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Overview
We believe that advancing fairness of social opportunity and narrowing the equality gap can help empower individuals and deliver greater levels of human equity. However, over recent years, we have observed a structural increase in inequality and a widening gap between the goals and delivery of key societal development objectives.
In addressing these issues, we believe the private sector will have a large part to play both as involved corporate citizens and in providing products and to facilitate improvements in equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. Companies with products that truly make a difference in people’s lives have the opportunity to exploit long-term profit pools generated by true, ongoing societal need. Those that take their responsibility to society seriously and endeavor to treat employees, customers, and the community with respect and dignity may also find they have a competitive advantage over those who do not.
The Martin Currie Improving Society Strategy aims to take advantage of opportunities presented by investing in companies whose products and services positively impact fundamental human needs and create the conditions for advancements in equity. Active ownership is a fundamental tenet of the strategy with structured engagement on company-specific impact goals, sustainability issues and business topics at the heart of the investment process. The strategy leverages Martin Currie’s strong track record within Sustainability thought leadership and business integration and is well-aligned with our corporate purpose of ‘Investing to Improve Lives’.
Key Information
To invest in companies that contribute to human equity and improving lives.
Portfolio characteristics | UK Equity Income |
---|---|
Objective | Social Impact |
Asset Class | Listed Equities |
Style | Impact |
Investable Universe | Global |
Market capitalisation | All-cap |
Sector/country allocations |
As a result of stock selection-managed within factor risk analysis
Maximum sector allocation of 30% |
Security limit | Maximum 10% absolute stock weight |
Number of stocks | 20-35 |
Portfolio turnover | Low- expected turnover |
Inception | 2023 |
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"The investment process leverages the experience, research, creativity, and passion of the strategy's portfolio management team to identify areas of the market which have the greatest opportunity to generate positive impact."
Why Invest in Improving Society Strategy
Impact-led approach
Supporting those companies delivering impact at scale and actively engaging with companies to accelerate delivery of these ambitions.
Positive Impact
Contribution to the UN SDGs across three key pillars of Improving Wellbeing, Improving Inclusion, and Supporting a just transition.
The three impact pillars consist of SDG targets mapped using Martin Currie’s proprietary SDG Target Taxonomy.
Underappreciated opportunities:
Companies with products generating true positive social impact could potentially generate more attractive returns due to stronger competitive positions or greater demand.
Investment Strategy
The strategy aims to deliver an attractive and growing income stream through:
- Impact Focussed - Investing in the world’s most socially impactful companies.
- Innovative Research Process - Three long-term impact pillars inform our fundamental research.
- Performance Measurement - Measuring company-specific impact through KPIs.
- Engagement - Engagement is central to driving pace of impact and changes in behaviour.
- Differentiated portfolio construction - Blend of impact conviction and investment opportunity.

Investment Team

Lauran Halpin
- Job title
- Portfolio Manager, Impact Equity
- Experience
- 16 years

John Gilmore
- Job title
- Stewardship, Sustainability and Impact Specialist / Portfolio Manager, Impact Equity
- Experience
- 18 years

Eoghan McGrath
- Job title
- Investment Analyst, Stewardship, Sustainability and Impact
- Experience
- 1 year
Our Capabilities
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mel Bucher
Head of Global Distribution
T: +44 (0) 131 479 4748
M: +44 (0) 758 414 7720
E: mbucher@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mel Bucher
Head of Global Distribution
T: +44 (0) 131 479 4748
M: +44 (0) 758 414 7720
E: mbucher@martincurrie.com
Tim Baker, CFA®
Associate Client Portfolio Manager
M: +44 (0) 7795238754
E: tbaker@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mel Bucher
Head of Global Distribution
T: +44 (0) 131 479 4748
M: +44 (0) 758 414 7720
E: mbucher@martincurrie.com
Tim Baker, CFA®
Associate Client Portfolio Manager
M: +44 (0) 7795238754
E: tbaker@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mel Bucher
Head of Global Distribution
T: +44 (0) 131 479 4748
M: +44 (0) 758 414 7720
E: mbucher@martincurrie.com
Tim Baker, CFA®
Associate Client Portfolio Manager
M: +44 (0) 7795238754
E: tbaker@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mel Bucher
Head of Global Distribution
T: +44 (0) 131 479 4748
M: +44 (0) 758 414 7720
E: mbucher@martincurrie.com
Danni Yang, CFA®
Investment Client Portfolio Manger, Global Long-Term Unconstrained
M: +44 (0) 7826548065
E: dyang@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Mark Cho, CFA®
Head of Americas Distribution
Intermediary Sales/Wealth Management
T: +1 212 632 3292
E: mcho@martincurrie.com
Breanna Ellsworth, CFA®
Client Portfolio Manager, Distribution - US
T: +1 212 632 3293
E: bellsworth@martincurrie.com
Drew Comatos
Client Portfolio Manager, North America
Intermediary Sales/Wealth Management
T: +1 203 703 6472
E: dcomatos@martincurrie.com
Contact Us
We offer access to the strategy via segregated accounts and separately managed accounts.
Please visit our contact page or speak to a member of our sales team, to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements and for more information on our investment capabilities.
Felicity Walsh
Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand
M: +61 (0) 429 209 566
E: Felicity.Walsh@franklintempleton.com
Ross Kent
Investment Client Portfolio Manager
T: +61 (0)3 9017 8629
M: +61 (0)455 253 384
E: rkent@martincurrie.com.au
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