Katherine Winfrey, CFA, 06/16/20

• We aim to employ a holistic research approach that is greater than the sum of its parts.
• Our discussions with company management are supplemented by deeper topical conversations with corporate sustainability leaders.
• Our approach is enhanced by discussions with other researchers and investors, industry and subject experts, and non-profit organizations.
• Our diversified portfolios offers the most diverse and holistic rout into the global markets.

The greatest priority for our sustainable investing team is to extend EXM’s long-standing strength in fundamental research to produce deeper insights in context specific, forward-looking ESG, sustainability, and impact analysis. Importantly, we are part of the core equity team, not separate from it.

We are investors first and foremost, and an integrated part of EXM’s Investment group. We include the entire research department and our fellow portfolio managers as colleagues and collaborators. The form of this integration can be difficult to convey, as we are not simply adding thoughtful sustainability work to EXM’s core fundamental research. Rather, we are combining the two elements throughout the investment process. In doing so, we aim to employ a holistic approach that is greater than the sum of its parts. Here we offer some additional detail from a week of our team’s meetings, in December 2019, as a way to bring these processes more vividly to life.

We include the entire research department and our fellow portfolio managers as colleagues and collaborators.

Meetings with company management teams

These meetings are typically with CEOs, CFOs, and investor relations representatives, and usually involve our fellow portfolio managers and analysts from EXM’s core equity research team. In addition to assessing traditional business fundamentals, we aim to discuss key sustainability issues as part of or regular investment discussions, supplemented by deeper topical conversations with corporate sustainability leaders.

An example of a week of company meetings on sustainability topics (December 2019)

Company	Sustainability topic
Financial	Improvement of next-gen access and strategy for student loan management products
Medical technology (two companies)	Patient benefits of new product innovations
Transportation	Efforts to ensure passenger and driver safety
Retail	Product mix and consumer trends
Investment	Capital deployment strategy and sustainability focus with investee companies
Waste management	Increased demand for recycling and environmental improvements in the fleet of equipment
Hotel	Environmental programs and focus on employee safety
Industrial	Efficiency and environmental benefits of product platforms
Materials	Zero-carbon production process and challenges in raw materials mining

Independent research work

In addition to our conversations with company management teams, we perform a wide range of independent research, including discussions with other researchers, industry and subject experts, non-profit organizations, and other types of investors.

Examples of a week of independent research events (December 2019)

Research event	Purpose
Due diligence on a medical benefits company	Verify positive client experience
Meeting with a service provider	Assess their approach to measuring impact
Meeting with a nonprofit	Learn about structural access to resources on women-led businesses
Discussions with an academic researcher	Review analysis of gender bias in investment management
Conversation with a philanthropic consultant	Learn more about their client interest in impact investing
Meeting with local impact investors	Analyze needs of local food enterprises
Discussion with sell-side researchers	Review of their ESG research along with traditional fundamental work

Partnerships with EXM Capital and beyond

Our investment work also benefits from inputs from our colleagues and business partners — within EXM Capital and beyond.

Examples of a week of partner meetings (December 2019)

Partner	Purpose
Clients	Discuss our work and evolution in the broader sustainable investing field
EXM’s ESG leadership committee and PRI committee	Set priorities for the coming year
Cross-company collaborative group	Review 2019 progress and discuss best practices for organizing ongoing ESG-related workflow

Our investment process incorporates sector analysis, stock recommendations from the core research team, and insights from other portfolio managers. Activity that supports EXM’s collaborative research process includes daily morning meetings, company management meetings, investment conference attendance, and company visits.

We aim to utilize ESG data within the relevant context of each company and industry, and to incorporate more qualitative research in areas where new issues are emerging or data is not yet standardized. Throughout the research process, our goal is to identify companies with excellent investment potential and excellent sustainability performance, which results in portfolios with meaningful active weights by industry and sector.

For a deeper look at sustainability research, Contact the Support team, info@exmcapitals.com to get our 2020 sustainability and impact report .