Literacy Capital | ESG

Literacy Capital is highly unusual, in that while the manager wants to deliver outstanding returns for shareholders, it is also driven by a charitable mission to positively impact as many young children as possible.

The UK suffers significant literacy problems, with some 200,000 children leaving primary school each year unable to read to the required standard. This has a hugely detrimental impact on each child's future. We want every child to read. Following school closures, as a result of Covid-19, this problem has worsened and disadvantaged children are the worst affected.

This is the reason we donate 0.9% of net assets each year to literacy charities across the UK. Helping children to develop the reading skills they need for a fair chance in life and giving charities consistent, growing donations as Literacy Capital plc grows in size.

Since the creation of Literacy Capital in 2017, more than £3.4 million has been paid or set aside for donation to charities with the objective of advancing the education of children in the United Kingdom, in particular improving their levels of reading. We are proud that donations in 2021 increased 98% compared to the previous year, driven by the strong uplift in net assets. 

Literacy Capital also has a policy of avoiding investments in companies that contribute to harming the families of the children that Literacy and its charities are trying to help (often those from disadvantaged backgrounds). This is where the profit motive of these businesses is to the detriment of the wellbeing of the end 'customer'. Examples of such sectors include gambling, bailiff or debt collection businesses, low-cost, caffeinated alcohol products.