As specialists in thoughtful investing, our investment approach is integral to everything we do – it isn’t just a product line or optional service.
This page aims to explain Castlefield's proprietary B.E.S.T investment system, an authentic framework for assessing opportunities that's integral to our thoughtful approach.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are an integral part of any long-term investment process and we have built our approach accordingly.
We believe the integration and application of ESG criteria throughout our process delivers better outcomes for all stakeholders and is one of the main strengths of our investment approach.
We offer values-based investment from the perspective of being a values-based organisation.
That’s why we’re known as the Thoughtful Investor ®.
We developed our proprietary B.E.S.T investment selection system to provide a consistent framework to assess the merits of competing investment opportunities.
It’s used across all types of assets – from investments in individual shares to collective investment funds run by us or by other carefully selected third parties.
B.E.S.T incorporates four main criteria to assess both financial and non-financial attributes, which could affect long-term investor returns. It isn’t a scoring system but a means of consistent and qualitative evaluation.
Our investment philosophy is distinctive in that it centres around the principle that there is more to consider than simply present-day financial factors.
ESG factors can easily transform into financial risks, threatening permanent capital loss if they are not considered properly.
That said, the protection and growth of capital is always our starting point. No matter the quality of our assessment of an investment’s ESG factors, if the Business & Financial analysis doesn’t add up for us, we will not invest.
Throughout our approach, ethical considerations are integrated and applied.
By that we mean that we don’t simply focus on ESG factors as inputs, e.g. scoring companies based on a rating or screening process, or buying such scores in*.
Instead, we focus on the outputs of our approach too – so active Stewardship, voting and engagement are fundamental.
*By applying our own approach consistently, we can avoid confusion and inconsistencies found in the industry where different external providers may have very different scores for the ESG metrics of the same company.
We want our investors to have confidence that their values are reflected in their investments. Our Thoughtful Fund Range has been designed to provide an option for investors who are seeking to align their investments with their values.
The screening of investments within the Thoughtful Fund Range seeks to avoid exposure to companies involved in controversial sectors or activities - for example tobacco, high interest lending, oil & gas. More details can be found in our screening policy at the link below.
Castlefield Sustainable Screening Policy
Our featured stock stories demonstrate how our authentic investment approach works in practice.
Learn more about some of the typical holdings in our funds and see some of the common themes our investee companies align to.
Find out morePlease download the latest Annual Stewardship Report using the link below.
This includes details of our Thoughtful Investment Approach, Impact Reporting, Stewardship, Engagement, Case Studies and Voting Activity.
Download Annual Stewardship Report
Visit our document library for a variety of brochures, reports, guides and other publications.
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