Who we are
Meridiem Investment Management is an investment firm with offices in London, a stone’s throw from Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.
We have always focused on a single objective – to protect and grow the real value of our clients’ capital over the long term.
Investing for private investors, smaller institutions and charities is our only business.
Our business was originally founded in Zurich in 1993 by Anthony Rosenfelder and a London office was opened in 1996. In 2004, Stewart Newton, the founder of Newton Investment Management, joined the group. We have always understood and valued the importance of stability within investment management companies. In January 2013, the group restructured to
ensure that the management of the business was aligned and focused on its clients.
Our focused business model and investment proposition are key pillars upon which the business has grown organically. We
believe that our clients' objectives are inherently aligned with our core investment philosophy and culture, specifically:
- Our deep-rooted culture of partnership, in which we are independently owned by our employees, creates stability and aligns the company's long-term interests with those of our clients.
- Our focus on a simple investment offering with the objective of achieving real returns by investing in global equities, fixed income and cash, provides a transparent and understandable solution for clients.
- Clients have direct access to their designated investment managers who are responsible for suitability, portfolio construction and investment outcomes. We do not have relationship managers. This further aligns interests and accountability to our clients.
- Our investment process focuses on bringing consistent portfolio solutions and construction to all clients, in the context of the client objectives and risk tolerance.
- Risk management is inherent in everything that we do. We have robust investment governance and define "risk" as the potential for permanent capital loss. Each part of the portfolio construction process is focused on managing this risk
- Finally, our sole business is the provision of discretionary investment management, ensuring that our clients are at the centre of our business
What we do
Our investment philosophy and style are founded on the principle of real return investing. This aligns with what our clients are seeking to achieve: to protect and grow the purchasing power of their capital ahead of inflation. We do this by investing globally on an unconstrained basis (i.e. with no reference to a benchmark) in a portfolio of directly invested equities, bonds and cash.
Our investment philosophy was put in place at our inception and has not changed materially since the business was founded over 25 years ago. This approach has delivered a strong track record for our clients through several investment cycles.
We aim to find companies where structural tailwinds are creating demand for their products or services. While economic cycles are almost impossible to predict, structural demand can be both long-term in nature and relatively insulated from the economic cycle. Indeed, companies that benefit from structural demand should be able to grow their earnings and cash
flow per share consistently over a multi-year period, irrespective of the economic environment. Provided you buy that company's equity at a sensible valuation, you are likely to have a successful long-term investment that delivers a real
return.
There may be times when equities suitable for providing real returns are scarce, or worse are overvalued and might expose the client to meaningful loss in the medium to long term. At such times, we are prepared to remain heavily in cash and/or investment grade bonds.
Our approach is implemented by an experienced investment team that has an average of over 20 years' investment experience, and a proven record of successfully managing and servicing clients. We are committed to providing a personal service and are directly accountable to all of our clients. We only offer discretionary portfolios.
We can provide more detailed information about our investment process if required.
Responsible investment and stewardship.
As long-term shareholders invested in a focused list of companies, we have a responsibility to consider any factor that might affect the durability or value of our clients’ investments.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are all relevant to the long-term value of a company. Opportunities and risks related to ESG, alongside strategic and financial analysis, are therefore key considerations in our initial company research and our ongoing decision to hold shares in a business. Material ESG issues are incorporated into our analysis as they could influence our long-term view of a company and therefore our financial objectives. However, we do not have a separate sustainability objective.
- The opportunities are captured through structural shifts we identify as tailwinds for long-term growth, such as the need to manage the planet's resources more responsibly. This is being driven by the demands of an increasing global population, an expanding middle class and the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.
- Poor governance and environmental and social risks are business risks. We look for management teams that understand and plan for these risks; we believe companies need to maintain their social licence to operate, given rapidly changing regulation and consumer preferences.
As highlighted above, all research is carried out by our in-house investment team, not a separate ESG department. Our focused portfolios of 25-40 companies enable us to know our investments inside out, focusing us on what is material and allowing us to punch above our weight in terms of influence.
Our stewardship activities are an integral to our investment approach. When we buy shares in companies, we become business
owners. How we behave as shareholders is closely aligned with the long-term nature of our clients' objectives. Good stewardship involves voting and engagement on issues that will impact the long-term durability of a business.
Our key stewardship principles are:
- Invest in high-quality companies: we will not hold shares in companies where we have identified a material risk to the long-term viability of the business.
- An aversion to box ticking: we focus on what is most material to each business.
- A culture of partnership with management teams: we focus on continuous improvement to achieve lasting success.
- A focus on all stakeholders: we recognise that businesses exist within society and therefore have a duty to all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
Encouraging our portfolio companies to take a long-term approach helps to build resilience into their business models. This, in turn, increases the resilience of the economies and financial markets in which they operate.
More in-depth information about our stewardship policies is available on request.
