Dear all,
Our last communication addressed the current war in Ukraine. Our stance remains the same, first and foremost this is a humanitarian disaster, people are dying. In this context investment performance is not the primary concern. We hope there is a swift and positive conclusion for those currently suffering.
We have been contacted by clients in regards to our exposure to Russia. Our clients have contacted us not due to financial concerns but rather a desire not to support the current Russian regime. Our pre-war exposure to Russia was negligible, around 0.1% of total assets under management. We do not consider this a material amount. It remains around this level though valuations of Russian assets are unreliable. The Russian market is closed, most Russian related businesses listed in London and New York have been suspended from trading (and had collapsed in price already). It is therefore quite tricky to reduce our Russian exposure. BP is committed to selling its stake in Rosneft. Great. Who will they sell it to and how? In the near and medium term the markets and capitalism will reduce exposure to Russia – many companies are already shutting their Russian branches.
Our thoughts are with the Ukrainians and anyone with family or other connections to Ukraine.
We wrote to you last year saying,
‘We want to make 2021 a more positive year for ourselves and all who engage us, therefore Satis are making a pledge to improve our social and environmental impact. For a long time now we have spoken of the benefit of investing in companies who have a strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) culture. We now want to practice what we preach.’
Therefore I want to use the rest of this update to let you know the progress we have made and it felt sensible to use the ESG headings to do so.
Environmental – Satis supported the TUSK conservation project. A lion was sponsored in our name, which was sold at auction for £6,000. Satis contributed a further £750 thanks to your replies to our survey. Along with our colleagues at Hillier Hopkins we have established a green team focused on improving the environmental footprint of both businesses. As a result litter picks have taken place in central London and we are working with 45 Pall Mall to effectively monitor and reduce our energy usage. We have introduced a secure messaging portal and DocuSign, these were introduced for several reasons, however, it has dramatically reduced our paper usage and postage.
Social – We have established a working relationship with the House of St Barnabas which is a members club and homeless charity. Satis have taken up corporate membership, conducting meetings and staff training sessions from the club. We are also now part of their employment academy and are offering work experience placements to help people gain office skills to further their chances of employment.
Governance – As of the next financial year (22/23) the Board of Satis have committed to donating 1% of profits to charity. This is a written resolution by the Board and will be written into our budgets going forward. The board now receive a quarterly report on the progress Satis are making in these areas and have also reviewed the results from the survey issued at the end of last year. As a result of this, Satis will be looking to implement some changes in the short term due to your feedback.
As we have said before, if you have any opinions on things we can do to improve in these areas please let us know, we cannot promise we can act on everything but all suggestions will be considered.
Thanks