On July 10, 2020 FT Adviser reported that “Aberdeen Standard Investments has added to its environmental, social and governance offering by launching a sustainable and responsible emerging markets portfolio.
ASI announced this week (July 7) it had launched the Emerging Markets Sustainable and Responsible Investment Equity fund in a bid to generate strong long-term performance for those seeking to improve ESG practices.
According to ASI, the fund’s holdings have a better ESG metric than sector peers and a lower carbon footprint than the index.
Managers will identify ‘high quality companies through a bottom-up assessment’ of the sustainability of their business models and ESG performance, and all holdings will be given an ESG score after ‘in-depth research.’
ASI said the launch was part of its ongoing strategy for sustainable development and the first of two responsible investment strategies launched by the emerging markets team this year.
Fiona Manning, investment director at ASI, said: ‘We have a long history in emerging markets investment and ESG considerations have been incorporated in our stock analysis and decision-making for over 25 years.
By analysing the foundations of the business and a thorough evaluation of the ESG risks and opportunities, we have identified companies which we believe to be sustainable leaders or improvers.’”
Registered subscribers can read the article on the FT Adviser internet site.