The Sicav product aims to deliver long-term capital growth by identifying and investing in promising, sustainability-related technology companies, while its positive thematic screening naturally avoids the FAANGs, creating a differentiated portfolio, the firm said.
The FAANGS are Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet (formerly Google).
Incepted in August 2021 and in line with the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the fund has a sustainable investment mandate with a technology focus.
The $23.1m fund’s lead portfolio manager is Richard Clode. The fund has generated a -15.4% cumulative return since inception, in US dollars, as compared with its benchmark MSCI ACWI Technology’s -2.52% return, according to FE Fundinfo.
As at 31 January 2022, the fund’s top five holdings are: Microsoft(4.6%), Telus(3.9%), ServiceNow(3.6%), Impinj(3.3%) and Nvidia(3.0%). About 82% of the fund is invested in the US, according to the fund factsheet.
The manager shares the same investment team as the Janus Henderson Horizon Global Technology Leaders Fund, which has generated annualised returns of 12.2% versus 10.1% for their sector group since inception over 17 years ago, according to the firm.
“Technology is the science of solving problems and its innovation and exponential leaps will be critical to providing solutions not just to climate change and reducing our carbon footprint, but also to democratising access to quality education and healthcare, promoting financial inclusion, reducing inequality and upgrading quality of life,” Clode said.
“By investing in sustainable technology, clients can naturally access some of the largest and longest runway growth markets with significant regulatory, government policy and demographic tailwinds, thereby naturally delivering that dual mandate of having a positive impact on the world as well as delivering strong, long- term capital returns,” he added.
Thematic framework
The Fund uses a positive thematic framework to select investments that align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and derives at least 50% of its revenues from sustainable technology themes.
This ensures “meaningful diversification and differentiation from traditional technology names, offering exposure to emerging technology companies aligned to the UN SDGs and increasing the breadth of sustainable investment solutions available to clients,” according to Janus Henderson.
Janus Henderson Investors is a global asset manager with $432.3bn in AUM.
