Domini evaluates the relationship of a company with each of its stakeholders: the local and national community, global community, customers, ecosystems, employees, investors, and suppliers. Domini classifies companies as having strong, occasionally strong, neutral or mixed, occasionally weak, or weak stakeholder relations.

Strong Stakeholder Relations

To classify a company as having a pattern of strong stakeholder relations, Domini looks for the following indicators, among others:

• A record of addressing the key challenges in its industry
• A corporate culture that strongly encourages investments in stakeholders
• Substantial single investments in several stakeholder groups
• Substantial multiple investments in a single stakeholder group
• Thorough implementation of social, environmental, and corporate governance policies
• Leadership in its industry on innovative issues
• An absence of stakeholder controversies

Occasionally Strong Stakeholder Relations

To classify a company as having occasionally strong stakeholder relations, Domini looks for the following indicators, among others:

• Substantial single investments in a single stakeholder group
• A number of limited investments across several stakeholder groups
• Strong action, but not industry leadership, on key issues in its industry
• Commitment to baseline policies on social, environmental, and corporate governance, with adequate implementation
• An absence of major stakeholder controversies

Neutral or Mixed Stakeholder Relations

Domini generally classifies a company as having neutral stakeholder relations if we find no record of strong or weak stakeholder relations, or as having mixed stakeholder relations if its strong relations with one stakeholder are counterbalanced by weak relations with another.

Occasionally Weak Stakeholder Relations

To classify a company as having occasionally weak stakeholder relations, Domini looks for the following indicators, among others:

• Several limited controversies relating to one stakeholder group
• A number of minor controversies relating to several of its stakeholders
• Major controversies far enough in the past that the corporate culture that produced them may have changed
• Lack of initiatives that address key challenges of its industry
• An absence of major strengths

Weak Stakeholder Relations

To classify a company as having a pattern of weak stakeholder relations, Domini looks for the following indicators, among others:

• A record of controversies relating to the key challenges of its industry
• A corporate culture characterized by the extraction of value from its stakeholders
• Substantial single controversies for several stakeholder groups
• Substantial multiple controversies for a single stakeholder group
• Absence of credible social and environmental policies or practices
• Controversies relating to corporate governance at the highest levels
• An absence of any stakeholder strengths

Domini may, at its discretion, choose to change its social or environmental standards, add additional standards, or modify the application of the standards to a Fund at any time, without shareholder approval. This will impact investments held by a Fund, and may cause certain companies, sectors, industries, or countries to be dropped from or added to a Fund’s portfolio. In addition, Domini reserves the right to vary the application of these standards to a Fund, depending, for example, on such factors as asset class, industry and sector representation, market capitalization, investment style, access to quality data on an issuer’s social or environmental performance, and cultural and political factors that may vary by region or country.