ESG Investing
As part of our fiduciary duty, IR+M is committed to the responsible management of our clients’ assets.
ESG Integration. As bottom-up security selectors, we consider material ESG factors alongside traditional financial metrics to mitigate downside risk and identify issues that may influence long-term sustainability and creditworthiness. We do not implement negative screening criteria unless specifically directed by a client.
While we formally acknowledged our integration of material ESG risks when we became a PRI Signatory in 2013, our investment process has incorporated many of these material ESG considerations since the inception of the firm.
Positively-Tilted ESG Strategies. For those clients who wish to emphasize ESG issues within their portfolios and reflect more specific ESG values, we offer positively-tilted ESG strategies. These strategies emphasize ESG Leaders and minimize ESG Laggards, and have the ability to implement specific negative screens or reflect specific thematic values.
Our Process
We believe that careful security selection, active portfolio risk management, and analysis of material ESG risk factors will lead to superior returns over the longterm.
In this context, ESG analysis is an integral part of risk assessment when evaluating securities. Our Analysts consider sector specific ESG risk factors as a mandatory component of the credit research due diligence process. Material ESG factors are part of the overall analysis and discussion that lead to portfolio construction decisions.
This integrated approach is applied across Credit, Municipal and Securitized assets, such that ESG and traditional credit factors are incorporated into a holistic risk assessment that guides our investment decisions. Material ESG factors are part of the overall analysis and discussion that lead to security selection decisions, the key being that we want to be paid for these risks.
Capabilities
IR+M has been managing Socially Responsible Investment (“SRI”) portfolios for over 25 years, where we incorporate negative screens based on over 100 different clients’ specified mandates.
Learn more about our SRI capabilities:
While we employ ESG integration as part of our standard investment process, we also offer positively-tilted ESG strategies as well as more specific thematic strategies that cater to all clients’ needs.
Learn more about our positively-tilted ESG Capabilities:
Reporting & Policies
Since becoming a PRI Signatory in 2013, we have continued to formally demonstrate our commitment to ESG. We are pleased to share our latest Reports and Policies
ESG Insights
As of October 2022. The views contained in this report are those of IR+M and are based on information obtained by IR+M from sources that are believed to be reliable but IR+M makes no guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the underlying third-party data used to form IR+M’s views and opinions. This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice, recommendations for, or projected returns of any particular IR+M product. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission from Income Research & Management.