Advised by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) and managed by SSgA’s dedicated Environmental, Social and Governance Investment Team, this fund follows a rigorous four step investment process.

Step 1: Environmental Analysis

• Companies are ranked using Innovest environmental investment criteria which determines levels of environmental performance, considering environmental products and services offered as well as operational opportunities
• Companies are assessed based on their level of exposure to the nine climate themes
• Climate governance is weighed, assessing the extent to which the company is financially committed to mitigating global climate change

Step 2: Financial Analysis

• Stocks are analyzed from both an environmental and financial perspective, with stock valuation figuring prominently in the fund’s investment process
• The companies are ranked according to:
  Sales growth Valuation
  (price to sales, price to cash flow measures)
  Capital efficiency
  (return on invested capital, free cash flow)

Step 3: Global Analyst Conviction

• Environmental and financial rankings are cross-referenced with SSgA’s Global Fundamental Strategies (GFS) Group’s global industry analysts model portfolios
• Companies that also rank highly with the GFS analysts will have the greatest portfolio weight
• Companies that rank high on environmental factors yet lower with the GFS analysts will be given less weight in the portfolio

Step 4: Portfolio Construction

• Aims for diversification across each of the nine climate themes
• Although not benchmark sensitive, the fund is managed with an awareness of the MSCI World Index and the KLD Global Climate 100 Index
• Position weights range between 1% and 3%
• Targets between 65 and 75 companies poised to benefit from climate change action

More information is available in the fund's simplified prospectus. [PDF: 179 kb]