Sunsuper awards green bond mandate
Sunsuper has awarded a $150 million green bond mandate to London-based impact fixed income manager, Affirmative Investment Management (AIM).
In an announcement, the two said the mandate aimed to deliver a mainstream financial return while providing financing to generate positive environmental and social impact projects.
Sunsuper chief investment officer, Ian Patrick, said: “We believe environmental social and governance (ESG) [risk] integration is consistent with better investment outcomes, and has the ancillary benefit of contributing to a better future for our members.
“As an organisation, we have long considered the science behind climate change as settled. We recognise that from an investment perspective, a just transition to a low-carbon global economy presents both risks and opportunities,” he said.
AIM managing partner, Stephen Fitzgerald, said a pure play focus to investing, founded on deep analysis and engagement could be beneficial to both investors, in terms of financial returns, and to the broader society, in terms of environmental and social outcomes.
“We are really excited to be working with the fund to manage an active global fixed income portfolio, benchmarked against Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate, hedged into Australian dollars,” Fitzgerald said.
Recommended for you
Natixis Investment Managers has hired a distribution director to specifically focus on the firm’s work with research firms and consultants.
The use of total portfolio approaches by asset allocators is putting pressure on fund managers with outperformance being “no longer sufficient” when it comes to fund development.
With evergreen funds being used by financial advisers for their liquidity benefits, Harbourvest is forecasting they are set to grow by around 20 per cent a year to surpass US$1 trillion by 2029.
Total monthly ETF inflows declined by 28 per cent from highs in November with Vanguard’s $21bn Australian Shares ETF faring worst in outflows.
