Stewart Investors’ first strategy was launched in 1988, managed with a philosophy of taking a long-term approach to investing in high-quality companies managed by exceptional people. A focus on quality combined with a long-term horizon naturally led us to think about sustainability risks and opportunities, leading to the launch of our first dedicated sustainability strategy in 2005. Today, the team manages Asia Pacific, Emerging Markets, European, Indian Subcontinent and Worldwide equity strategies.

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Our strategies aim to achieve long-term capital appreciation by investing in high-quality companies which contribute to, and benefit from sustainable development. We seek to address sustainability concerns and issues, and improve sustainable outcomes by investing in companies that achieve positive social and environmental outcomes. Focusing on company stewardship, and sound governance, we avoid businesses linked to harmful activities. We also engage and vote during company general meetings to steer positive change.

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We are a team of passionate investors based in Edinburgh, London, Singapore and Sydney. We believe that fund management has a social purpose, encouraging a savings culture around long- term investment. Our philosophy of careful stewardship is in the best interests of clients and we believe it should protect capital over the long-term.

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Stewart Investors investment philosophy:

• We are stewards. Our role is to allocate society’s capital to productive uses, in accordance with our Hippocratic Oath
• We are long-term. Our time horizon is measured in years, not weeks, and we value companies accordingly.
• We invest only in companies contributing to a more sustainable future. We engage constructively as owners to help companies on their sustainability journeys.
• We invest only in high-quality companies. We invest in companies with exceptional cultures, strong franchises and resilient financials.
• We believe capital preservation is important for capital growth. We define risk as the possibility of permanent loss of client capital.

Stewart Investors is an autonomous investment group within First Sentier Investors.

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When investing with a long-term horizon, sustainability and quality become critical to growing and preserving wealth. At Stewart Investors, we believe companies that deliver benefits to the society, and environment face fewer risks and have access to more enduring opportunities over the long-term. We believe these companies are better placed to deliver positive returns to our shareholders.  

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Our investment approach is focused on companies - not countries or sectors. We ignore the benchmark and evaluate companies over a 10-year investment horizon. We only invest in companies where we have conviction in the quality of management, franchise and financials, and we focus on the sustainability of the company’s products and services. To us, quality and sustainability of the company’s business model, financials and management, are key drivers of return and enables us to mitigate risks and take advantage of opportunities.

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Key characteristics of our strategies as an outcome of our investment approach: 

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Strong performance track record - We have been managing dedicated sustainability strategies in Asia since 2005 and Emerging Markets since 2009. Over that time, we have demonstrated a consistent investment approach and strong long-term outperformance over benchmarks with relatively lower volatility and lower downside capture. 

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Differentiated holdings - Our investment process is highly qualitative and focused on companies, not countries or sectors. Our portfolios are constructed solely bottom up, and are highly differentiated from benchmark and peers, offering diversification benefits. 

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Focus on quality and sustainability - We build diversified portfolios of high-quality companies with strong balance sheets, which contribute to and benefit from sustainable development, and achieving positive social and environmental outcomes. We look at the quality of management, franchise and financials, with sustainability as a core consideration across all three aspects. Environment, social and governance (ESG) analysis is central to the process and is fully integrated into the team’s activities. 

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Long-term shareholders - We build long-term collaborative and productive relationships with our companies, with some in our strategies for more than 20 years. We use these strong relationships to engage collaboratively with management teams to make incremental improvements in the businesses that we own, while also mitigating risk. 

‍Distinct culture - Our approach and team culture of openness, transparency and collaboration enables us to be different. We are not forced to be highly benchmark aware or focus on relative performance over the short-term.