On January 9, 2017 Modern Investor reported that Guardian Media Group has seeded the word’s first fossil free emerging markets equity fund.
According to a press release issued by Acadian Asset Management on December 12, 2016, the Acadian Sustainable Emerging Markets ex Fossil Fuel UCITS fund is “the first such fund to focus on implementing this theme across emerging markets.” Acadian Asset Management was the first quantitative fund manager to sign the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).
The press release explains: “Anchored by a significant investment from a UK institutional investor advised by Cambridge Associates, the global investment firm, the Fund has been created to help meet growing investor demand for divestment within portfolios, while maintaining investment returns, and ensuring investors are not penalised for investing in a sustainable manner.
Using a combination of third-party data and its own proprietary methods, Acadian has developed a process to identify and exclude companies which own fossil fuel reserves. In addition to this, Acadian aims to apply screens to ensure that the aggregate carbon emissions applicable to the portfolio will be at least 25% lower than those of the benchmark index. This process extends across Acadian’s 13,000-strong database of companies in the Emerging Markets.”
You may read the article on the Modern Investor internet site.
You may read the press release on the news page of the Acadian Asset Management internet site.