The New York Times – Big Bets Are Great, When They Are Right

October 12, 2018 - The New York Times discusses the Amana Growth Fund, mentions portfolio manager Nick Kaiser, and extensively quotes deputy portfolio manager Scott Klimo in the article “Big Bets Are Great, When They Are Right.”

The New York Times reached out to Mr. Klimo to discuss Amana Growth’s stock selection process, specifically its Islamic and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment screens:

“The debt constraint ends up helping the fund with risk management, Mr. Klimo said. ‘We’re looking for solid companies that aren’t going to blow up,' he said. ‘And companies with strong balance sheets and cash generation can fund their activities internally and aren’t reliant on debt.”

“The managers decided that, since they were already evaluating their holdings based on nonfinancial factors, such as the social impact of a company’s products, it also made sense to assess environmental performance, Mr. Klimo said. As a result, the fund can market itself as one that explicitly factors environmental, social and governance performance in its investment decisions.”

A Few Words About Risk:

The Growth Fund limits the securities it purchases to those consistent with Islamic and sustainable finance principles, which limits opportunities and may affect performance.

The value of Growth Fund shares rises and falls as the value of the stocks in which the Fund invests goes up and down. Only consider investing in the Fund if you are willing to accept the risk that you may lose money.

Growth stocks, which can be priced on future expectations rather than current results, may decline substantially when expectations are not met or general market conditions weaken.

The Growth Fund may invest in the securities of foreign issuers, which are subject to political, regulatory, market, and economic uncertainties.