New realm for ESG investing
Investors are demanding ethically responsible investment options and fund managers are being forced to respond, according to boutique administration platform, The Emerald Wrap.
The socially responsible investment platform's director, Matthew Dent, said fund managers now had to structure their portfolios while keeping environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at the top of their minds.
Meanwhile, Instreet Investment managing director, George Lucas, said fund managers had responded accordingly and there had never been such an abundance of products in the marketplace that aligned to investors' needs.
"We look at all the upcoming sectors, clean technology, renewables, 4D printing, water, health, divestment and equality, to name a few, where investors can dovetail their risk/rewards goals while meeting their ESG concerns," Lucas said.
The days of one generic fund were over, as new platforms and technologies allowed customers to increasingly tailor-make their own solutions, he said.
Dent said the day where ESG issues only received lip service are gone, as now both institutional and retail investors demanded their investments be socially and environmental sound.
Two dimensional approaches to risk and reward were over and were replaced by four-dimensional frameworks that allowed investors to add ‘impact' and ‘alignment' to their portfolios, he said.
Recommended for you
Ausbil is growing its active ETF range with an ESG product in collaboration with sister company Candriam.
Philanthropic investment group Future Generation’s CEO, Caroline Gurney, will step down from her role at the start of next year.
The newly combined L1 Group is expectant of stabilising Platinum’s falling funds under management within the next 18 months, unveiling four growth pathways and a $330 million equity raise.
Janus Henderson Investors has launched a global small-cap fund for Australian investors, which includes a 5.4 per cent weighting to Australian equities.

