Launching ESG/SRI funds is in vogue, as Fidelity also announced its first ever ESG strategy today. Sustainable investing is not new for East Capital, but the company has now decided to make their ESG credentials resonate in the fund name.
“Our ESG approach is the same for all our funds and ESG is fully integrated in the investment process for all strategies,” said a spokesperson. The Luxembourg-domiciled East Capital Sustainable Emerging Markets Fund consists for about 90% of “key holdings” from existing regional East Capital strategies, complemented with additional, mainly off-benchmark positions. While the fund is underweight China overall, it has a 5% weighting to off-benchmark China A-shares.
Quality growth
The fund’s portfolio will be tilted towards high-quality growth companies with strong ESG profiles, including companies in sectors such as energy and clean technologies, that offer solutions to sustainability-related challenges.
“We have always seen an active approach to sustainability as a natural and important part of our investment. Today for example, China’s war on pollution has set an unparalleled investment programme going, which has created one of the largest markets globally for companies providing solutions to sustainability related challenges, companies this fund will invest in”, said Peter Håkansson, the lead manager of the new fund.
East Capital already runs a fund that focuses on this specific trend: the East Capital China Environmental Fund.
