Sustainable Investing

Sustainable Investing and You
Enhanced corporate governance, sound financial stewardship and environmental awareness have taken on new meaning and importance in today's global economic landscape. For those seeking to invest in companies leading in these areas, Sentinel Investments offers our Sustainable Core Opportunities and Sustainable Mid Cap Opportunities Fund Funds.

Sentinel Sustainable Investing - The View From Here
By our definition, sustainable investing goes beyond traditional screening criteria to incorporate fundamental analysis and research into environmental, social, and governance attributes of companies considered for investment. For you, this means portfolios are constructed to recognize responsible corporate citizenship while helping you achieve your investment goals.

A Process That Combines Exclusionary and Qualitative Criteria
We employ an integrated process combining exclusionary screening with in-depth qualitative screening - a process which seeks to identify companies with useful products, strong corporate governance practices, a history of environmental stewardship, and good employee and community relations.

The companies that emerge from this comprehensive process are fundamentally strong and well-managed, with stated and identifiable commitments to their customers, employees, communities, shareholders and the world at large.

Exclusionary Screen		Qualitative Screen
Alcohol	Gambling	Business Practices	Diversity	Labor
Tobacco	Nuclear	Community	Environment	Supply Chain
Weapons	Diversity	Corporate Governance	Human Rights

Business Practices and Corporate Governance

Sustainable companies:

are responsive to consumer and public concerns, and market their products responsibly;
demonstrate "best practices" related to board independence and elections, auditor independence, executive compensation, voting rights and other important governance issues;
have strong records of compliance and do not have a pattern of regulatory violations for their products or services; and
provide beneficial and useful products and services.

Diversity

Sustainable companies:

promote equal opportunity and actively recruit, hire and promote individuals in order to create a diverse workforce; and
do not have a pattern of discrimination based on age, gender, religion, race, disability or sexual orientation.

Labor

Sustainable companies:

do not have a pattern of labor law violations or engage in unfair labor practices;
do not have poor health and safety records or consistent patterns of OSHA violations;
offer competitive salaries and benefits, have family-friendly policies and good relationships with unions.

Community

Sustainable companies:

engage with the communities in which they operate;
take a proactive approach to minimizing their negative impact; and
support their local and/or global communities, either through financial support or by encouraging employee volunteerism.

Environment

Sustainable companies:

have exceptional environmental policies, management systems, and performance;
meet or exceed industry standards; and
take a proactive stance with environmental initiatives.

Supply Chain

Sustainable companies:

have vendor policies that include a code of conduct; and
apply environmental, health, safety and diversity criteria in supplier selection.

Human Rights

Sustainable companies:

do not permit the use of child labor, forced labor or other abuses in the manufacture of their products; and
enforce codes of conduct and vendor standards for their sub-contractors, operations and suppliers.

Shareholder Advocacy and Corporate Engagement
Another important pillar of sustainable investing is shareholder advocacy. Through shareholder advocacy, including corporate engagement and proxy voting, we work on behalf of our shareholders to encourage sustainable business practices and effect corporate change.

The Sentinel sustainable investment process involves investing across multiple asset classes. Large-capitalization stocks as a group could fall out of favor with the market, causing the Fund to under perform investments that focus on small- or medium- capitalization stocks. Small and mid-sized company stocks can be more volatile than large company stocks.

Sustainable Investing Guide
	VIEW PDF (PDF - 468 KB)
Stewardship: Sustainable Investing and the Long View
	VIEW PDF (PDF - 468 KB)
Fracking: Friend or Foe?
	VIEW PDF (PDF - 428 KB)
Nuclear Power: Brave New World or Same Old Nightmare?
	VIEW PDF (PDF - 428 KB)
Water Scarcity: How Companies Are Making a Change
	VIEW PDF (PDF - 291 KB)

Relevant Links with the Site

Please consider a fund's objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before you invest. The prospectus contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money. Investment return and principal value in any of the Funds will vary so that you may have a gain or loss when you sell shares. The performance data shown represents past performance, which is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than any data quoted. Mutual funds are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency and are neither guaranteed by, nor deposits or other obligations of, any bank or affiliate. The Funds referred to on this Website may be offered only to persons in the United States and by way of prospectus.

Sentinel Investments is the unifying brand name for Sentinel Financial Services Company, Sentinel Asset Management, Inc., and Sentinel Administrative Services, Inc.

Sentinel Funds are distributed by Sentinel Financial Services Company, member FINRA, One National Life Drive, Montpelier, Vermont 05604.