Doing Well by Doing Good

Doing Well by Doing Good

"...meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
                              UN Brundtland Commission on Sustainable Development

This is the goal of socially responsible investing. It seeks to identify and invest in companies that integrate ESG factors—environmental, social and governance—into their business practices and principles. Most investors’ primary goal is to maximize return while also managing risk. An increasing number of investors, though, recognize that risk comes in many forms and they are paying closer attention to the social and environmental impacts of decisions made by the investment managers they hire. While some investors may believe that tradeoffs are unavoidable between investing for return and investing to advance specific ESG objectives, we believe a well-designed responsible investment strategy can help investors reconcile what otherwise may appear to be mutually exclusive goals.

Responsible investment strategies can be designed to meet a variety of investor objectives. They can give priority either to the pursuit of risk-adjusted return or social and environmental impacts, depending on the investors’ objective.

ESG as an Investment Approach

 

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U.S. Investment Funds That Incorporate ESG

growth_factor_chart The Wall Street Journal 02/2016

The appeal of socially responsible investing is demonstrated in the increasing popularity of this approach. This is evident from the rise in the number of mutual funds dedicated to this particular style of investing.

Investing in sustainability and quality is available through Dreyfus and this means a dynamic new option for investors to consider.

Introducing The Dreyfus Sustainable U.S. Equity Fund From an Enduring Leader

The goal of this fund is sustainable investment return for clients from companies with what the manager views as attractive investment attributes and sustainable business practices. The fund is premised on the belief that generating alpha and having a sustainability focus are complementary.

Newton Investment Management (North America) Limited (Newton), the Fund's subadviser, has long identified companies that have adopted, or are making progress towards, a sustainable business approach. Since 1978, Newton has been an active steward of client assets and has used direct engagement and global proxy voting to address material ESG issues.

The portfolios managers of The Dreyfus Sustainable U.S. Equity Fund seek out organizations that they believe create long-term shareholder value without compromising the needs of future generations. Their long-term investment belief is that responsibly managed companies are best positioned to:

  • Achieve maintainable competitive advantage
  • Provide strong long-term investment opportunities

As an actively managed, focused portfolio of U.S. equities, The Dreyfus Sustainable U.S. Equity Fund typically invests in 30 to 50 securities and excludes tobacco*. The fund managers’ disciplined research process enables them to take a high-conviction approach to investing in companies with what they view as high-quality sustainable business models.

A Fund That Invests in Companies That Enhance the Quality of Life

 

The Dreyfus Sustainable U.S. Equity Fund seeks capital growth by typically investing at least 80% of its net assets in stocks (or derivatives) of U.S. companies that demonstrate attractive investment attributes and sustainable business practices and have no material unresolvable issues.

The fund focuses on companies with market caps of $5 billion or more. The fund may invest up to 20% of its assets in foreign securities, including up to 10% in emerging market securities.

To determine if a company meets the fund’s socially responsible investment criteria, the managers examine an organization’s record in:

  • Protecting and improving the environment
  • Properly using natural resources
  • Adhering to occupational health and safety, consumer protection and product purity standards
  • Providing equal employment opportunities

The fund managers’ expertise has been demonstrated over time and they have a history of aligning the fund's investments with investors seeking sustainable and responsible opportunities.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. Download a prospectus, or a summary prospectus, if available, that contains this and other information about the fund, and read it carefully before investing.

*The limits shown are not specified in the prospectus and should be considered only as general investment guidelines under normal and non-defensive portfolio operating conditions.

Risks
Equities are subject to market, market sector, market liquidity, issuer, and investment style risks, to varying degrees. Small and midsized company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than larger company stocks as these companies are less established and have more volatile earnings histories. Investing in foreign denominated and/or domiciled securities involves special risks, including changes in currency exchange rates, political, economic, and social instability, limited company information, differing auditing and legal standards, and less market liquidity. These risks generally are greater with emerging market countries. Socially responsible portfolios can limit the number of investment opportunities available to the portfolio, which may produce more modest gains than portfolios that are not subject to such special investment considerations.

“Newton” and/or the “Newton Investment Management” brand refers to the following group of affiliated companies: Newton Investment Management Limited, Newton Investment Management (North America) Limited (NIMNA Ltd) and Newton Investment Management (North America) LLC (NIMNA LLC). NIMNA LLC personnel are supervised persons of NIMNA Ltd and NIMNA LLC does not provide investment advice, all of which is conducted by NIMNA Ltd. NIMNA LLC and NIMNA Ltd are the only Newton companies to offer services in the U.S. Newton is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

The Dreyfus Corporation, Newton, and MBSC Securities Corporation are affiliated with The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. © 2017 MBSC Securities Corporation, Distributor, 225 Liberty Street, 19th Fl., New York, NY 10281

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