Skerryvore excludes from the Fund's investment universe companies involved in the production and manufacture of cigarettes and tobacco products, and pornography, however, it does not exclude the ones involved in the sale or distribution. Companies involved in the manufacture of controversial weapons and civil weapons, as well as companies operating gambling establishments, are excluded. In addition, Skerryvore also excludes companies that derive more than 25% of their total revenue directly from fossil fuel extraction.

When the Fund Manager assesses ESG factors, it focuses on ESG risk assessment and review, exclusions, company engagement and shareholder voting. It does not have a predetermined view about how far ESG factors will be taken into account, and there is no specific ESG methodology adopted for this Fund. However, Skerryvore takes into account ESG factors, but only to the extent that they financially affect the investment. Accordingly, in these circumstances, Skerryvore believes that ESG factors are important in determining the quality of a company for potential investment.

As part of its approach to assessing the suitability of a new investment or during the ongoing review of existing holdings, the Manager considers climate and other-related third party provided data, including total greenhouse gas emissions, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions intensity, fossil fuel sector exposure, share of non-renewable energy consumption and production, energy consumption intensity per high impact climate sector, activities negatively affecting biodiversity sensitive areas, emissions to water, hazardous waste ratio, and investments in companies.

Social and employee issues, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters are assessed including companies in violations of United Nations Global Compact and the Organisation for Economic Development's guidelines for multinational enterprises and implementation of fundamental International Labour Organisation Conventions, companies without labour standards or environmental, social, or ethical considerations policies or processes to monitor compliance with UNGC and OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises; unadjusted gender pay gap; board gender diversity, exposure to controversial weapons, and lack of a supplier code of conduct.

Skerryvore is a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.