As Responsible and concerned investors, we are happy to stand behind this Global Investor Statement in support of an effective, fair and equitable response to COVID-19. Experts are concerned that at this rate, mass vaccinations in the lowest income countries may not be realised till 2023 or 2024, wreaking havoc on already fragile health and economic systems.
Agriculture is both one of the main causes and core answers to the climate crisis. The global food system face significant challenges that requires collaborative efforts to transform it. The challenge requires the world to feed 50% more people by 2050 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from existing agricultural practices and improving nutritional levels.
During January 2021 the Fund returned -0.56% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 0.33%, underperforming the market by -0.89% (after fees). An overweight position in Consumer Staples and underweight positions in Materials and Healthcare contributed to relative performance while a position in REITS and an underweight position in Banks and Consumer Discretionary detracted from relative performance.
Ethical Partners has made a submission this week to the Australian Parliament on the Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced by Uyghur Forced Labour) Bill 2020.
Mirvac’s overall approach to sustainability will see the value of its office portfolio hold up better than the market as a whole over the 2021 - 2022 period. We attribute this expected outperformance to Mirvac’s superior approach to sustainability (including having higher NABERS rated buildings with better amenity and a more conservative approach to valuation) and also due to its newer assets versus the market and longer WALE. These attributes in addition to its residential exposure and recovering retail portfolio see the company very well placed versus peers.
During December 2020 the Fund returned 2.11% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.32%, outperforming the market by 0.79% (after fees). Overweight positions in Renewable Energy and Transition Commodities and an underweight position in Healthcare contributed to relative performance while an overweight position in Food Products and an underweight position in Information Technology detracted from relative performance.
Ethical Partners has made a submission to to the inquiry on the Climate Change Bill. In our view it is clear that we desperately need whole of government support around the important elements of this bill.
Biodiversity is a very important area of engagement for us at EPFM, and an area of increasing interest for investors. Experts believe that we are in the midst of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction event -some 75 per cent of terrestrial and 66 per cent of marine environments have already been severely altered by human activity and one million species face extinction – many within decades.
During October 2020 the Fund returned 2.85% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.89%, outperforming the market by 0.96% (after fees). Overweight positions in Insurance stocks and an underweight position in Metals & Mining contributed to relative performance while overweight positions in Consumer Staples and Media & Entertainment detracted from relative performance.
We speak with Anthony Mellowes, CEO, SCA Property Group (ASX: SCP) about recent strong sales figures from its centres, improved rent collection and its focus on sustainability. The Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund holds an overweight position in SCP.
Investment Director, Nathan Parkin, runs through a brief summary of the Ethical Partners' ESG approach.
During September 2020 the Fund returned -3.40% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -3.60%, outperforming by 0.20% (after fees). Overweight positions in Insurance stocks and an underweight position in Construction stocks and Healthcare detracted from performance while overweight positions in Industrials (specifically Building Products) and underweight positions in Information Technology and Energy contributed to performance
Emma McCarthy recently joined Ethical Partners. Emma is a passionate final year law student and joins us as Sustainability and Advocacy Assistant. We are honoured to share with you her reflections on the recent UN Global Compact conference, and how it inspired her, as a new recruit to the global sustainability and human rights community, on her journey to fight for change.
During August 2020 the Fund returned 4.10% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 3.05%, outperforming by 1.05% (after fees). Overweight positions in Consumer Staples and Industrials added to performance while stocks in General Insurance and Building Products detracted from performance.
It appears that the Australian economy will be asked to grow itself out of debt post COVID rather than experience an increase in taxes once the economy is more stable. So what are the long term projects that would change Australia for the better? It was quite timely indeed then that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) recently released its 2020 Integrated System Plan (ISP). It appears to us that AEMO has put down the framework for how Australia will operate with less coal fired electricity generation given we have an aging fleet which will be gradually de-commissioned over the next 20 years.The AEMO Plan is a whole of system blueprint for the evolution and change the electricity market will experience in the 20 years to 2040. It expects 63% of the current coal fired power stations to close by then based on company disclosures and end of life assumptions. Herein lies Australia's great stimulus opportunity.
The last quarter has been the best of times for unprofitable but growing companies and the worst of times for value managers and others trying to buy equities with any margin of safety. Speculative activity in markets has been driven by excess central bank liquidity and real yields moving to -100bps, pushing risk assets higher, the valuations of technology companies up to levels not seen before and gold to all-time highs at around $2,000 USD per ounce.
The 2020 Ethical Partners Engagement Report provides a useful summary of all areas of company engagement the team has undertaken over 2019/20. It provides details of the successes, the key issues as we see them moving forward, our voting record, provides company ESG engagement examples and lists the 20+ major collaborations in which we have been involved. As always we welcome questions and feedback.
Ethical Partners is excited to announce that Emma McCarthy has recently joined us as a Sustainability and Advocacy Assistant. Emma is a talented and passionate final year law and communications student, who is excited about all things related to sustainable finance, corporate social responsibility, advocacy and change, and we are very pleased to have her on board. To this end, we are pleased to share Emma and Robyn’s post below, about Ethical Partners recent engagements on Gender, our challenge to corporates, and the “why” we believe an ethical investor must be concerned about gender issues in their investments.
Has good company behaviour ever been more important? Our investment process looks closely at a company’s ethics and behaviour and how it treats people – employees, suppliers, customers and shareholders. Such behaviour and finding the right balance is even more important now during the current COVID-19 period. With the advent of Government support, the focus needs to change in our view. The ultimate source of funding for the Government is of course the tax payer. So the question is: How would the tax payer like its money spent?
COVID-19 demonstrates the importance of well-funded health care, social protection systems and the value of transparency in data and decision-making. Now more than ever, governments need revenues from taxation to fund essential public services for their citizens. Tax avoidance, offshore secrecy, and tax breaks to attract investment all divert potential revenues. The OECD has identified the extractive industries as the world’s most corrupt economic sector. The starting point for tackling corruption, poor governance and tax non-compliance in the extractives sector is transparency. Click through to full report.
Ethical Partners was one of the 117 organisations, representatives organisations, academics, lawyers, community and faith leaders which wrote to the NSW Premier to urge NSW Government to expedite the passage of this Act so that it can be brought into force on 1 January 2021, as recommended by the Inquiry Report submitted by the Standing Committee on Social Issues on 25 March 2020. Thank you to Be Slavery Free for co-ordinating.
Financial year 2020 marked a difficult period of performance for the Fund during the following three phases of the market: 1) Firstly the Fund underperformed through 2019 which turned out to be the last year in a decade long bull market for stocks. 2) Q120 saw markets correct in an aggressive sell off ignited by COVID-19. The Fund outperformed the weak market due to large holdings in companies with sound fundamentals and conservative valuations, until the market bottomed on 23 March. 3) Q220 saw a forceful market rally based on central bank intervention and liquidity being injected into the financial system by governments. Highly indebted companies and stocks with no earnings have done better than other stocks during this rally.
At Ethical Partners we take our voting responsibilities seriously and assess each Resolution carefully. We voted in favour of 100% of human rights and climate-related Resolutions. Please see attached.
We take a look at the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund's holdings, current engagement points, key investment risks and key relevant UN Sustainability Goals.
During May 2020 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 5.47% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 4.58%, outperforming the market by 0.89% (after fees). The portfolio outperformed during the month despite being conservatively positioned and we continue to reduce exposure to cyclicals amidst the market rally. The current economic environment is distorted. The Government stimulus has been so effective that in Australia’s first recession in 29 years the Australian Financial Review reported in May, that more than half of all insolvency firms have, or are planning to register for JobKeeper given the lack of incoming work.
It is sadly now well documented that on the 24th May 2020,Rio Tinto blasted rock caves known as the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to allow for the expansion and development of its Brockman 4 asset. We call on Rio Tinto and the mining sector for increased disclosure via the publishing (by every ASX listed company) of a register of sites and places of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage that will be impacted by intended works and development. These will be in the form of Section 18 notices in Western Australia, Section 90 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NSW) and other relevant legislation for each State and Territory of Australia. We feel this may allow all stakeholders to be better educated on what current approvals exist and to assist in fostering a broader discussion on their applicability.
As FY19 fades further into the rear vision mirror there is no doubt investors will be nostalgic for peak cycle conditions including the company profitability, eps growth, dividends and the balance sheet positions that were appropriate last year. Growth was low, but not too low, and money (rates) was almost free. We believe the rally in Australian stocks (+22%) from the March lows partly reflects this nostalgia and the belief that this economy can get back to somewhere near where we were before the pandemic hit.
During March 2020 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -21.06% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -20.83%, underperforming the market by -0.23% (after fees) in one of the most volatile months in the last 30 years.
We hope you are staying well and adjusting as well as possible to the challenges of this COVID-19 crisis. We just wanted to let you know that, whilst the markets have been in turmoil, ESG remains as important a focus at Ethical Partners as always, and we strongly believe that there is a very important role for Responsible Investors to play in this crisis. The landscape of ESG is rapidly changing within this crisis, with new issues evolving, and old issues being amplified, and we are doing our best to learn how we can continue to advocate and engage on these issues in such a volatile and difficult market space.
During February 2020 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -6.89% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -7.76%, outperforming the market by 0.88% (after fees). Over the last quarter the Fund benefited from underweight positions in Property and Materials. Key detractors over the last quarter included an overweight position in both Financials and Consumer Discretionary an underweight position in Healthcare.
In January 2020 Australian market increased 4.9%, in the second best market performance out of 48 developed and emerging equity markets around the world. This was largely due to large Australian growth and defensive stocks finding support in the face of new economic uncertainty.
During December 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -1.90% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -2.03%, slightly outperforming the market by 0.12% (after fees).
At EPFM, we have undertaken several measures to ensure our investments are positioned for Climate Change. We consider Climate Change in all investments. Engagement is undertaken by each analyst, supported by our Sustainability and Advocacy Manger, the Investment Director and the CEO.
During November 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 3.65% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 3.18%, outperforming the market by 0.47%(after fees)
Tuesday 10th December 2019 marks the date when Australia’s most populous city faces a further increase in Water Restrictions (Level 2), the harshest water use rules facing the population in over a decade. Sydney’s dam levels have dropped to 45% and the NSW Water Minister was quoted as saying this week the restrictions were brought forward “because the size and scale of the drop of water into Sydney was unlike anything we’ve ever seen before”. It is in this vein that we wanted to highlight GWA Group (GWA.ASX), being one company the Ethical Partners Investment team feels is well placed to help the consumer grapple with the decreasing supply of and the likely increasing cost of water.
During October 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -3.52% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -0.38%, underperforming the market by-3.14% (after fees).
Ethical Partners welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to the Inquiry into the Modern Slavery Act 2018. We believe the NSW Modern Slavery Act is the strongest and most holistic in the world, and we urge the NSW Government to implement it as a matter of urgency. We applaud NSW for being a global leader in this space and believe it should retain this position. We understand we were one of the only financial services firms in NSW to make a submission (see attached for our full submission).
At Ethical Partners, it is our opinion that currently the ethical risks of investing in the listed aged care sector are too significant. Our position is based on the lack of achievement of minimum standards of care across the industry generally and the corresponding impact this has on human rights. We have not owned aged care stocks since the inception of the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund due to both ethical and valuation-related risks. We would need to see considerable change in the business model, transparency and disclosure, staffing, training, monitoring and codes of conduct in order to consider investment in the future.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 30 September, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $1.0453, APIR code EPF9951AU. During September 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -2.73% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.91%, out performing the market by 0.82% (after fees). Over the last quarter the Fund benefitted from overweight positions in the Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors and an underweight position in Materials and Property also benefited relative performance. Key detractors for the last quarter included stocks in the Financials and Consumer Staples industry groups.
Addendum: - On Wednesday 30th October, subsequent to Ethical Partners publishing this article on our view on Woolworth’s sustainability reporting, we became aware of the serious under-payments issue that Woolworths recently uncovered. Woolworths management team has initiated a full review of the factors that drove this issue as well as a company-wide review to ensure that this issue is not larger than the initial evidence suggests, guiding to a potential cost of $200-$300m allocated mostly to repaying previously under-paid wages. We expect further details at the February 2020 result release.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 31 August, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $1.0175, APIR code EPF9951AU. During August 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -2.27% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -2.27%, performing in line with the market (after fees). Over the last quarter the Fund benefitted from overweight positions in the Industrials and Telecommunications sectors and an underweight position in Energy benefited relative performance. Key detractors for the last quarter included stocks in the Financial and Food and Beverage industry groups.
The team at Ethical Partners has produced a major report to discuss overall Australian company ethical standards and reporting. The 26 page report gives good insight into company standards – particularly in the less researched small and mid-cap space. Our team has applied our investment process across more than 200 companies, which has involved assessing almost 3,000 individual data points and undertaking over 350 company meetings in the past year.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 30 June, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $1.0249, APIR code EPF9951AU. During June 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 0.73% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 3.64%, underperforming the market by -2.91% (after fees). During the month the Fund benefitted from overweight positions in NIB Holdings, Helloworld Travel, Sims Metal and Commonwealth Bank and underweight positions in Wesfarmers, South 32 (not held), Challenger (not held) and A2 Milk (not held) benefitted the relative performance of the Fund. Key detractors for the month included Link Group, Nick Scali, BHP Limited (not held) and Inghams.
We were very encouraged to see that the London Metals Exchange (LME) had recently committed to introducing responsible sourcing requirements for its brands. This is quite ground breaking for an Exchange and as such we caught up with the LME while in London recently to understand more about this new initiative.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 31 May, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $1.0175, APIR code EPF9951AU. During May 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 1.45% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.75%, underperforming the market by -0.30% (after fees). During the month the Fund benefitted from overweight positions in NIB Holdings, CSR Limited and Medibank and holding no position in Macquarie Group benefitted the relative performance of the Fund. Key detractors for the month included Link Group, Graincorp and Clydesdale Bank.
Ethical Partners investment approach incorporates a formal sustainability assessment on a company by company basis (we call it the EPORA – The Ethical Partners Operational Risk Assessment).
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 1 May, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $1.0144, APIR code EPF9951AU. During April 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 3.38% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 2.46%, an outperformance of 0.92% (after fees). Over the last quarter the Fund has returned 9.44% (after fees) versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 9.41% performing broadly in line with a strongly rallying market. Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned 1.29% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 4.51%, an underperformance of -3.22% (after fees).
The real estate sector is market leading when it comes to sustainability. All the major real estate players produce thorough and detailed sustainability reports. This compares to the Top 200 listed companies in Australia, of which just 57% produce an adequate sustainability report. Further significant steps for the sector to take are in the areas of human rights and supply chain. Ethical Partners is seeing significant progress at both an industry and individual company level. It is in the areas of human rights and supply chain where significant opportunities exist for the sector.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 31 March, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $0.9702, APIR code EPF9951AU. During March 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -1.34% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 0.73%, an underperformance of -2.07% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned -2.03% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 2.00%, an underperformance of -4.03% (after fees).
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 28 February, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $0.9834, APIR code EPF9951AU. During February 2019 the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 7.30% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 6.01%, an outperformance of 1.29% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned -0.69% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.26%, an underperformance of -1.95% (after fees)
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 31 Jan, 2019. Unit price, Investor Class $0.9165, APIR code EPF9951AU. During January the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned 1.46% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 3.87%, an underperformance of -2.41% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned -7.45% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -4.48%, an underperformance of -2.97% (after fees).
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 31 Dec, 2018. Unit price, Investor Class (cum) $0.9089, APIR code EPF9951AU. During December the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -2.47% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -0.23%, an underperformance of -2.24% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned -8.78% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -8.04%, an underperformance of -0.74% (after fees).
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund - As at 30 Nov, 2018. Unit price, Investor Class $0.9319, APIR code EPF9951AU. During November the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -2.82% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -2.18%, an underperformance of -0.64% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned -6.47% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -7.83%, an outperformance of 1.36% (after fees).
We are currently assessing the role of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) operators in the economy and how that may affect our portfolio (we don’t own any BNPL operators but own several retailers). The significant role they are now playing as a medium for which retailers are interacting with a growing consumer base cannot be ignored.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund Investor Class: Unit price 31 October $0.9589. During October the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -5.84% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -6.16%, an out performance of 0.32% (after fees). This was one of the worst monthly Australian equity market performances over the last twenty years with around two thirds of stocks in the ASX300, by number,under performing the benchmark.
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund Investor Class: Unit price 30 Sept $1.0184. During September the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund returned -1.7% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of -1.2%, an underperformance of -0.5% (after fees). Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned 2.2%versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 0.4%, an outperformance of 1.8%(after fees).
Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund Investor Class: Unit price 31 August $1.0356. Welcome to the inaugural Ethical Partners investment report. The Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund opened in August after we had completed our due diligence on potential company holdings. We made the initial investment with our own capital. Since inception on 9 August 2018 the Fund has returned 3.9% versus the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index of 1.6%, an outperformance of 2.3% (after fees). APIR Code EPF9951AU
The $19bn garment industry in Bangladesh is unfortunately well known for the appalling conditions for its workers. The Rana Plaza Factory which collapsed in 2013, taking with it the lives of more than 1,100 garment workers was unfortunately only one of many disasters that have occurred.
Over the year to 31 March 2018 Macquarie (ASX:MQG) invested in and arranged over A$9.5 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technology, with over 12,546MW of diversified renewable energy assets in operation or under its management.
Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX) is in the process of becoming the largest investor in solar power of any shopping centre group in Australia.
In the Ethical Partners Operational Risk Assessment which is used for the Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund, we exclude companies that have significant operations in countries that are in the bottom third of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (TICPI).
Earlier this year Ethical Partners Investment Director Nathan Parkin spoke at the Elevate Modern Slavery Conference, which included industry, government, NGO and academic speakers and delegates. Nathan spoke on the importance of the investor voice in addressing the Modern Slavery Issue and about the research Ethical Partners has conducted into the supply chain and human rights disclosures of the top 220 companies listed on the ASX.
Lend Lease (ASX:LLC) continues to be one of the more responsible and sustainable property developers and construction managers in Australia. It has set 20% reduction targets (by 2020 from a FY14 base line) for water, waste and energy reduction.
On 21st June this year, Ethical Partners was present in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament to watch the passage of the Modern Slavery Bill, Australia’s first legislation on Modern Slavery.
Ethical Partners had the immense pleasure of meeting with James Bartle, the CEO and founder of Outland Denim earlier this year. Outland Denim is a amazing company that not only makes premium jeans but also provides sustainable employment and training opportunities to women in Cambodia, pays a living wage, and is committed to sourcing the most ethically and environmentally sound raw materials from the pocket linings to the zippers, dyes, leather patches and recycled packaging.
We speak with Anthony Mellowes, CEO, SCA Property Group (ASX: SCP) about recent strong sales figures from its centres, improved rent collection and its focus on sustainability. The Ethical Partners Australian Share Fund holds an overweight position in SCP.
Investment Director, Nathan Parkin, runs through a brief summary of the Ethical Partners' ESG approach.