IP/MAA: For the discretionary investment management in Merrill Lynch, Merrill Private Wealth Management, and the Private Bank, MAA uses screens provided by a third party provider to negatively screen accounts. These research screens encompass religious, industry, country, sector, and individual company screens. At present time, clients and/or beneficiaries are not notified when changes to the underlying screened components are adjusted.
CIO: The Social Innovation screen seeks to find companies that are best-in-class across the three focus areas within the screening process: Environmental Stewardship, Human Capital Engagement, and Corporate Governance. We also employ a Performance Review which is designed to measure how effectively corporations implement the policies and procedures described and evaluated in the previous step, and whether the company capitalizes on external incentives for good corporate behavior. We believe the data points used in the screening process identify companies that are having positive social impact while simulataneously creating economic advantages for their businesses. The scoring process takes place after each quarter-end and the portfolios are adjusted accordingly. Given CIO’s discretionary approach, changes are implemented and clients may speak with their portfolio managers to be made aware of any changes in a client's portfolio.