Investment Philosophy & Process

The Acuity Social Values strategies seek to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of companies. Prospective investments are first evaluated based on in-depth financial analysis by the investment team. Acuity seeks reasonably priced growth securities, seeking long-term capital appreciation.

The Acuity investment management team:

• Seeks companies that they believe will demonstrate earnings growth that the market has not priced properly
• Strives to build a portfolio with growth characteristics meaningfully higher than the market itself
• Pays close attention to forward-looking valuation metrics to ensure they don’t overpay
• Seeks companies with strong balance sheets and low leverage

Once financially attractive opportunities have been identified, analysis into the extent to which these companies are innovative and progressive in their treatment of key environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is conducted. By combining financial analysis with ESG analysis, Acuity seeks to identify companies that are leaders in their industry or are improving on ESG factors. It is thought that companies that successfully manage ESG issues can increase company value by anticipating regulatory action, accessing new markets, contributing to sustainable development within society and managing risks to profitability.

In addition to ESG screening, companies that derive a significant portion of their revenues from the sale of weapons, nuclear power, tobacco, alcohol and gambling are excluded from the Social Values strategy.