About Us
Responsible Investing
At Contrarius our objective is to create long-term wealth for our investors through superior long-term investment performance. We believe that long-term performance is driven by the consistent application of a sound investment philosophy. The key characteristics of our investment philosophy are that it is contrarian, valuation based, long-term and based on proprietary fundamental research.
When investing on behalf of our fund investors, our overriding objective is to act in the best interest of the Funds. A prerequisite for a sound investment philosophy is that it is sustainable. As long-term investors, it is critical for us to understand the full range of factors that might affect a company’s business and share price performance. While there is scope for investors to have diverse views about ESG-related matters, we believe there is a broad consensus that a company that acts in a way that damages the environment or is morally or socially irresponsible will eventually undermine its own profitability. We believe that by performing rigorous, fact-based research that carefully seeks to consider risks, including relevant ESG-related risks, we are able to maximise the chances that we can successfully implement our contrarian, valuation-based and long-term investment philosophy in a sustainable manner.
Integration of Responsible Investing
As part of our investment philosophy and process, we select investments following detailed proprietary research. Our research efforts are directed to uncover companies that are trading below their underlying intrinsic values. The focus is on the long-term value of a business rather than short-term sentiment and earnings outlook. As part of our bottom-up research process, we consider a range of factors that might affect a company’s intrinsic value. These factors include environmental, social and governance (‘ESG’) issues.
Investment policy group meetings are where a fundamental investment policy group report is presented by the investment analyst for a company. The investment policy group report also addresses various risks considered relevant to the investment case (including ESG related risks). The investment policy group meeting discusses the investment merits of individual companies and then votes on the companies’ attractiveness versus the market and assigns an overall risk rating to the company.
We have a designated ESG analyst (with the necessary back-up resources) who prepares and presents an ESG report for each company discussed at investment policy group meetings. These separate ESG reports are presented and discussed prior to voting on a share. Incorporation of ESG-related risks and opportunities in both investment policy group reports by investment analysts and separate ESG reports prepared by a designated ESG analyst provides for the identification and assessment of these factors to be considered as part of the vote by the policy group meeting and, among other considerations, are incorporated into the risk rating assigned to the company and the resulting maximum position size of that share that may be purchased by the Funds.
Our approach to responsible investment includes the integration of ESG considerations into the investment process, and the Contrarius Funds may invest in securities with potentially higher exposure to ESG risks where it is believed the potential return outweighs the risks identified.
Responsible Investing Policy >Proxy Voting
The incorporation of responsible investing in our research effort extends to our voting at shareholder meetings. We considers the exercise of proxy voting as central to its stewardship responsibilities. When voting at shareholder meetings, we consider all the aspects of a proposal being put to the vote, including relevant ESG issues. We are mindful to not follow a prescriptive set of rules for proxy voting as this could restrict our ability to act in the Funds’ best interests.
Our Proxy Voting Policy details the processes and procedures we follow when voting on shares owned by the Contrarius Funds.
Proxy Voting Policy > Proxy Voting Records >Engagement
As part of our approach to responsible investing, we recognise our responsibility as stewards of our investors’ capital and that engagement on ESG-related matters is, on occasion, an effective component of our investment process.
Where we conduct engagement activities with our investee companies, we prioritise our efforts and resources generally on areas that we believe may provide the most positive impact on the Funds. Our engagement activities with investee companies may be for various reasons, including influencing corporate practice on ESG-related issues, encouraging improved ESG disclosure or gaining a better understanding of ESG strategy.
More on Responsible Investing
Contrarius is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). As a signatory to the PRI, Contrarius is committed to the adoption of the six principles for responsible investing outlined by the PRI and to report on this progress. Contrarius’ full PRI Public Transparency Report is available from PRI at www.unpri.org.
For more information about our approach to responsible investment, please visit the policies section of our website.
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