About the manager

Formed in 1984, Miller/Howard is an independent, employee-owned investment firm offering separate account management of high-quality dividend focused portfolios for investors seeking income and preservation of capital.

Investment philosophy

Miller/Howard believes that financially strong companies with rising dividends offer investors the most consistent performance as well as the highest added value. The company believes that over the long-term, dividend-paying stocks outperform non-dividend paying stocks, and companies that increase their dividends perform the best. It points out that academic studies have shown the percentage that reinvested dividends contribute to total return grows over time. Stock prices may fluctuate, but in Miller/Howard's opinion, dividends are always positive, and, over time, it contends that increases in dividends induce increases in the price of the equity generating those dividends. In addition, studies have shown that dividend increases are the best signal from corporate management regarding the future prospects of a company.

Investment approach

The Miller/Howard Equity Income Strategy seeks to make investments that provide high current income, growth of income and growth of principal through investing in the broad equity market. The Miller/Howard Equity Income Strategy seeks to add value to ESG Managers® Portfolios by lowering volatility, raising the income level and enhancing risk-adjusted total return with a portfolio stocks that are not highly correlated to equities generally. Miller/Howard believes that equities with rising dividends offer the opportunity for excess performance relative to broad market indices, often with reduced volatility. It views dividend growth as the best signal from management regarding future prospects for a company. Miller/Howard believes that dividends also demonstrate that a company has earned what management claims it has earned and that, over time, increases in dividends support increases in the price of the equity producing those dividends. Miller/Howard believes that high quality plus high yield plus high growth of yield can provide an increased opportunity for high total return, and that this is a powerful formula for achieving solid performance over time.

The Miller/Howard Equity Income Strategy is to build portfolios of companies that in aggregate display such characteristics as high financial strength, high dividend income, consistent history of paying and raising dividends, strong indication of growth of dividends and management that is highly qualified and committed to the dividend and to increasing the dividend. Miller/Howard believes that the consistency of current and future cash flows to investors is paramount. It seeks to employ a bottom up stock selection process favoring companies that provide essential services, stable growth, and niche products and/or services. The Miller/Howard Equity Income Strategy strives to have as much diversification as possible while adhering to its general guidelines, which are a function of stock selection rather than a rule or fixed percentage for each industry.

Portfolio managers

The Miller/Howard Investments' Income-Equity Strategy is headed by Lowell Miller, Founder and CIO, and includes portfolio managers John E. ("Jack") Leslie, Bryan Spratt, Roger Young and ESG research analyst Luan Steinhilber.

Lowell founded the firm in 1984. He brings over 30 years of experience in disciplined investment strategies to the team. He holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and a JD from New York University School of Law. He is the co-author of a landmark study of utilities as an asset class (1990), as well as three highly regarded investment books, including most recently "The Single Best Investment", which details the philosophy and practice of dividend-oriented investing.

Jack joined the team in 2004. He holds a BS in Finance from Suffolk University and an MBA from Babson College, and he holds the CFA® designation. He previously worked as a portfolio manager at Value Line Asset Management, M&T Capital Advisors and Dewey Square Investors. He brings over 20 years of experience in researching equity income companies using extensive quantitative modeling and analytical skills.

Bryan joined the team in 2004. He has over 19 years of investment experience and has been managing institutional portfolios since 1993. He has an extensive research background in utilities, energy and telecom sectors. He previously worked as an analyst and portfolio manager for Munder Capital. He was a founding member of the Energy and Power Team that developed and managed the Munder Power Plus Fund, where he focused on alternative-energy and power technologies. He was also a member of the Value Team at Bank One Investment Advisors that managed the One Group Funds. Bryan holds a BA in Economics and Computer Science and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Spring Arbor College, and he holds the CFA® designation.

Roger joined the team in 2006 as an adjunct analyst and in 2008 as a full time portfolio manager and analyst. He holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Michigan State University. He began his career over 38 years ago as a portfolio manager, and he has worked as Director of Equities for the Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado, Equitable Life and Transamerica Funds, to name a few. Roger holds the CFA® designation and brings deep experience and analytic skills in equity income securities in general plus knowledge and experience with transportation, metals, MLPs and Financials.

Luan joined the team in 2002. She has over seven years' experience in ESG research and activism. She is an active member of investor and environmental working groups with a focus on positive corporate engagement and public policy advocacy. She is the lead or co-filer of several resolutions concerning sustainability issues in the utility and energy sectors.

ESG commitment

Miller/Howard employs environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainability criteria in building positions. By creating a financial profile for companies that it evaluates as financially strong with high and rising income, and combining that evaluation with a social and environmental profile, Miller/Howard believes that it can add an extra layer of due diligence to its investment process. It seeks to invest in companies that have low business risk and companies that are sustainable both financially and socially. In addition to seeking to provide above-market, long-term returns, its equity income strategy is socially and environmentally screened in an effort to eliminate companies that have primary businesses in alcohol, tobacco, nuclear power, firearms and gambling, as well as those that egregiously pollute the environment, or engage in unfair and discriminatory employment practices domestically and abroad.

Miller/Howard believes that all companies, through their business activities, can be analyzed with ESG criteria, resulting in a profile that can be compared to others with regard to their corporate citizenship. The three pillars of sustainable or socially responsible investing (SRI) are widely known as screening, community investing and shareholder activism. With this in mind, Miller/Howard's social research involves a comprehensive process that uses exclusion and inclusion screens, case-by-case analysis and assertion of basic principles of fairness and environmental stewardship. A company must pass its social evaluation and/or be considered best-in-class by its team of analysts in order to be eligible for investment. Miller/Howard views this extra layer of due diligence as a risk control measure. In addition, it participates in shareholder activism through the proxy voting process, regularly publishes a shareholder advocacy newsletter and supports organizations or managers filing shareholder resolutions whenever pertinent to its portfolio holdings and policies.

Pax World Management makes no assurance that the manner in which Miller/Howard Investments manages its assets in the ESG Managers® Portfolios is the same as or entirely consistent with the manner in which it manages any of its other Funds or accounts.

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Miller/Howard Investments is not affiliated with ALPS Distributors, Inc. 

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