Saturna Capital Launches Two Funds Emphasizing Sustainability

BELLINGHAM, Wash., April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Saturna Capital Corporation (Saturna) announces the launch of the Saturna Sustainable Equity Fund (SEEFX) and the Saturna Sustainable Bond Fund (SEBFX), two mutual funds that will invest globally in securities of issuers rated by Saturna as low risk in the areas of the environment, social responsibility, and governance (ESG).

"We believe companies with superior environmental and governance practices exhibit less risk," says Jane Carten, president of Saturna Capital. "For 25 years we've applied and refined our values-based investment process and gained invaluable insight into the risk mitigation dimensions that sustainable factors can provide."

Saturna expects the funds will appeal to the growing number of investors who seek to incorporate sustainability and social responsibility into their investments, particularly retirement portfolios. 2014 Trends Report by the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF) states that one out of every six investment dollars lands in sustainable investment strategies, representing over $6.6 trillion in US-domiciled invested assets.

The Saturna Sustainable Funds use an integrated investment process that factors each issuer's financial stability as well as the positive sustainability characteristics relevant to its sector. As the Funds' adviser, Saturna further customized the proprietary security screening systems it has successfully used to manage award-winning Amana Mutual Funds for over 25 years. Saturna screens more than 10,000 global securities monthly to exclude issuers engaged in certain business activities, such as alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and gambling. Focusing on established, liquid issuers, Saturna incorporates multiple sector-specific ESG factors it believes reduce investment risk. These factors include workplace safety, board effectiveness, corruption potential, and others. Saturna's team of analysts continually scrutinizes the highest-rated companies, ranking them according to Saturna's estimation of future returns. Both funds employ global strategies.

Paul Meeks, CFA, manager of the Saturna Sustainable Equity Fund, points out that the Amana Funds' experience with values-based screening makes sustainable investing the evolutionary next step for the firm. "We've successfully applied screens on behalf of our clients since the 1980s. Building on that, we're continuously innovating and refining our process. With these funds we focus on the forward-looking quantitative and qualitative factors we believe will resonate with sustainability-oriented investors."

Meeks adds, "Over time, I don't believe we will continue to see a distinction between 'sustainable investing' and 'other investing' in finance – we'll be looking at socially responsible factors for all funds." Meeks is Saturna's director of institutional investing and also manages the Sextant Growth Fund.

Patrick Drum, CFA, manages the Saturna Sustainable Bond Fund, which he points out is one of the first global sustainable bond funds in the market.  He currently serves as advisor to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment fixed income subcommittee. Prior to joining Saturna last year, Drum led ESG research and was director of fixed income portfolio management at The Arbor Group, a member of UBS Institutional Consulting Services.

Peter Nielsen, CFA, is the deputy portfolio manager of the Saturna Sustainable Equity Fund.

Bryce Fegley, CFA, is the deputy portfolio manager of the Saturna Sustainable Bond Fund.

The Saturna Sustainable Funds are a new series of the Saturna Investment Trust, which includes the Sextant Funds and the Idaho Tax-Exempt Fund.  In its tradition of offering no-load, low-cost funds, Saturna has capped the expense ratio of the Bond Fund at 0.89% and the Equity Fund at 0.99%. The Saturna Sustainable Equity and Bond Funds will be available on major platforms such as National Financial Services (Fidelity), Charles Schwab, Pershing LLC, and TD Ameritrade.

For more information about Saturna's Sustainable Funds, please visit www.saturnasustainable.com or call 800-728-8762.

About Saturna

"Values-Based Global Equity Managers"

Saturna Capital Corporation, established in 1989 in Bellingham, Washington, USA, is an investment adviser with over US$4 billion in assets under management globally, providing investment advisory services to mutual funds, institutions, businesses, individuals, and endowments.

Saturna Capital is adviser to the Amana Mutual Funds (Amana Growth Fund, Amana Income Fund, and Amana Developing World Fund) that follow principles of Islamic finance.

Saturna Capital is also adviser to the U.S.-based Saturna Investment Trust, consisting of nine mutual funds: Sextant International, Sextant Growth, Sextant Core, Sextant Global High Income, Sextant Bond Income, Sextant Short-Term Bond, Saturna Sustainable Equity, Saturna Sustainable Bond, and the Idaho Tax-Exempt Fund.

Saturna Sdn. Bhd., located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saturna Capital, specializing in Islamic investment advisory services for individuals and institutions.

Saturna Capital has three other wholly-owned subsidiaries: Saturna Brokerage Services, located in Bellingham, Washington, USA, provides general discount brokerage services and distributes Saturna's affiliated U.S.-based mutual funds; and Saturna Trust Company, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, USA, provides trust services to families, charities, trusts, estates and retirement plans. Saturna Environmental Corporation provides environmental education and other programs at its historic camp facility in the Northwest's Cascade Mountains.

Please consider an investment's objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain a free prospectus or summary prospectus that contains this and other important information about Saturna's funds, call toll free 800-728-8762 or visit www.saturna.com. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

The Saturna Sustainable Funds limit the securities they purchase to those consistent with sustainable principles. This limits opportunities and may affect performance. Saturna believes that sustainable investing may mitigate security-specific risk, but there is no guarantee that the securities favored by their investment process will perform better, and they may perform worse, than those that are not favored.

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SOURCE Saturna Capital Corporation

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