Candriam has launched its latest ESG fund offering, seeking to combine financial and ESG analysis within a systematic market-neutral framework to offer investors diversified and uncorrelated returns.
The actively-managed Candriam Equities L ESG Market Neutral fund is designed to identify long and short investment opportunities by considering financial and ESG criteria simultaneously, with the view to crafting a diversified market-neutral portfolio that considers these opportunities alongside risk and ESG objectives.
Designed for investors seeking a diversified quantitative investment approach that incorporates ESG criteria, the fund’s investment philosophy is based on the belief that financially sound companies adhering to ESG standards are positioned for long-term value creation, while companies with weak financial fundamentals that neglect ESG principles are likely to decrease in value.
To that end, Candriam’s ESG team applies its proprietary ESG model to evaluate each company’s credentials. The quantitative equity team then uses a proprietary framework to assess and score each company’s financial attractiveness, evaluating value, quality, growth, market sentiment and volatility.
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The portfolio employs a strategy of long positions in companies that Candriam recognises as leaders in sustainability, and short positions in those identified as less sustainable – companies with weak financial fundamentals and ESG criteria.
The fund is managed by Bart Goosens, global head of quantitative equity and deputy global head of alternative investments, alongside Dave Benichou, deputy head of quantitative equity.
Steeve Brument, global head of alternative investments at Candriam, commented: “Building on our long-standing tradition of innovation in investment strategies, we have further strengthened our commitment to enhancing our broader alternatives offering.
“By combining our differentiated ESG process with the extensive expertise of our quantitative equity team, we provide our clients with access to unique solutions that seek to offer an attractive risk-return profile, while supporting meaningful social and environmental change.
“We are confident that the appetite for both alternative strategies and ESG-aligned solutions will continue to grow, and this launch further represents the next step in our efforts to further embed ESG integration within our alternatives solutions.”
The fund is available for distribution in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and The Netherlands.
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