Market uncertainty during the Covid-19 crisis has brought many fresh concerns to front of mind, and Square Mile’s portfolio management team has been focused on the investment journey that clients experience and the best way to navigate it from here onwards. One of the very long-term trends that they have incorporated into their thinking is the rising demand for responsible investments. This trend is not only investor-led. We have seen the EU significantly ramp up its green spending while in the US the likes of Joe Biden are heavily promoting ‘environmental justice’. Sustainability is clearly a theme that will govern the way we live our lives in future and our portfolio management team expects this theme to accelerate.
So, bearing this interest among the investment management team in mind, we felt the Stewart Investors Worldwide Sustainability fund closely matched their requirements. Stewart Investors run money adhering to a philosophy which focuses on absolute returns meaning that they are largely benchmark agnostic. More importantly they place an emphasis on providing an element of downside protection when markets are more volatile. This is a very good fit with our portfolio management team’s own philosophy and thinking. In addition, while Stewart Investors has a long heritage in responsible investing in the Asian and Emerging Market regions, they launched this fund in 2012 to capture the best sustainable investments globally, which includes opportunities in more developed markets. We think their investment approach complements their definition of sustainability which is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the prospects of future generations. A slight caveat in owning this fund is that it is likely to have significantly less exposure to the US market when compared to mainstream global equities owing to where the team finds their investment ideas. But such factors are taken into consideration by the investment management team when assessing the portfolio’s exposures as a whole.
Source: Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research Limited. Investment Partners to Ernest Grant.
Important Information: This document is issued by Ernest Grant Limited. Ernest Grant Limited makes no warranties or representations regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. Nothing in this document shall be deemed to constitute financial or investment advice in any way. This document shall not constitute or be deemed to constitute an invitation or inducement to any person to engage in investment activity. Past performance is not a guide to future returns and the value of capital invested and any income generated from it may fluctuate in value.