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2 Amity Insight January 2014
Soft Commodities: the Invisible Yarn that Binds the World
By Neville White
Senior Socially Responsible Investment Analyst
This Amity Insight focuses on one of the key components of the global economy:
soft commodities.
Recently, Tesco publicly acknowledged that 28,500 tonnes of food within its supply chain went to waste,
in production, in distribution, in stores and in consumer homes. It was a revealing statement that helped
throw a spotlight on the critical, but slightly mysterious, way in which food is delivered to our supermarketshelves and often wasted. Tesco revealed that between production and consumption, nearly 40% of
production ends in the bin including 68% of all bagged salads and 20% of all bananas.1This is consistent
with US figures that suggest as much as 40% of food produced is never eaten, wasting $165bn of edible
food each year.2
This Amity Insight examines how soft commodities are produced and traded. Which powerful
organisations dominate and control the global trade in raw commodities coffee, cocoa, palm, sugar,
cotton etc. and what, if any, are the ethical issues responsible investors need to be aware of. We also
take a brief look into the exotic history of trading, and profile some supply chain case studies sugar,
coffee and cotton to show just how complex they are.
In our Amity Insight Hungry Planet we illustrated how the pressure is on to feed an expanding populationforecast to hit 7bn by 2050.3Key to meeting this demand will be delivering increasing efficiencies throughout
the supply chain and eradicating the levels of waste hinted at by Tesco. We therefore examine how some
companies are taking control of the supply chain, eliminating the need for complex arrangements with
middlemen and sourcing direct from farmers.
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A Short History of Commodity Trading
Commodities Make the News
The earliest evidence for the trade in commodities can be
traced to ancient China and Sumer (Southern Mesopotamia).
The Sumerians first used tokens sealed in clay vessels to
represent items promised, whilst Japanese traders issued
notes to raise funds to offset seasonal availability of rice.
In time these embryonic mechanisms became a standard,
understood form of currency. Commodity trading began in
earnest in the 17th century as part of the great age ofmaritime discovery and exploration. The sea route to India
brought exotic goods to receptive European markets, whilst
the spice trade brought vast wealth to the Spanish empire.
Over time, regulation was introduced to control supply, for
instance crown-fixed pricing in Spain that regulated trade in
pepper, and the establishing of the East India Company by
Royal Charter in 1600, with its exclusive right to trade in
cotton, silks, indigo, dye, salt and opium.
East India House c.1800, painted by Thomas Malton
Whilst the trade in commodities may not be as newsworthy
on a day-to-day basis as other business events, market
shocks still make the news, given the importance ofcommodities in everyday life. Soft commodities are prone
to price volatility owing to climatic events, disease and poor
harvests. A poor harvest will result in supply shortages and
consequent increases in the price of the raw material that goes
into food production. When supermarkets raise prices, it is
usually to reflect the increase in the cost of raw materials.
Traded commodities are usually defined as either hard or
soft. This Amity Insight is concerned only with soft
commodities, representing the major agricultural (and cattle)
futures markets corn, wheat, soya, cocoa, coffee, sugar,
palm and cotton. Hard commodities include energy (oil, gas,ethanol, uranium), base metals (aluminium, copper, nickel, tin,
lead, zinc), precious metals (gold, silver, palladium, platinum)
and bulk commodities (iron, coal).
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Commodities are goods that have a price wherever they are
traded. They are the building blocks of the global economy and
the invisible yarn that binds the world. A commodities market
facilitates trading in each commodity in one of three ways:
nSpot market where commodities are bought and sold
for immediate delivery
nFutures market where an obligation to buy or sell at
a given price in the future is agreednOptions market where an option to buy or sell is
purchased or sold.
To be traded, commodities generally meet standard criteria
of tradability, deliverability and liquidity. Unlike the energy
and metals market, agricultural soft commodities can be
more price-volatile. This is because:
nOften, the largest reserves are in politically
volatile territories
nAgricultural commodities are susceptible to climate,
environmental impact and perishability
nSome commodities are not abundant, therefore trading
may become illiquid and volatile
nSome commodities may have synthetic or man-made
alternatives (e.g. sugar)
nHistorical consumption and production may be at a
variance, causing price shocks.
Commodities are principally traded in Chicago, New York and
London, although Londons dominance is largely restricted tominerals and metals. Five of the top ten global commodity
exchanges are located in the USA. However, the majority of
commodity traders operate from Switzerland. The principal
purpose of the exchange is to regulate the market in that
commodity. Commodity exchanges operate in a similar way
to the pre-Big Bang stock exchange in London, with most
exchanges allowing traders to exchange futures contracts,
incorporating sell dates and an agreed price. Commodities
are most frequently traded in bulk on the Chicago exchanges
(CME and CBOT); however, they may also be sold directly by
a commodity trading company to a processor-manufacturer.
Commodity Case Study: Sugar
Sugar is traded in contract sizes of 50 long tons (112,000lbs) with futures contracts issued quarterly.4Sugar is unusual
as it faces enormous competition from synthetic and artificial sweeteners e.g. corn syrup. Sugar is produced in 120
countries (25% from Brazil alone), on 31m HA of land;5other key producing countries are China, India and Thailand.
Sugar is one of three agricultural commodities most responsible for driving competition for land in developing countries,
and has been blamed by agencies such as Oxfam for fuelling land grabs. Global production now exceeds 165m
tonnes5
worth $47bn per annum.6
Sugar is a high-yielding crop and less susceptible to climate volatility than equivalentharvested crops. In the UK, sugar beet is grown rather than the more familiar cane (80% of supply). Consumption has
increased from 90m tonnes in 1980 to about 165m tonnes5and is set to grow by a further 20% by 2020.6
How Commodities are Traded
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Amity Insight January 2014 5
Many of us enjoy a morning cappuccino; last year in the UK we spent 831m on in-home coffee,7
consuming 500g of coffee per person per year.8Sales are estimated to top 1.1bn and 61m kg in
2013.8In the USA, the worlds largest consumer of coffee, more than 350m cups are drunk every day.8
But how many of us stop to think about how it arrives on our shores and in our favourite coffee shop?
Illustrating Supply Chain Complexity: Coffee
The Coffee Supply Chain
Coffee has one of the most complex supply chains of any
commodity, and is the most valuable. 90% of production is
in the developing world,9with 80% grown by small farmers.10
Over 60m people worldwide are estimated to rely on coffee
production for all or part of their livelihood;10in Brazil alone
coffee supports 5m farmers harvesting 3bn coffee plants
annually.8Global production stands at 120m kilo bags, grown
predominantly in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia and Colombia.8
The supply chain typically involves producers, middlemen,
exporters, importers, roasters and retailers. Middlemen
buy direct from small farmers, with green coffee typically
purchased by importers from exporters, 75% of which
is handled from Switzerland.11
Roasters such as Nestl rely on importers that hold large
inventory, drizzling the commodity into the market to
maintain price.
The diffuse, extended supply chain illustrates how far the
ultimate consumer is divorced from production. Growers
have little capital to invest, whilst small farmers may be at
the mercy of spot pricing.
Without investment, labour practices may be poor or even
harmful. Poverty remains an issue for a typical commodity
supply chain.
This is why we are seeing more direct control of supply chains
by roasters; investment in husbandry and labour practices has
led to higher yield, whilst the Fairtrade mark has had a positive
impact on alleviating poverty.
Adopting sustainable farming practices in Vietnam has
boosted production among individual farmers by 10% and
incomes by 30% on average.12However, certified production
is still a work in progress as we shall see later on.
The coffee bush
Coffee grows in tropical countries, near the equator. Coffee cherries, the fruitof the coffee bush, take about ten months to ripen, and are picked when theyare red. Each cherry contains two green beans. Coffee is grown mainly byfamilies on small farms. The cherries are usually picked by hand, because theydont all ripen at the same time.
Processing
After picking, the coffee cherries have to be processed in order to remove theouter husk. Sometimes they are dried in the sun, and sometimes machines areused to dry them. The coffee is then fed through hulling machines in order toremove the dried husk and the parchment (the skin which covers the bean).
If they have the right facilities, coffee farmers process the coffee themselves.Often they sell it to traders or mill owners to be processed.
Sorting, grading and packing for export
The green beans are sorted (by hand or machine) into different sizes. Beansthat are the wrong size or colour, or those that havent been properly hulled, areremoved. The sorted beans are packed into bags and transported to the port.
Shipping
The bags of beans are shipped to the country where they will be roasted andblended to give them a good taste.
Dealers
Dealers buy the beans from the coffee exporters and sell them on to theroasters or coffee companies. These dealers work in stock exchanges in
New York and London.
Roasters
These are the big coffee companies (such as Nestl and Procter & Gamble)which roast the green beans in order to turn them into coffee we can drink.They blend and package the coffee, advertise it and sell it to shops,restaurants, cafs and wholesalers.
Supermarkets and shops
Sell coffee to customers forhome use.
Coffee shops, restaurants
and cafs
Sell coffee to customers to drink.
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Various bulk materials
Containers
General cargo, ro-ro
TotalCommodities 70
20
34 1 3
11
9
8
11
4
14
12
20% Crude oil
11% Oil products
8% Natural gas (LNG)
9% Coal
11% Iron ore
3% Metals and minerals
1% Bauxite/alumina
4% Grain
3% Additional agriculturalcommodities
The Modern Commodity Trade
Commodity trading has come to dominate world trade,
making up 33% of world trade volumes (hard and soft)
and 70% of world maritime cargo dedicated to shipping
commodities.13Soft commodities account for approximately
5% of world trade and 7% of shipped cargo.13
Whilst there are commodity trading hubs in the USA, Europe
and Asia, Switzerland dominates the physical handling of soft
commodities; for instance, Geneva is the global centre for
grain, coffee and sugar trading.
The surge in profits illustrates the necessity of closing
the huge transparency gap of the commodities trading
industry. The industry r ight now is a black hole.
Oliver Classen, The Berne Declaration
,
31
24
34
11
Various products
Chemicalproducts Commodities
Machineryand vehicles
14% Energy
5% Metals
5% Agricultural products
Chicago
London AmsterdamGeneva
Shanghai
Hong Kong
Singapore
New YorkHouston
Each commodity is grown, processed and sold into the market
differently, but each commodity is typically controlled by a
small number of global traders, integrating buying, freight,
and financial futures trading. The top ten global commodity
trading firms earned $1.1trn in revenues in 2012, with the top
five earning $629bn,14rivalling the largest but far better
known financial institutions. To the average person, these
companies are largely unknown and invisible and yet
by and large they control global food and feed supply.
The most significant soft commodity traders include:
Soft commodity trading is dominated by the so-called ABCD
Group of ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus. Archer Daniels
Midland (ADM), founded in 1902 and listed on the NYSE,
is one of the Global 10 soft commodity traders with revenues
of $90bn in 2012.15ADM has significant businesses in grain,
oilseed, palm and cocoa, supplying and trading 16% of world
cocoa production.15ADM is typical in having two divisions:
trading and processing. It therefore buys, processes (or refines)
and then trades the raw product into the market. ADM is a
leading manufacturer of raw vegetable oils, corn sweeteners,
biofuels, flour and feedstuffs, illustrating the breadth and reach
of a modern global trader. ADM, like many of its peers, is an
integrated giant, combining financial futures, brokerage,
shipping, risk management and captive insurance as well.
Share of commodity trading in world trade in 2009
MONETARY
Share of commodity trading in world trade in 2009
WEIGHT Refers to ocean freight (80-90% of world trade)
Global Commodity Hubs
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Amity Insight January 2014 7
Modern Commodity Traders: the Ethical Issues
These few global trading giants are remote and largely
invisible from public scrutiny, and yet they wield great power
by controlling the market in the raw goods and materials the
world relies on.
Eleven of the top 20 global players are not listed, such as
Cargill of the USA, founded in 1865, and the largest private
company in the USA by revenues. Indeed, if it were listed,
such is Cargills size, it would rank ninth in the Fortune 500
with revenues of $136.7bn.16
Criticism of trading companies isnt just about their size or lack
of transparency. Most have been dogged by charges of poor
environmental management, pollution, deforestation, and
complicity in human rights v iolations as a result of their high
impact. In particular, traders tend, by their nature, to do
business in countries with very poor human rights records.
Their size and reach has also been criticised for supporting
market price speculation (e.g. by stockpiling), which can
then artificially distort food or raw material prices.
For instance, in 2012 Louis Dreyfus was sued by a senior
trader at rival house, Glencore, for allegedly illegally cornering
the cotton market as prices fell. In a very high-profile law suit,
the trader accused Louis Dreyfus of breaking anti-trust law by
artificially inflating prices in cotton futures, citing monopoly
power and collusion.
The suit followed cotton prices spiralling to levels not seen since
the American Civil War in 1865, followed by a crash that saw
them halve. Market manipulation is notoriously hard to prove,
and intra-trading disputes between houses in the tight-knitcommodity markets are rare. The opacity of the trade
nevertheless raises the question of just how markets work,
whether they are and can be manipulated by a handful of global
titans, and the ethical implications for the poorest as a result.
The sector is unusual in being almost wholly unregulated; the
key tax domicile is Switzerland, operating under a typical tax
rate of 5-15%17(compared to 30-45% for the oil majors), with
the industry consequently dogged by charges of tax avoidance
and poor corporate transparency.
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The Commodities Giants with RevenuesLarger than Some Countries GDPsCommodity trading firms come in all shapes and sizes, but the top companies
are giants. In fact, many earn revenues equal in size to the GDP of entire
countries. Below is a comparison between the revenue of five of the top ten
global commodity trading firms and the GDP of five economies.
Founded:1987
HQ:Hong Kong
Employs:15,000
Operations:140 countries
Revenues:
$94bn (2012)
Founded:1902
HQ:Decatur, USA
Employs:31,000Operations:140 countries
Revenues:$90.6bn (2012)
Founded:1966
HQ:Geneva, Switzerland
Employs:5,000Operations:30 countries
Revenues:
$303bn (2012)
Founded:1926/1974
HQ:Baar, Switzerland
Employs:190,000
Operations:50 countries
Revenues:
$236bn (2012)
Founded:1865
HQ:Minneapolis, USA
Employs:142,000
Operations:67 countries
Revenues:
$136.7bn (2013)
Malaysia: $300.6bn
GDP (2012)
Finland: $244.3bn
Hungary: $124bn
Morocco: $94.8bn
Slovakia: $90.7bn
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Soft Commodity Case Study: Cotton
Cotton is a field crop grown widely in the USA, China, India, Brazil and West
Africa. It is produced in two types: long-staple (for high-quality textiles) and
short-staple (industrial textiles). The 12 largest producing countries constitute
91% of world production, with the top three (China, India and the USA)
producing over 60%.18
Supply and demand are finely balanced, as cotton is a fairly predictable
cash crop supplying one third of global fibre demand. It is believed to
support up to 300m livelihoods worldwide,19for instance in Mali, cotton
represents 8% of national GDP and supports 40% of the population.20
It is also grown and exported by high-risk countries such as Sudanand Uzbekistan.
10 Amity Insight January 2014
J Sainsbury has been involved with the Better Cotton Initiative
since 2010 and collaborates with partners on sourcing cotton
more sustainably. Sainsbury has set an ambitious target tosource all its key raw materials and commodities sustainably
to an independent standard by 2020, with its top 35 raw
materials subject to sourcing plans in development.
Its school uniform range has now moved entirely to BCI
sourced cotton, saving over 1m cubic metres of process
water. Its target is for 20% of Sainsburys cotton footprint tobe sustainable by autumn 2014, driven by BCI partnerships.
www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/media/1790641/20x20_brochure_2013.pdf
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Sustainable Cotton
Cotton has a reputation for being an unsustainable crop
with its excessive use of water, chemicals and associations
with forced and child labour.
Water use can exceed 10,000 litres to produce 1kg of
raw cotton;19in areas of shortage and scarcity, excessive
drawdown has had a devastating effect on communities and
local livelihoods (e.g. former fishing communities in Uzbekistan
reduced to desert after water supply diversion for cotton fields).
In India, 5% of land is given over to cotton, but it consumes54% of all the sub-continents pesticide use.21So cotton,
vital to the global economy, is a cash crop with substantial
risks attached owing to land, community and water pressures.
The Uzbek cotton industry has been convulsed by child labour
allegations, initiating a wide-reaching ban on sourcing Uzbek
cotton, and giving rise to greater interest in corporate
responsibility and sustainability initiatives. The Better Cotton
Initiative is a multi-stakeholder group focused on six basic
principles for better cotton (limiting pesticide use; water
efficiency; healthy soil; biodiversity protection; fibre quality;
and working conditions). Supporting retailers include H&M,M&S, Adidas, Tesco, J Sainsbury and Walmart.
M&S has a target under Plan A to source 25% sustainable
cotton by 2015, and 50% by 2020. Results have beenimpressive, with 11% sustainable cotton achieved across its
ranges from Fairtrade, organic, recycled or better cotton
compared to just 3.8% in 2011.
In 2012-13, 220,000 farmers took part in better cotton
projects on 683,000HA, producing 623,000MT of better
cotton or 10% of world consumption.22In India, better
cotton farmers typically use 20% less water and 40% less
pesticide.22The global organic cotton market now stands at
an impressive $7.4bn.23
Whilst conventional cotton remains at the heart of the chain,
poor sustainability has forced business and retail leaders to
take increasing control of parts of the supply chain to improve
the chain of custody.
This phenomenon has been repeated across other commodity
supply chains, such as cocoa (see Ecclesiasticals Amity Insight
The Bitter Sweet Side of Cocoa [2008] and the Cocoa
Report [2011]), and palm oil (see IFA Expert Briefing Can You
Invest Responsibly in Palm Oil? [2011]). Companies such as
Unilever and M&S have committed to source only sustainable
palm oil by 2015,24whilst in cocoa, leading confectionery
manufacturers (Mondelez International, Nestl, Mars) have
taken control of parts of the supply chain by sourcing direct
from farmers and are having a dramatic impact on improvedquality, yield and health & safety practices.
In Kita, Mali, the cotton producers co-operative from whom
M&S sources cotton has used the Fairtrade premium paid
(this is in addition to the normal Fairtrade price premium), to
build a block of two classrooms, with a further two planned
next year. This achievement has persuaded the Malian
government to invest in schools in the region. Fairtrade
cotton in Mali is also empowering women at every stageof the production and process cycle.
http://plana.marksandspencer.com
Global Retail Sales of Organic Cotton Products
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
$bn
10
8
6
4
2
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12 Amity Insight January 2014
Producing Sustainably: Nestl
From a producer-processor perspective, commodity supply
chain risk is a pre-eminent consideration operationally as well
as in a reputational context. Companies are increasingly taking
control of their supply chain sourcing for ethical and wider
sustainability reasons. Nestl is the worlds largest food
manufacturer by revenues, with 29 brands commanding sales
in excess of $1bn.25With confectionery, coffee, cereals and
dairy being key product segments, Nestl is a global buyer
of soft commodities, particularly:
nWheatnCocoa
nCoffee
nPalm oil
nMilknSugar
nHazelnuts
In 2012, Nestl sourced 22.47m tonnes of raw commodities.25
Nestl is typical of many of the global food and household
goods producers in beginning to take ownership of the supply
chain in order to become an agent of change; it has
committed to a number of sustainability initiatives across a
range of commodities. In particular, Nestl is working directly
with over 690,000 farmers, with 273,000 receiving training inplant science and agronomy in 2012.25Training, which is vital to
improve yield efficiency, took the form of conservation, water
use, general husbandry and environmental science.
The company has now established responsible sourcing
guidelines across 12 key commodities, with Tier 1 suppliers
audited against their supplier code requirements. Traceability
is still a challenge, but programmes are in place where the
commodity is not sourced directly from the farm. All direct
sourcing (and this is increasing) is monitored via a farmer
connect programme, designed to ensure responsibility,
sustainability and product improvement.
The direction of travel in commodity sourcing is instructive;
the traditional model of sourcing from traders on the
commodity market is easing in favour of direct relationships
with growers and partners. The Nescaf Plan aims to double
the amount of sustainably sourced coffee by 2015; direct
purchases of coffee (eliminating buyers and traders) will reach
90,000 tonnes by 2020.25The Nestl Cocoa Plan follows
in the wake of allegations of child labour and dangerous
practices on cocoa plantations in Cte dIvoire. 11% of
Nestl cocoa is now sourced direct.25
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View from the Top
Commodities have come to dominate global trade; they represent 25% of all trade and 65% of cargo
traffic. Despite their significance, commodity trading remains opaque and elusive. As this Amity Insight
has shown, modern supply chains are complex and extensive, putting a barrier between the grower-
producer and the ultimate customer(s).
The reality is that the bulk of commodities are controlled by a handful of global companies, over half
of them unlisted, and therefore not subject to normal corporate transparency. Trading can be highly
speculative, and potentially manipulative given the lack of regulatory oversight. Speculation and
stockpiling can, in extreme cases, increase price and threaten food security. There are clearly many
ethical issues at the heart of a process that controls global food supply, and which does not necessarily
act in the economic interests of farmer-producers.
These issues are driving change. Manufacturers, in the wake of allegations about poor practices, are
taking more control and buying direct. Only they, rather than the traders, can be the agents of change
that puts sustainability and responsibility at the heart of commodity sourcing. We do not see, at least in
the short to medium term, any change in the balance of power; but the work being undertaken by global
manufacturers, processors and retailers is rewriting the way raw materials are bought and traded. The
ethical dilemmas surrounding the yarn that binds the world are challenging, and range from poor labour
practices to tax transparency.
We see investment in soft commodity trading as problematic owing to the fundamental model that
disconnects the raw material from the wider beneficiaries growers and customers. To that end, we
engage with industry to encourage greater scrutiny of supply chains and better business practices,
whilst looking for value via end-users, manufacturers of synthetic alternatives, logistics and transport.
Neville White,
Senior Socially Responsible Investment Analyst
Sources:
1 Tesco & Society Using our scale for good2013/14. www.tescoplc.com/files/pdf/reports/tesco_and_society_2013-14_halfyear_summary.pdf
2 NRDC www.nrdc.org/food/files/wasted-food-ip.pdf
3 Ecclesiastical Investment Management: HungryPlanet, Food: the search for sustainable yield.www.ecclesiastical.com/Images/Amity%20Insight%20-%20Hungry%20Planet.pdf
4 CME Group (Chicago Mercantile Exchange)
5 S&D Groupe Sucres et Denres www.sucden.com/statistics/1_world-sugar-production
6 Oxfam Nothing sweet about it: How sugar fuels
land grabs 2013 www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/nothingsweetaboutitmediabrief-embargoed2october2013.pdf
7 www.fairtrade.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2012/F/FT_Coffee_Report_May2012.pdf
8 www.realcoffee.co.uk/coffee-encyclopedia/trivia/growing-facts/
9 The Latte Revolution? Regulation, Markets andConsumption in the Global Coffee Chain
10 Coffee: The Supply Chain Times/Nestl www.businesscasestudies.co.uk
11 www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wirtschaft/unternehmen-und-konjunktur/Die-Schweiz-handelt-den-Kaffee-fuer-die-Welt/story/21879629
12 www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-24/sustainable-coffee-means-higher-yield-for-vietnam-farmers.html
13 http://unctad.org/en/pages/InformationNoteDetails.
aspx?OriginalVersionID=3814 www.businessinsider.com/presenting-the-worlds-
16-largest-commodity-traders-2011-10
15 www.adm.com
16 www.businessinsider.com/presenting-the-worlds-16-largest-commodity-traders-2011-10#3-cargill-minneapolis-minnesota-14
17 www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-27/swiss-reject-tougher-regulation-of-commodities-trading.html
18 Index mundi www.indexmundi.com/
19 Better Cotton Initiative http://bettercotton.org/about-bci/why-a-bci/
20 Fairtrade Foundation www.fairtrade.org.uk
21 www.globecot.co.in/organic/new/intro_of_organic_cotton.html
22 http://bettercotton.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2012-Harvest-Report_final.
pdf23 Global Market Report on Sustainable Textiles
24 http://plana.marksandspencer.com/
25 www.nestle.com
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nThe backing of an award-winning team.
nOver 25 years of experience of
socially responsible investing (SRI).
nFunds that are both positively
and negatively screened.
nA stable investment team with
a wealth of experience spanning
many years.
nA comprehensive in-house
SRI research function.
nAn independent panel that reviews
investment decisions.
nA robust socially responsible
investment process.
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Were not afraid to adopt contrarian
positions and are in favour of long-term
investment horizons.
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of capital as our primary responsibility,
preferring absolute returns over relative
performance.
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permitting more flexibility to take
advantage of good-value opportunities
as they present themselves.
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as frequent trading increases costs
and decreases returns.
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involved in alcohol production, gambling
operations, pornographic and violent
material, tobacco production, testing
animals for cosmetic or household
products, supporting oppressive
regimes or strategic weapon production.
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a record of involvement and good
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practices, community relations,
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Why Ecclesiastical?
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Ecclesiastical Investment Management Limited (EIM) Reg. No. 2519319. This company is registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road,Gl t GL1 1JZ UK EIM i th i d d l t d b th Fi i l C d t A th it d i b f th Fi i l O b d S i d
We pride ourselves on our support for IFAs. For more information, fund factsheets or how to invest, please contact us:
Phone Fax Email Website
0845 604 4056 020 7528 7365 [email protected] www.ecclesiastical.com/ifa
Sue Round
Head of Investments and
Amity UK Fund Manager
Sue Round is the UKs longest-serving
retail SRI Fund Manager. With the benefit
of extensive experience, Sue has made the
Amity UK Fund one of the leaders in the
increasingly important socially responsible
investment sector.
Robin Hepworth
Chief Investment Officer, Amity International
Fund Manager and co-manager of the Amity
Sterling Bond Fund
Robin has been with Ecclesiastical for 24
years. He is recognised as one of Citywires
top 10 Fund Managers of the past decade
and is also a Trustnet Alpha Manager, placing
him in the top 10% of all UK unit trust and
OEIC managers.
Chris Hiorns, CFA
Amity European Fund Manager and
co-manager of the Amity Sterling
Bond Fund
Chris started working for Ecclesiastical in
1996 and has been a CFA Charterholder
since 2004.
Meet the TeamAndrew Jackson
UK Equity Growth Fund Manager
Andrew joined Ecclesiastical in 2003 and
manages the UK Equity Growth Fund. His
wealth of experience includes roles at Canada
Life and Lloyds Investment Managers. Andrew
is AAA-rated by Citywire.
Neville White
Senior Socially Responsible
Investment Analyst
Before joining Ecclesiastical in 2010, Neville
was responsible for developing and managing
global corporate governance proxy voting with
CCLA Investment Management. Prior to this,
he worked for the Church Commissioners,
latterly as Secretary to the Church of
Englands Ethical Investment Advisory Group.
Ketan Patel, CFA
Senior Socially Responsible
Investment Analyst
Ketan began his career at JP Morgan in
1998. He moved to Clerical Medical (now
Insight Investment) as an Equity Analyst.
Ketan has worked for Ecclesiastical for
10 years and is a CFA Charterholder.
Please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and that the value of investments
can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than the amount invested. Source & Copyright: CITYWIRE.
For the three years to 31stDecember 2013 based on risk-adjusted performance.
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