Ethical fund of hedge funds manager Highland Good Steward Management has retained E.Capital Partners International, a financial advisory firm serving corporate clients and investors from its headquarters in Milan and offices in London, Stockholm and Luxembourg, to provide securities analysis and screening services.

E.Capital Partners International is the international arm of New-York-based E.Capital Partners dedicated to research, rating and indices. It has been integrating intangible value and non-traditional risk factor research in the environmental, social and governance fields with mainstream quantitative financial analysis since 1997.

The firm produces environmental, social and governance risk ratings in traditional and innovative asset classes such as equity and credit portfolios, collateralised debt obligations, hedge funds, and a full range of beta and alpha market indices.

It teams up with investment banks and asset managers to offer customised investment products ranging from innovative equity-linked investments to monitored CDOs and sustainable funds of hedge funds offered to institutional and retail investors. E.Capital Partners International will provide 'best in class' screening relating to Highland's socially responsible investment policies and products.

E.Capital Partners is the premier provider of this type of screening process, according to Bill Mills, managing member of Highland Good Steward Management. 'Our clients demand and deserve the best in screening protection and selection for their investments,' he says. 'There can be no room for misalignment between our clients' ethical aspirations and their investment choices.'

Paolo Sardi, chief executive of E.Capital Partners International, says: 'Combining Highland Good Steward Management's thought leadership with E.Capital Partners' dynamic screening process and AIG Investments' experience will create a sophisticated, socially screened strategy. E.Capital Partners is proud to be part of this project.'

Highland Good Steward Management is an affiliate of Highland Associates located in Birmingham, Alabama, that specialises in offering specialist investment products to socially responsible investors around the globe.