Ethical criteria

EIM employs both negative and positive screening to its stock selection process and engages with companies before, during and after investing. This process is integrated into our overall investment management process and we use the following ‘screens’ when considering the suitability of an investment.*

Positive screening

We seek to invest in companies that demonstrate a responsible approach in some or all of the following areas:

• Business practices
  Follow ethical practices towards customers, including maintaining product quality, ethical sources of supply, opposing corruption and respecting indigenous peoples.

• Community relations
  Make charitable donations, employ local people, offer work placement schemes.

• Corporate governance practices
  Commit to transparency, anti-bribery and corruption codes, adhering to International Labour Organisation regulations on labour and child labour.

• Education
  Provide training and development along with access to education.

• Environmental management
  Support biodiversity, manage their climate change impact and carbon footprint, water conservation, air pollution and manage waste and recycling, and support renewable energy.

• Healthcare
  Provide affordable healthcare and access to medicine.

• Human rights
  Support basic human rights by adopting the United Nations Universal Declaration
  of Human Rights.

• Labour relations
  Promote equal opportunity and diversity, health and safety, transparent pay structures, union participation, professional development, employee participation and protection.

• Urban regeneration
  Support affordable/social housing.  We believe that using positive screening helps to identify good quality, long-term investment opportunities. The companies that we seek to invest in produce products and services that help provide some of the necessities of life such as water, health, education, or help impact positively on the environment. We believe that companies who trade using fair practices and sustainable business models are more likely to survive and prosper in the future.

Negative screening

We avoid companies, whose activities derive 10% or more of pre-tax profit or turnover from alcohol production, gambling operations, pornographic and violent material, tobacco production, strategic armaments, animal testing (cosmetic and household products) and intensive farming.  In addition we seek to develop industry thinking on ethical investment matters, through the publication of our detailed research reports, “Amity Insight”, which look at issues such as oil-related investments, global healthcare practices and trends, and sustainable cocoa production.