on customer due diligence at Texas Instruments as we found both to be sensible. (two 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: Q1 2024

Worldwide Sustainability proxy voting: 1 January - 31 March 2024

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 126 resolutions from 10 companies to vote on.  On behalf of clients, we voted against 7 resolutions.

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Nordson and Roche as they have each been in place for over 10 years. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts and follows best practice. We also voted against excessive executive renumeration at Roche. (seven 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 2023

Worldwide Sustainability proxy voting: 1 October - 31 December 2023

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 42 resolutions from five companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we didn't 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 2023

Worldwide Sustainability proxy voting: 1 July - 30 September 2023

Proxy voting by country of origin

Proxy voting by proposal category

During the quarter there were 79 resolutions from eight companies to vote on.  On behalf of clients, we voted against two resolutions.

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Advanced Drainage Systems and Vitasoy as they have been in place for over 10 years and the company has given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (two 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.

Portfolio Explorer

If you are unable to view the portfolio explorer, please re-open in Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera. IE11 is not supported.

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 investee companies* 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 as at 30 June 2024. *Assets that the strategies may hold which an active decision has not been made, and sustainability assessment does not apply, include cash, cash equivalents, short-term holdings for the purpose of efficient portfolio management and holdings received as a result of mandatory corporate actions. Holdings of such assets will not appear on Portfolio Explorer.

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: © 2014–2024 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.