The Altius Sustainable Bond fund, managed by Australian Unity’s in-house cash and fixed interest team, has been chosen by IOOF research for its new environmental, social and governance (ESG) model portfolio.
The ESG portfolio considered companies that met a stringent return criteria and applied capital with consideration to a variety of ESG issues.
IOOF’s ESG portfolios were launched to IOOF’s adviser network in early May 2020.
Bill Bovingdon, Altius chief investment officer, said the development of IOOF’s ESG model portfolios were evidence that sustainable fixed interest investment had gained popularity.
“The selection of our Sustainable Bond Fund for IOOF’s model portfolio is confirmation of the strength of our fund as investors look to allocate capital to companies that operate responsibly and sustainably,” Bovingdon said.
The strategy of the fund was to pursue broad ESG objectives while taking advantage of mispricing of bonds in all market conditions.
It invested in a mix of government, semi-government, supranational and corporate bonds, and mortgages.
The fund was launched 1 October, 2014, and according to FE Analytics, has returned 16.08% since inception and has not managed to beat its sector average.
The fixed interest Australian bond sector, within the Australian Core Strategies universe, returned 23.62%, while the fund’s benchmark, the Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill index, returned 11.04%.
Performance of the Altius Sustainable Bond fund versus sector and benchmark since inception
