Epworth Investment Management Limited

Introduction

A charity investment specialist, Epworth manages £1.3bn exclusively on behalf of charity investors.

As ethical specialists, we enable clients to hold investments without conflict with their own beliefs or charitable missions. Christian charities and those charities who regard a robust ethical approach as important form the majority of our clients.

Cost effective access to our services can be gained through the Affirmative Common Investment Fund range and most Epworth clients find these the most efficient way of building their investment portfolios. Fees are some of the lowest in the sector starting at 0.20% p.a.

Cash management is available for those looking to maximise income on short-term cash surpluses. Over 8000 charities already benefit from the Affirmative Deposit Fund which is one of only two Common Deposit Funds.

Services offered

•   Three ethical Common Investment Funds
        •  Affirmative Equity Fund - for capital growth
        •  Affirmative Fixed Interest Fund and
        •  Affirmative Corporate Bond Fund - for income

•   Discretionary management
        •  Bespoke asset allocation utilising the Affirmative Funds ...
        •  ... with the option of additional property and overseas/emerging market exposure

•   Ethical expertise
        •  Screening
        •  Active voting
        •  Company engagement
        •  Client reporting

•   Cash management through the Affirmative Deposit Fund

•   Complimentary asset allocation, investment policy and SRI policy guidance

•   Tailored quarterly reporting

Philosophy

Long term outperformance, we believe, is achieved by identifying those companies in each sector of the market that have strong balance sheets, generate cash and can demonstrate underlying organic growth. 'Growth at reasonable price' or GARP has historically proved effective in capturing most of the market upside whilst providing good relative performance during market setbacks.

Asset allocation has been identified by studies such as the Myners Report on Institutional Investment Management to account for around three quarters of the 'value added' by fund managers. As such we treat this as a key investment decision of which senior management are actively involved.

Risk aversion is integral to our process and reflects the requirements of the majority of our charity clients. Our equity fund has been independently classified by Portfolio Evaluation as having a low risk profile, whilst our corporate bond fund will only hold higher grade bonds. The pooled nature of Common Investment Funds provide clients with diversification across sectors and companies.

A Christian ethical approach to investment is applied to all equity and fixed interest portfolios and unlike traditional fund managers, ethical decisions lay at the heart of every investment decision.

Sin stocks will be mainly excluded from investment, whilst we aim to improve the records of company managements on issues such as human rights and environmental performance through active voting and company engagement.

Our combined 50 year experience in ethical investment has placed us in an enviable position and a position of innovation. Our uniquely developed ethical risk adjustment process enables clients to invest ethically with reduced risk to performance.

We consider our ethical process to be the most comprehensive in the sector.

Heritage

Epworth was founded in 1996 to provide charities and churches with access to the ethical and investment expertise of the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church (CFB) which itself was established in 1960 by Act of Parliament. Staff, systems, offices and investment policies are shared between Epworth and the CFB.

Epworth is a private limited company (3052894) equally owned by Action for Children; Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church; Methodist Insurance; and Methodist Ministers' Pension Trust. It is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Contact

We would be delighted to welcome you for a formal or informal meeting at our London offices to discuss your requirements further or discuss how SRI could benefit your organisation's investment policy.

To arrange a meeting or for further information on Epworth please contact Relationship Manager Bill Lane.

Telephone 020 7496 3636
Email Click here to email
Web www.epworthinvestment.co.uk