sri/esg for public equities · shareholder engagement to further reflect their values. for more...
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For Professional Investor Use OnlyAperio v. [Latin] to make clear, to reveal the truth
E S GENVIRONMENTALSOCIALGOVERNANCE
Values-Aligned InvestingSRI/ESG for Public Equities
Copyright © 2018 Aperio Group, LLC101
For Professional Investor Use Only
For Professional Investor Use Only 2
Overview
Personalized, transparent, tax-efficient, lower-fee
solutions. Serving new institutional investors for more
than 19 years.
AUM: $25.6B TAX
SRI/
ESG
FACTOR
TILTS
Taxable
$22.4B(89%)
Total SRI/ESG
AUM
$6.3B(25%)
Accounts
1,038
Non-Taxable
$3.2B(12.5%)
Source: Aperio Group, LLC; data as of June 29, 2018.
For Professional Investor Use Only 3
Customization Options
Benchmark/Market Exposures
Standard
• US Total Market
• US Large Cap
• US Mid Cap
• US Small Cap
• US Large/Mid Cap
• US Small/Mid Cap
• Global Developed & Emerging
• Global Developed
• International Developed & Emerging
• International Developed
• International Developed ex-Canada
• Global Natural Resources
• US REITs
Blended Benchmarks: Individual, custom, market-exposure weights
to reflect allocations that differ from standard
market-cap-weighted benchmarks
Socially Responsive Indexing/ESG
Preconfigured Strategy Starting Points
• Low-Carbon Footprint Series
• Aperio Environment Series
• Humane Equity
• Women’s Inclusion
• Jewish Values
• Reproductive Rights
• No Racial or Ethnic Minorities on
US Company Board
• Catholic Values
• Aperio SRI
• Custom SRI Profile
Active Tax Management
Tax Rates
• Federal
• State
Tax-Loss Harvesting
• Standard
• Aggressive
• Tight Index Tracking
• Tax Neutral
Gain Harvesting
• Standard
Factor Tilts
Preconfigured Strategies
• Quality or Quality Light
• Minimum Volatility + Value
• Dividend Yield
• Multi-Factor
• Value
• Value + Small Size
• Value + Momentum
Factors Available for Tilting
• Book-to-Price
• Earnings Yield
• Dividend Yield
• Size
• Momentum
• Earnings Quality
• Investment Quality
• Earnings Variability
• Profitability
• Leverage
• Beta
• Volatility
Also available: industries, sectors, countries, regions
LM1
Slide 3
LM1 James has a new version of this -- that includes some of our services. not sure how it will work in a presentation format -- take a look and make a call which version is best.Liz Michaels, 7/4/2018
For Professional Investor Use Only 4
Aperio Values-Aligned Portfolios
Portfolio Construction
Values agnostic.
•Aperio represents clients
across the political,
religious and values-based
spectrum.
•We don’t make value
judgments in place of a
client’s own defined
objectives.
•Aperio does not override
approved ratings and data
sets, and handles updates
consistently.
Portfolio specific.
•Tracking error, alpha
seeking, risk tolerance
and tax sensitivity all may
factor into final portfolio
construction.
•We use an optimizer to
minimize portfolio
tracking error once client
parameters are set.
• If an investor does not
want to hold a particular
company or type of
company, it must be
flagged as a portfolio
exclusion.
Data driven.
•Data availability varies by
market and the
methodology employed
by third-party providers.
•A lag may occur between
when a company change
occurs and when it is
reflected in the data set
and in the portfolio.
•Transparency is key. Lack
of corporate disclosure of
ESG data may affect final
scoring.
Rules based.
•Aperio doesn’t pick
stocks. Our universe is
index-based and utilizes a
quantitative approach.
•Portfolios are built on
transparent rules that
clients help define.
•ESG scoring is relative and
does not explicitly exclude
any companies.
•Low-scoring companies
may remain in the
portfolio if they help
control for risk.
Custom fit.
•Clients control the
breadth and depth of their
SRI strategies and can
customize ESG scores of
companies held in their
separately managed
accounts.
•Aperio’s public equity
SMAs are only one aspect
of a client’s entire
portfolio and mission-
alignment goals.
•Clients may also exercise
proxy voting rights and
shareholder engagement
to further reflect their
values.
For more information, please see Aperio’s Guide to ESG Portfolio Construction.
We align client values and investment goals by employing SRI screens and ratings, thematic tilts,
other portfolio construction techniques, and (if desired) tax optimization.
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SRI Process
1
2
3
4
Clarify Client Values & Create Values Policy Statement
Balance Values & Investment Characteristics
Implement Portfolio & Vote Shares
Report Progress
5 Research & Resources
For Professional Investor Use Only 6
Clarify Client Values & Create
Values Policy
1
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Tools Available to Reflect Values
Clarify Client Values
Shareholder
Activism
• Proxy Voting:
complement to issues
incorporated into
profile
• Shareholder
Engagement: support
dialogue with
companies on issues
that are important to
the investor
Tilts
Tilts toward companies
that more closely reflect
specific client values
using Social Scores*
Exclusions
• Business activity
• Industry
• Company
Third-Party ESG Data Providers: ISS/IW Financial, MSCI, Bloomberg, BlueStar, and others as needed.
*For more information, please see the Aperio Social Scores presentation.
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Aperio supports advisors from start to finish through the SRI process. We use
our ESG/SRI expertise to assist your work in translating custom client values
into Social Profiles.
Two Paths to ESG Customization
Clarify Client Values
SRI/ESG Menu
The Aperio Group SRI/ESG
Customization Menu helps you
clarify and prioritize your client’s
values so that we can create a
portfolio aligned with your
client’s values.
Social Conversation
For larger accounts,* Aperio
offers Full Customization: The
Aperio Social Conversation, a
broader level of data granularity
and problem-solving.
*This offering is for investors with accounts of $5 million or more. The customization menu is available at the $1 million level, and Aperio is available to help advisors work with their clients to
translate values into menu profiles.
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Aperio SRI/ESG Customization Menu–SAMPLE
Clarify Client Values
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Full Customization: Aperio Social Conversation
Clarify Client Values
A Personalized Process of Listening, Prioritizing, and Guiding to Help Translate Client
Values into Investments
Full Customization
Tools
Issue Briefings—Deep dive into the specific data available, including
methodologies, strengths, and weaknesses of the data.
Surveys—When working with groups, Aperio can create a survey to determine
which issues should be a part of the profile.
Preliminary Work
Revenue Thresholds—Clients may be interested in excluding companies at
different levels of involvement than are available on SRI Menu.
Intensity of Values Tilt—Aperio can work with clients to determine how
intensely to tilt the portfolio toward better-suited companies.
Relative Issue Weightings—Clients can customize the relative importance of
how their interests are expressed.
Parameters
Product
Custom Values Policy Statement—The client receives a customized memo
summarizing their unique values profile.
This option is only available for clients with account sizes of $5M or above.
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2 Balance Values & Investment
Characteristics
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Portfolio Construction of SRI/ESG Strategies
Aperio uses a multi-factor optimizer to construct portfolios with the targeted ESG exposures
while seeking to control for risk and other factors.
Optimized ESG construction and portfolio rebalancing seek to:
• Meet ESG guidelines (exclusions and/or social score tilts)
• Rebalance tax efficiently
• Control tracking error
• Control stock-specific risk
• Minimize differences between portfolio & benchmark
• Style Factors
• Value, Earnings Yield, Dividend Yield, Growth, Momentum, Long-Term Reversal, Prospect, Size, Mid Capitalization, Liquidity,
Beta, Residual Volatility, Leverage, Earnings Quality, Management Quality, Profitability
• Sector, Industry, Sub-Industry
• Country, Region
Balance Values
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The differences between a portfolio return and its benchmark return over time can
be described as similar to a normal distribution with fatter tails. Forecast tracking
error can be used as a guide to understand the magnitude of underperformance risk.
Tracking Error
Balance Values
–2 TE +2 TEBenchmark
Return
–1 TE +1 TE
5% of Data
Points
63% of Data Points
90% of Data Points
5% of Data
Points
The above chart reflects 76,280 data points covering every Aperio account for every month through 7/31/2015 from Aperio’s historical database (earliest data point is October 2004). Aperio calculated each account’s one-month return before fees minus the benchmark’s one-month return, and then divided by the forecast tracking error at the beginning of each month.
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The Social Efficient Frontier represents the trade-off between risk and values. For each increase
in the values intensity, the corresponding tracking error also increases. If we plot these
incremental increases on a graph, a curve much like the one below can be traced. This curve
represents the Social Efficient Frontier.
The Social Efficient Frontier
Balance Values
0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.2% 1.4% 1.6% 1.8%
Valu
es
Inte
nsi
ty
Tracking Error
High
Low
Reference: James Picerno,"The Final Frontier: Social Investing,“ June 2008.
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The Advantages of Optimization
Balance Values
*Forecast tracking error is the forecast annualized standard deviation of benchmark-relative returns. In this case, the benchmark is the MSCI ACWI, a
global benchmark that reflects the range upon which Aperio is able to construct an SRI portfolio and is representative of the broad scope of equity
securities from which a potential investor may choose.
The above is shown for illustrative purposes only and does not represent any actual accounts. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. See disclosure
pages for additional information.
Aperio’s OptimizedApproach
Cap-Weighted Portfolio
Forecast
Tracking Error (%)*
Forecast
Tracking Error (%)*
MSCI ACWI 0.0% 0.0%
Aperio Global Tax-Loss Harvesting (No SRI) 0.41% 0.41%
Aperio Strategies - -
Adult Entertainment: Exclude at 5% of Revenue 0.41% 0.41%
Adult Entertainment: Exclude at First $1 0.71% 0.88%
Clean Technology Solutions: 10% Weighted-Average Revenue 0.44% 0.44%
Fossil Fuel-Free1 0.59% 0.97%
All Menu Exclusions2 1.36% 1.90%
Islamic Values 1.45% 2.42%
*Source: Aperio Group, LLC; data as of June 29, 2018 for $10 million all-cash portfolio with asset-based pricing.
1Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry and Carbon Reserves exclusion2Fracking; Tar Sands; Carbon Reserves; Nuclear; Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels; Coal Companies; Energy Equipment & Services; Factory Farming; GMOs; Animal Testing: Pharma Only; Animal Testing: Non-Pharma; Fur; Civilian Firearms Production; Civilian Firearms Distribution; Military Weapons; Anti-LGBTQ; Predatory Lending; Private Prisons; Sudan; Iran; No Women on Company Board; No Racial or Ethnic Minorities on US Company Board; Adult Entertainment at first dollar; Alcohol at first dollar; Gambling at first dollar; Life Choice at first dollar; and Tobacco at first dollar.
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• Aperio Environment Strategy Portfolio Characteristics
Portfolio Characteristics of Reproductive Rights Hypothetical Portfolio
Balance Values
A sample portfolio
identical to the index.
Note that the tracking
error is 0.00%.
Hypothetical
PortfolioRussell 30001 Aperio All-Cap US SMA:
All Cash
Aperio Reproductive
Rights Portfolio
Forecast Tracking Error (%) 0.00 0.28 0.33
Forecast Beta 1.00 1.00 1.00
Forecast Volatility (%) 10.79 10.79 10.79
No. of Holdings 2,991 450 450
Dividend Yield (%) 1.80 1.85 1.82
Reproductive Rights Score 4 4 82
Notes on portfolio construction
using a Social Score:
The optimizer* determines the lowest
possible tracking error given a beta of
1.00 and a Social Score of 8, as well as the
number of holdings.
A sample Aperio All-Cap
US SMA portfolio with no
SRI constraints. Note the
incremental tracking error
of not holding the full
universe of securities.
A sample Reproductive
Rights tilted portfolio.
Note the additional
incremental tracking error
versus the other two
scenarios.
The information in this table is shown as of 08/21/18. The Hypothetical Portfolios are not based on an actual Aperio Group portfolio and are being shown for illustrative purposes only. It should not be assumed that clients who actually invest in a Reproductive Rights portfolio will have the same results reflected above. This slide is presented solely as an example and should not be considered investment advice. Aperio has the benefit of hindsight when putting together the Hypothetical Portfolio, and there is no guarantee that the firm will make the same selections when putting together a similar portfolio for a client. This selection did not take into account any client’s overall investment objectives or restrictions that may be imposed. Please refer to the end of this presentation for additional important disclosures.
1The Russell 3000 is provided as an example of an index that Aperio has selected, after consultation with the client, as the most appropriate measurement index for
portfolio performance. Aperio refers to this selection as a portfolio’s “comparison index/benchmark.”2The weighted-average Social Score above, 8, is specific to the Russell 3000 and may adjust slightly per comparison index.
*Details on Aperio’s optimizer can be found in the Disclosure pages under the heading “Optimizer.”
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Tax Transition to Hypothetical SRI/ESG Portfolio
Balance Values
This analysis is provided as an example and should not be considered representative of an actual portfolio.
See disclosure pages for important information. Source: Aperio Group, LLC.
A prospective client has $7.2 million in securities and cash held in three portfolios and wants to transition to a single global account, either a global
ESG ETF or an Aperio global SRI portfolio. The prospect is a California resident who pays the highest combined federal and state tax rates: 54.1%
for short-term gains and 37.1% for long-term gains. The prospect’s financial advisor sends the underlying tax lots to Aperio to analyze. In this case,
the existing portfolio had $1.3 million in unrealized gains and $64,000 in unrealized losses. Buying an ETF would require full liquidation with a tax
cost of $305,000. Instead, Aperio proposed three transition scenarios with lower tax costs, including one with a 1.50% forecast tracking error to a
global index for a net tax benefit (Scenario 1 below). Upon request, Aperio can provide charitable gifting recommendations as part of the transition
analysis to explore further reducing any tax liability. Please specify any charitable gifting plans that you would like us to consider.
Existing Portfolio ($ in 000s)
Forecast Risk¹
Stocks Cash Total (Stocks Only)
Market Value 5,205 2,000 7,205 Tracking Error % 4.34
Unrealized Gains 1,295 1,295 Beta 0.96
Unrealized Losses (64) (64) Number of Stocks 120
Liquidation Tax Cost ($) 305 305
Liquidation Tax Cost (%) 4.2% 4.2%
Cost Basis to Market Value 76% 83%
Transition Scenarios ($ in 000s)Forecast Risk¹ Trading Net Gains Taxes²
Scenario Tracking Number Sell Buy Short Long Total
Name # Error % Beta of Stocks Value Value Turnover Term Term Stocks ($) (%)
No Trade (Stocks Only) 4.34 0.96 120
Higher TE - Lower Tax 1 1.50 1.00 169 873 3,134 11.5% (40) 5 (15) (15) -0.21%
2 1.00 1.00 217 1,330 3,592 17.6% (21) 108 17 17 0.24%
Lower TE - Higher Tax 3 0.50 1.00 279 1,884 4,151 24.9% (11) 271 60 60 0.84%
¹ Forecast Risk statistics do not include non-stock positions. They are as of the Pricing Date and subject to change.
² All tax calculations assume an investor can use the full value of real ized losses to offset gains.
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3 Implement Portfolio & Vote Shares
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Proxy Voting
Vote Shares
PROXY VOTING: Aperio uses the Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS) Social Advisory Services’ SRI Proxy Voting Guidelines, a
voting policy structure that has been in place for 18 years at this major proxy voting firm. In 2017, Aperio clients voted on 1,005
different corporate behavior resolutions, 293 of which were directly social and/or environment related.*
Area of Interest Sample Leading ESG Issues by Category Proposals
Political
Political Contributions and Lobbying 21
Political Lobbying Disclosure 42
Political Activities and Action 21
Environment
Phase Out Nuclear Facilities 33
Climate Change 30
Sustainability 21
Social
Anti-Discrimination Miscellaneous(E.g., Report on Company Non-Discrimination Policies in States with Pro-Discrimination Laws)
17
Gender Pay Gap 15
Adopt Holy Land Principles 14
Governance
(Environmental & Social)
Board Diversity 16
Establish Environmental/Social Issue Board Committee 14
Link Executive Pay to Social Criteria 8
Governance
(Shareholder Interests)
Elect a Shareholder-Nominee to the Board 60
Require Independent Board Chairman 50
Appoint Alternate Internal Statutory Auditors 42
These topics are not comprehensive of Aperio clients’ proxy voting in 2017. They are selected as representative examples. The tallies are derived from Aperio’s records in
ProxyExchange.
*For more information, please see the Aperio SRI Proxy Voting Info Sheet.
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Aperio Group works with As You Sow to give clients the opportunity to join shareholder
initiatives that promote change in corporate practices. Clients use shares they already
own to either sponsor or join shareholder resolutions that address significant ESG
issues.
In 2017, Aperio clients sponsored 28 resolutions at the following companies.*
Shareholder Resolution Sponsorship
Vote Shares
*Some companies had more than one resolution filed by As You Sow.
• Hormel Foods
• McDonald’s
• Restaurant Brands
• Sanderson Farms
• Whiting Petroleum
Corporation
• Southern Company
• Time Warner, Inc.
• Johnson & Johnson
• WGL Energy
• Sempra Energy
• Chevron Corporation
• Pfizer Inc.
• Emerson Electric
Company
• Kroger
• Monsanto
• Amazon.com
• Mondelēz
International, Inc.
• Target Corporation
• Pinnacle West Capital
Corporation
• Mead Johnson Nutrition
• AbbVie
• T. Rowe Price
• Walgreens
• Kraft Heinz Company
• Dominion Energy, Inc.
For Professional Investor Use Only 21
4 Report Progress
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Report Progress
Annual Client SRI Report
Aperio’s annual Client SRI Report
presents a comparison of a client’s
portfolio to the benchmark index based
on the criteria selected to reflect these
values.
By comparing the chosen benchmark
index against an SRI portfolio, Aperio
intends to demonstrate how SRI
investing customized to client values
differs from a traditional indexing
strategy.
Low-Carbon
Footprint
INDEX CLIENT
Weighted-
Average
Score
Count of
Companies
Weighted-
Average
Score
Count of
Companies
Carbon
Intensity212 2,254 42 254
Carbon
Emissions6,771,713 2,255 1,337,945 254
*Carbon Emissions: annual company greenhouse gas emissions
*Carbon Intensity: annual carbon emissions / annual company revenue
The table below documents the exclusionary criteria selected by a client,
showing the weight of the exposure present as well as the number of
companies with involvement in each exclusion.
Client SRI Reports are available upon request. A sample of this report is also available.
Data Element
INDEX CLIENT
Market Cap
(%)
Count of
Companies
Market Cap
(%)
Count of
Companies
Casinos &
Gaming0.34 15 0.00 0
Tobacco > 0% 2.10 9 0.00 0
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5 Research & Resources
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In a different study, Aperio analyzed the impact of consistent annual gifting at two
levels: 3% gifting per year and 6% gifting per year.
• The historical study covered the period December 1972 to January 2017.
• By elevating cost basis, optimal gifting augmented tax alpha in both the
estate/donation and liquidation dispositions.
• At a 10-year horizon, the incremental tax alpha over the base case observed in our
study was:
Back-Tested Tax Alpha with Consistent Gifting
Research & Resources
Consistent gifting may increase tax alpha
Source: Aperio research presentation, “The Double Bottom Line—Tax-Loss Harvesting for the Altruistic Investor,” on www.aperiogroup.com.
Tax Alpha over Base
Gifting Level Liquidation Estate/Donation
3% 0.5% 0.3%
6% 1.0% 0.5%
For Professional Investor Use Only 25
• Optimal gifting, donating highly appreciated stock and replenishing with cash, had a bigger
impact on after-tax alpha in the liquidation disposition than in the estate/donation
disposition.
• As we have seen for tax-loss harvesting strategies with no gifting, tracking error tended to
drift upward as horizon lengthened.
• However, for 3% optimal gifting, tracking error was under 1% even at a 20-year horizon.
• Median risk-adjusted returns exceeded 1.0 at all horizons for 3% optimal gifting.
• At a 10-year horizon, the median difference in after-tax alpha earned by gifting at annual and
monthly frequencies ranged between –0.03% and 0.09% across the estate/donation and
liquidation dispositions.
• We believe the incorporation of optimal gifting with tax-loss harvesting has the potential to
increase both financial and philanthropic return.
Summary of Findings: The Double Bottom Line—Tax-Loss
Harvesting for the Altruistic Investor
Research & Resources
After-Tax Alpha over Base*
3% 6%
Estate/Donation 0.25 0.54
Liquidation 0.48 0.97
*percentage points
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• Building a Carbon-Free Portfolio
• Measuring the Risk Impact of Social Screening
• Mitigating the Unnecessary Risk of Specialized Indexes
• What Gets Measured Gets Managed
• Is There a Green Factor?
• Portfolio Construction for Alpha-Seeking ESG Investors
Aperio SRI/ESG Research
Research & Resources
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Additional Resources
Research & Resources
Faith-Based
• Catholic Values: Exclusions & Scoring
• Catholic Values: Exclusions Only
• Islamic Values
• Jewish Values: Exclusions & Scoring
Governance
• Governance Tilt
• No Racial or Ethnic Minorities on US Company
Board
Geography
• Israel Exposure Tilt
• Place-Based Investing
Shareholder Activism
• Shareholder Resolution Sponsorship Review
• SRI Proxy Voting Info Sheet
• SRI Proxy Voting Review
General
• Aperio Social Scores
• Aperio SRI: Exclusions & Scoring
• Aperio SRI: Scoring Only
Environment
• Aperio Environment (Scoring Only)
• Low-Carbon Footprint Tilt
• Clean Technology Solutions Tilt
Social
• Women’s Inclusion
• Animal-Friendly
• Pro-LGBTQ Tilt & Anti-LGBTQ Exclusion
• Reproductive Rights
For Professional Investor Use Only 28
Appendix
For Professional Investor Use Only 29
The information contained within this presentation was carefully compiled from sources Aperio believes to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee accuracy. We provide this
information with the understanding that we are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or tax services. In particular, none of the examples should be considered advice
tailored to the needs of any specific investor. We recommend that all investors seek out the services of competent professionals in any of the aforementioned areas.
With respect to the description of any investment strategies, simulations, or investment recommendations, we cannot provide any assurances that they will perform as
expected and as described in our materials. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Every investment program has the potential for loss as well as gain.
Due to the complexity of tax law, not every single taxpayer will face the situations described herein exactly as calculated or stated, i.e., the examples and calculations are
intended to be representative of some but not all taxpayers. Since each investor’s situation may be different in terms of income tax, estate tax, and asset allocation, there
may be situations in which the recommendations would not apply. Please discuss any individual situation with tax and investment advisors first before proceeding.
Taxpayers paying lower tax rates than those assumed or without taxable income would earn smaller tax benefits from tax-advantaged indexing or even none at all
compared to those described.
Sources of Research
Mandatory Disclosure: In certain cases, companies must comply with regulatory requirements for the disclosure of information. This kind of information can range from
financial information to information the US Environmental Protection Agency requires company facilities to disclose. The advantage of this information is that it is
comprehensive across the universe of companies. Unfortunately, in many issue areas, no mandatory disclosure applies.
Voluntary Disclosure: Much of the information available is voluntarily disclosed by companies, often in corporate sustainability reports or in sustainability or responsibility
sections of their websites. This information can be more difficult to incorporate into evaluations and ratings. First, since it is voluntary, many companies disclose
information only about some issue areas. Second, even when information is disclosed, the definitions and structure of what is disclosed may be different from company to
company. NOTE: For data elements involving disclosure, a company will receive a score of 1 for each issue area where it has not provided any data. Aperio’s methodology
weights disclosure and the associated transparency as an important criterion in its ESG evaluation, and companies that do not disclose data are scored more poorly than the
worst-performing-but-disclosing company in that issue area.
Third-Party Information/Evaluation of Companies: Other pieces of information that are available to Aperio do not fit cleanly into either of these categories or may be a
hybrid of the two. For instance, there is mandatory disclosure of certain kinds of international operations, including registered subsidiaries. When this information is
combined with evaluations of countries’ political and civil liberties provided by a nongovernmental organization (NGO), we have a hybrid data element. In another example,
we use ratings by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) as an indication of a company’s approach to sexual-orientation issues. HRC gathers information from companies,
including by conducting surveys (voluntary disclosure), and then scores the companies. So this is a combination of voluntary disclosure and evaluation.
Disclosure
Appendix
For Professional Investor Use Only 30
Aperio data is gathered from sources including IW Financial, EIRIS, MSCI, Bloomberg, and industry classifications. In addition, for certain data elements, Aperio will gather
data from advocacy organizations that it deems to be reasonable and credible based on feedback from the industry and those interested in the specific issue area. In these
cases, the advocacy group will be identified and the investor should review to ensure that the organization’s views align with the investor’s views.
Data Frequency & Updates
Aperio updates its ESG data for the menu periodically on a preset schedule. Data elements are updated during the year as our data providers receive new data from either
the company or publicly available sources. Aperio updates all exclusions and scoring profiles annually at the beginning of each calendar year. As accounts are rebalanced,
the updated data will be incorporated. NOTE: Because the data sets are not updated in real time, there may be a lag between a change at the company and when the
change flows into the data set, and again when it flows into the portfolio during a rebalance. Aperio handles all updates consistently and does not override the approved
data sets.
Index Definitions
The Russell 3000® Index is an equity benchmark for US stock performance. It is a capitalization-weighted index covering the largest 3,000 publicly-traded US stocks. The
index represents approximately 98% of the total market capitalization of the US stock market.
The MSCI ACWI is an equity benchmark for global stock performance. It is a capitalization-weighted index covering large and mid-sized companies. The index includes
approximately 2,500 stocks from 23 developed market countries and 24 emerging-market countries.
Optimizer
The optimization process used in tax-loss harvesting by Aperio relies upon an optimization model built and designed by MSCI Barra. The model utilizes a mathematical
objective function which seeks to minimize the combination of active risk (i.e., forecast tracking error), and the tax liability on realized gains, all while also meeting the
conditions presented by a series of simultaneous equations, the values of which are, in part, populated by data based upon the securities being analyzed. With respect to
measuring potential equity risk in the process of tax loss harvesting and portfolio analysis, Aperio also uses and relies upon MSCI Barra risk models. You should note that
such use and reliance of the MSCI Barra models in the optimization and equity risk analysis presents model risk, which is defined as the potential for adverse consequences
from decisions based on incorrect or misused model outputs and reports. Model risk can lead to financial loss.
The model may have fundamental errors and may produce inaccurate outputs when viewed against the design objective and intended business uses. The mathematical
calculation and quantification exercise underlying any model generally involves application of theory, choice of sample design and numerical routines, selection of inputs
and estimation, and implementation in information systems. Errors can occur at any point from design through implementation. In addition, shortcuts, simplifications, or
approximations used to manage complicated problems could compromise the integrity and reliability of outputs from those calculations. Finally, the quality of model
outputs depends on the quality of input data and assumptions, and errors in inputs or incorrect assumptions will lead to inaccurate outputs. The model may be used
incorrectly or inappropriately. Even a fundamentally sound model producing accurate outputs consistent with the design objective of the model may exhibit high model risk
if it is misapplied or misused. Models by their nature are simplifications of reality, and real-world events may prove those simplifications inappropriate.
Disclosure (continued)
Appendix