Engagement through dialogue
Engagement basically means taking an active part in something.
At ACATIS Fair Value we are of course committed to sustainability.
In addition to our sustainability filters based on exclusion, ESG and SDG criteria, there are various ways to further promote the sustainability of our portfolio stocks, e.g. exercising voting rights or direct dialogue with the invested companies.
Building bridges
There are now specialized service providers to support this sustainability strategy. Institutional Shareholder Services Switzerland AG (ISS) actively implements this process for the ACATIS Fair Value funds with the aim of establishing a direct dialogue with companies.
We want to win over companies that still have no standards in the area of sustainability or are poor in certain areas to consider social, ethical and ecological aspects in their company. ISS points out shortcomings in the selected companies and shows potential for improvement.
Committed investors are now taken very seriously by companies, particularly because of the joint appearance. This type of "company support" is becoming increasingly important in sustainable investment itself, and also in the external assessment of a sustainability fund (e.g. FNG seal).
Active Engagement
Already today we evaluate the CO2 footprint for the ACATIS Fair Value funds, have climate scenarios created for the portfolios, are concerned about the impact of social and ecological projects and, as ACATIS Fair Value Investment AG as a company, we are climate neutral.
We are expanding our sustainability expertise and implementing another important aspect of sustainability: active engagement.
In addition to exercising our voting rights at our portfolio companies, active engagement includes long-term dialogues by prospective investors or investors with companies that have critical business activities and are not in the portfolio or investable universe because they may currently violate exclusion criteria. The dialogue is important in order to improve the behavior of companies with regard to ESG criteria.
Company leaders and those responsible are addressed in this way about deficits in sustainability performance perceived by outsiders, sensitized to problematic business activities and asked to change critical business activities, to contribute to their elimination or at least to report transparently on them.
We will be happy to provide you with a report on request.