The Fund has the objective of generating a positive impact by investing in companies that have the potential to address the world’s major social and environmental challenges.  

J O Hambro Capital Management Limited (“Investment Manager”) will identify investment opportunities that have a positive, measurable social and environmental impact when measured against a taxonomy developed by the Investment Manager (the “Regnan Taxonomy”) relating to the targets which underlie the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  The Investment Manager will use the Regnan Taxonomy to: 

i.    understand and identify the underlying environmental and social problems to be addressed; 

ii.    identify the products and services which contribute to finding solutions to these problems; and

iii.    identify suitable investee companies which are selling these products and services. 

The solutions to underserved environmental and societal needs are identified using the Regnan Taxonomy. The Regnan Taxonomy identifies potential products or services that can contribute towards the achievement of these solutions, helping to identify listed companies that sell such products and services, understand the market growth opportunity for these solutions and therefore understand to what extent these companies can drive a positive impact.

The Investment Manager has built a unique and rigorous process, designed to ensure that only truly mission-driven companies, which are able to drive additional positive impacts through the sale of a solution to a particular problem identified using the Regnan Taxonomy, make it into the portfolio. The Investment Manager will measure and monitor the positive and negative social and environmental impacts of potential investment opportunities. Additionally, it will seek to understand a potential investee company’s culture and attitude with respect to governance, and therefore how open the company would be to engage with the Investment Manager, so it may seek to reduce negative environmental or social impacts the company may have.
 

Investee companies must follow good governance practices. This requires investee companies to adhere to minimum standards in various areas including sound management structures, employee relations, remuneration of staff and tax compliance. The Investment Manager is a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code 2012, is requesting to be a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code 2020 (together the “Code”) and is a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (the “UNPRI”). As a signatory to the Code and the UNPRI, the good governance practices of investee companies are assessed by the Investment Manager prior to making an investment and periodically thereafter.

The Fund’s financial performance will be measured against MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (the “Index”). The Index is used as a target benchmark for the financial performance of the Fund. The Index is not, nor is it intended to be, aligned and/or consistent with the sustainable investment objective of the Fund.