ESG research is incorporated in our general research process. All firm-level ESG resources are available at the strategy level and have influenced our overall investment strategy since the Firm's inception (1988). GH&A’s internal resources consist of our initial screening process of the universe of eligible names for portfolio inclusion and only invest in high-quality securities. Within the corporate sector, we screen for the largest issuers and companies rated A- or better by 2 of the 3 rating agencies. We then remove foreign companies/Yankees, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and defense companies. After applying this screen, our investable corporate universe shrinks to approximately 80 issuers. All portfolios will hold either U.S. Treasuries, agency debentures, agency guaranteed MBS and high-quality corporate securities.
We utilize traditional financial and quantitative metrics analysis as well as qualitative assessments to identify ESG risks and opportunities and inform buy/sell/hold decisions. The Firm uses both internal and external resources to acquire data, information and analyses on sustainability factors facing our corporate universe. GH&A collects historic and peer level data on our corporate securities including RobecoSAM, Sustainalytics Rank, ISS Quality Score, CDP Climate Score as well as Bloomberg ESG disclosure metrics. The reports from these third-party providers assist the investment team in its overall evaluation process and provides a base to further study/research these securities for continued inclusion in our portfolio. Corporate securities are evaluated based on improving or declining adherence to PRI guidelines. If a security within our investment universe fails to maintain a positive ESG trajectory, it will receive diminished consideration for future investments.
ESG factors are addressed during the final phase of vetting investment ideas and potential holdings.
We first conduct our initial screening process of the universe of eligible issuers for portfolio inclusion and only invest in high-quality securities. Within the corporate sector, we screen for the largest issuers and companies rated A- or better by 2 of the 3 rating agencies. We then remove foreign companies/Yankees, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and defense companies. After applying this screen, our investable corporate universe shrinks to approximately 80 issuers at the present time. All portfolios will hold either U.S. Treasuries, agency debentures, agency guaranteed MBS and/or high-quality corporate securities. For strategies that include corporate bonds, the corporate issue selection process incorporates a relative ranking of corporate issuers across the relevant ESG metrics for the relative industry within our high-quality universe. This ESG relative score is used to, not only identify issuers which maintain a high proprietary ESG internal score and trend, but, all things equal, initiate a positive screening methodology to discriminate among securities with comparable conventional relative values.