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Matarin Capital Management (Delisted)

PRI reporting framework 2020

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You are in Strategy and Governance » Investment policy

Investment policy

SG 01. RI policy and coverage

New selection options have been added to this indicator. Please review your prefilled responses carefully.

01.1. Indicate if you have an investment policy that covers your responsible investment approach.

01.2. Indicate the components/types and coverage of your policy.

Select all that apply

Policy components/types

Coverage by AUM

 
          Advocacy
        
          Thematic Investing

01.3. Indicate if the investment policy covers any of the following

01.4. Describe your organisation’s investment principles and overall investment strategy, interpretation of fiduciary (or equivalent) duties,and how they consider ESG factors and real economy impact.

It is our fiduciary duty to provide our clients with the highest risk-adjusted returns possible within the confines of the process into which they have chosen to invest. Therefore, Matarin must be a "financial first" investor. We focus our effort on identifying investment ideas, including the sustainable investment ideas we have researched, to insure they will either improve returns or reduce risk.

We believe all our clients are long-term investors, serving decades of beneficiaries. For these kinds of long-term investors, understanding ESG risk and return opportunities should be a core part of good investment plan.

We have several ways of implementing this thinking. In our long only US equity strategies, we incorporate a governance factor in our return forecasting model, as well as hurricane risk, opioid risk and power producer risk factors in our risk model. In our global and international strategies we won't own high ESG controversies, and we do own companies which have demonstrated progress toward sustainability. All real world applications of ESG.

Finally, with our work as a thought leader, we are attempting to help to build a bridge between sustainable investment thinking and quantitative mainstream investment thinking.

01.5. Provide a brief description of the key elements, any variations or exceptions to your investment policy that covers your responsible investment approach. [Optional]

Matarin's Five Pillars of Responsible Investing

ESG as a Predictor of Stock Returns
 •Proprietary 'Governance' factor in the 'People' concept (A*)
 •Proprietary 'Progress Towards Sustainability' factors (I*)
 •Proprietary 'Worst in Class' ESG stocks ranked using Sustainalytics Incidents Scores (I*)

ESG as a Mitigator of Risk
 •Inclusion of proprietary 'Hurricane Risk' and 'Opioid Risk' factors in our risk model (A*)
 •Custom constraints on certain power sources (A*)

ESG-Focused Proxy Voting and Engagement
 •All proxies voted based upon ESG proxy standards developed by Glass Lewis with Sustainalytics (A*, I*)

•Engagement with companies on ESG data disclosures as well as the quality of that data

Customized Negative Social and Environmental Screens
 •Matarin has implemented customized negative social and environmental screens as requested by clients based on restricting holdings: coal, guns, Iran, MacBride, payday lending, prison operators, Sudan, tobacco, Israel boycotts, expatriated companies (A*, I*)

Matarin's Own Social Responsibility and Impact
 •Prominent female leadership, as one of the larger women-owned asset managers in the U.S.
 •Philanthropic commitments, e.g. Toigo Foundation contributions
 •Promoting best practices for stewardship, integrity and fairness
 •Employees' community engagement in the fields of responsible investment, youth and education, women's entrepreneurship, and diversity in asset management, e.g. support of organizations such as 100 Women in Finance, Ford Foundation Inclusive Economies Program, David Rockefeller Fund, Start Small Think Big, Harlem Educational Activities Fund

Memberships and Collaborations

•Investor Members of CDP

•Ongoing ESG-focused thought leadership relationships and public speaking with organizations such as the World Economic Forum, Oxford University, CFA Institute, and the Copenhagen Financial Hub

•Attendance and speaking at meetings and conferences of the Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance, Responsible Investor, Clinton Foundation Climate Action Network, World Economic Forum Davos, and more

 Legend for above list:

A* utilized in Matarin's US active strategies; I* utilized in Matarin's Patience Premium global and international (ex-North America) equity strategies.

01.6. Additional information [Optional].

SG 01 CC. Climate risk (Private)

SG 02. Publicly available RI policy or guidance documents

 

02.1. Indicate which of your investment policy documents (if any) are publicly available. Provide a URL and an attachment of the document.

02.2. Indicate if any of your investment policy components are publicly available. Provide URL and an attachment of the document.

URL/Attachment

File Attachment

URL/Attachment

File Attachment

URL/Attachment

URL https://matarin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/UNGSII-SDG-Lab-Matarin-Capital-Patience-Premium.pdf

File Attachment

URL/Attachment

URL https://matarin.com

URL/Attachment

File Attachment

URL/Attachment

URL https://matarin.com/how-we-invest/responsible-investment

File Attachment

URL/Attachment

URL https://matarin.com/how-we-invest/responsible-investment

02.3. Additional information [Optional].

SG 03. Conflicts of interest

03.1. Indicate if your organisation has a policy on managing potential conflicts of interest in the investment process.

03.2. Describe your policy on managing potential conflicts of interest in the investment process.

As a fiduciary, Matarin owes its clients a duty of loyalty, and may not engage in any activity that conflicts with a client’s interest without the client’s consent.  Matarin always places the interests of our clients before our own.  Every employee attests to our Firm’s Code of Ethics and Compliance Manual at the time of hire and at least annually.  Collectively the manuals include policies that mitigate the risk of any conflict of interest, such as:

  • honest and ethical conduct
  • personal securities transactions
  • restrictions on outside business activities and board membership
  • always use care and prudent judgment when managing client assets
  • prohibit the use of expert networks
  • prohibit the practice of using soft dollars
  • prohibit practices designed to distort prices or artificially inflate trading volume with the intent to mislead market participants.
  • always have a reasonable and adequate basis for investment decisions.
  • vote proxies in compliance with disclosed policy
  • disclosure of trade allocation policies
  • fair disclosure on fees

03.3. Additional information. [Optional]

At Matarin, we are very focused on our own social responsibility and impact. Key areas of focus for our team are:

  • A focus on team diversity as a driver of success - as Matarin is a woman- and minority-owned business
  • Promoting best practices for our industry in terms of integrity and fairness - for example at Matarin we have policies focused on fair fees, restricted political contributions, no soft dollars, and nurturing a culture of stewardship
  • Community engagement through volunteerism in the fields of responsible investment, youth and education, women's entrepreneurship, and diversity in asset management.
  • In addition to the focus on climate risks and opportunities within our firm and our portfolios, we are actively engaged in ongoing education and public advocacy about climate finance and investment through speaking engagements, conference attendance and thought leadership.
  • Memberships in industry groups which are advancing responsible investor issues, such as CDP Investor Membership and our current efforts to become a PRI signatory.

SG 04. Identifying incidents occurring within portfolios (Private)

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