Nomura Asset Management and US-headquartered American Century Investments (ACI) yesterday announced the launch of the American Century Emerging Markets Sustainable Impact Equity Fund, according to a statement from the firm.
“Investors increasingly want their portfolios to provide financial security but to also address key global issues, both of which can be achieved through positive social and environmental impact without sacrificing investment returns,” Peter Ball, managing director for Nomura AM UK, said in the statement.
In Asia, the fund is only available to accredited investors in Singapore, according to Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) records.
The product is also available in Luxembourg, Ireland, the UK and Belgium, the statement noted.
Impact and returns
Nomura’s Dublin-domiciled fund aims to invest in companies that make a positive social and environmental impact in emerging markets and provide excess return above the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the statement noted.
The investment strategy will be guided by the UN sustainable development goals. “There are 17 goals, of which 15 are investible goals that sit alongside the firm’s investment process,” the statement said.
The investment universe is in emerging markets, including South America, China, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, India and South Africa.
“These countries need greater investment in infrastructure, technological innovation and education than more developed markets,” the statement said.
The strategy will be managed by an investment team led by ACI’s senior portfolio manager Patricia Ribeiro and portfolio manager Sherwin Soo, who have worked together for around eight years and are supported by a team of five analysts.
The fund is the second Ucits collaboration with ACI, the statement said. In 2016, Nomura acquired a 41% stake in ACI.
FSA contacted the firm for more information but it was unable to reply in time for publication.
Several asset managers run ESG-focused products in Singapore, including Natixis, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and Blackrock.
However, impact investing is different from ESG investing because with impact, financial returns are not necessarily the core reason for investing.
At the same time, Hermes’ former manager Tim Crockford (he joined JO Hambro Capital Management last year) told FSA previously that while there is no standardised definition of impact investing, at its highest aspiration “social impact” is not subordinated to financial returns.
The Impact Opportunities Equity Fund which Crockford used to manage, attempts to do both — generate returns from companies having an impact, FSA previously reported.
A look at Hermes’ Impact Opportunities Equity Fund vs category average and benchmark since inception
