Social
Our social criteria examine companies from three different perspectives – workplace issues, product integrity and community involvement.
Our workplace criteria include such issues as diversity, or equal opportunity based on gender, race, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation; gender empowerment; workplace practices; workplace health and safety; employee relations; vendor standards; and human rights. We look for companies that encourage and foster diversity in the workplace, that offer transparency around policies and programs and that report on diversity performance. We favor companies that treat their employees well and have good labor and employee relations. We also favor companies that have positive health and safety policies and procedures in place.
Our product safety and integrity criteria cover such issues as product health and safety (including public health issues associated with product abuse and addiction), animal welfare, consumer issues and emerging technology issues.
Our community criteria include companies’ commitment to and relationships with the communities in which they do business (including their commitment to sustainable development abroad and indigenous peoples’ welfare), philanthropic activities, and in the case of financial institutions, responsible lending practices. We favor companies that foster strong stakeholder relations and demonstrate a commitment to the quality of life in the communities in which they operate. We seek to avoid companies that show disregard for, or are in conflict with stakeholder constituencies or the communities where they do business.
The issues highlighted above are illustrative and do not necessarily reflect the full range of the social, environmental or governance criteria Pax World may apply in analyzing a particular security for investment. The availability of information about a company, issues associated with a particular industry, changing social conditions or other circumstances may affect the manner in which Pax World’s sustainability criteria are applied in a particular situation.
Companies in which our Funds invest do not necessarily meet exemplary standards in all areas of Pax World’s environmental, social and governance criteria, nor, we recognize, is any company perfect when it comes to corporate responsibility or sustainability. At Pax World, we nonetheless believe that our shareholders seek to invest in companies that adhere to positive standards of corporate responsibility. Our environmental, social and corporate governance criteria are designed to assist us in identifying those investments. We also believe that well-managed companies that maintain good relations with employees, consumers, communities, and the natural environment, and that strive to improve in those areas, will in the long run better serve investors as well.
The Pax World Funds’ sustainable investing policies may inhibit the Funds’ ability to participate in certain attractive investment opportunities that otherwise would be consistent with its investment objectives and other principal investment strategies.