Westwood is committed to exceeding our clients’ expectations through exceptional performance and ethical conduct. Our active, fundamental, bottom-up approach is combined with a strong emphasis on managing downside risk in our pursuit of alpha. We seek to provide high-value investment strategies, values-based advice and exceptional client service. Our focus on transparency, corporate governance, values and character-based principles, ethical conduct, diversity and giving back to the communities in which we operate is core to our values, culture and identity.
Over 41 years ago, we established a distinct corporate culture incorporating renowned basketball Coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success™. Coach Wooden is a role model to all of us at Westwood and his Pyramid of Success is a sustainable roadmap we aspire to maintain with a culture that values teamwork, excellence, integrity and placing client and stakeholder interests ahead of our own. The life principles summarized in the Pyramid of Success have no explicit reference to investments, but over the life of our firm, they have been instrumental in how we serve clients, view our investment responsibilities and operate as a company. Over the last four decades, our mission has been to improve the lives of our clients and the greater communities in which we serve and the key principles of ESG have always been a part of our investment processes and corporate governance.
Westwood is a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and is committed to adopting and implementing responsible investment principles in a manner consistent with our fiduciary duties to clients across our equity and outcome-oriented solutions. The UN PRI’s six principles for Responsible Investment offer investors a menu of activities to incorporate ESG issue into the investment process, enhance returns and manage risks. As signatories, we recognize the importance of considering Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues as part of our overall investment process and support the organization’s efforts to encourage and develop a more sustainable global financial system.
Westwood is committed to the successful integration and promotion of ESG at both the corporate level and investment level. We believe a long-term perspective when considering the implications of our business decisions on all stakeholders creates an environment that allows us to add value for shareholders over time. We also believe that we should demonstrate our commitment to the same principles and fundamental characteristics that we expect of the companies we invest in, which includes a sustainable competitive advantage, conservative balance sheet and commitment to value creation.
We have separate governing structures to ensure we have the strategic influence and leadership required to create a clear corporate sustainability strategy across the business. The separation of responsibilities among the governing structures ensures proper accountability across the firm.
