Brunel unveils sustainable equities fund

Brunel Pensions Partnership has launched a Sustainable Equities Fund, which aims to positively pursue companies that will provide a benefit to society.

The fund will manage a mandate of around £1.2 billion and put ESG considerations at the forefront of the investment process.

Nordea Asset Management, RBC Global Asset Management and Ownership Capital have been appointed to manage the fund.

The portfolio aims to go beyond traditional responsible investing and ensure that the managers are engaged with the companies and are investing in them for positive reasons, not simply focusing on negative exclusions.

The fund goes beyond Brunel’s current portfolios that manage ESG risks, as managers actively seek exposure to companies providing solutions to sustainability, while also targeting a financial return.

However, the portfolio opened with a significant underweight to the energy sector and has an aggregate carbon intensity that is significantly lower than the MSCI All Country World Index, which it uses as a benchmark.

“The sustainable equities fund gives our clients access to both the equity risk and sustainability focus they requested,” said David Cox, head of listed markets at Brunel. “The three managers we appointed share a broad investing style and a prioritisation of sustainability, yet their approaches are also different enough to provide clients with the diversification they were looking for,” he added.