ODIN's equity funds are actively managed. Fund managers invest freely, within the framework of the mandate, in what they believe to be good companies that are undervalued.
Investment decisions are made based on our own thorough analyses of the companies, which are in turn based on various sources, including visits to the companies and discussions with management at the companies.
A core aspect of our analyses are assessments linked to the companies' attitude towards ethical issues and exercising social responsibility. We especially look at whether the companies consciously infringe on basic human rights and if their production processes, if any, put the local population and environment at risk. As managers of value in companies, we are highly concerned with avoiding companies whose activities can result in liability for damages or direct losses as a result of poor or lacking ethical considerations, which in turn expose shareholders to unnecessary financial losses.
As an active fund manager with relatively few companies in the portfolio and investment decisions based on our own analyses, we make conscious decisions regarding our portfolio and exercise shareholder rights in the companies we invest in. In our assessment of the companies' ethical practices we consider the companies' plans and intentions for the future to be of higher importance than the company's history.
If a company within the portfolio is not seen to be in line with norms in terms of attitudes and ethics, and the company is unable to present a concrete plan on how the problems are to be solved, the fund managers will sell the shares without sustaining losses to assets.
