RWC Partners renames Defensive Convertibles Fund to reflect sustainability focus
RWC Partners has renamed its Defensive Convertibles Fund to the RWC Sustainable Convertibles Fund. The change, which will take effect from October 30th 2019, has been made to reflect the fund’s quality focus and ESG awareness.
Managed by RWC’s Head of Convertibles Davide Basile and co-manager Justin Craib-Cox, CFA, the RWC Sustainable Convertibles Fund aims to provide investors with a low-volatility solution for clients which, while participating in equity market upside, also provides capital preservation.
The unconstrained fund is not benchmarked to an index, meaning Basile and Craib-Cox are able to run a conviction portfolio focused on bottom-up fundamentals.
The portfolio integrates the team’s ESG process and policy which helps to better inform the managers about the fundamental characteristics of issuers.
In practice it means not only helping to avoid controversial companies and companies potentially at risk from ESG failings, but also to identify global issuers who are improving their own standards, and where ESG awareness could be a catalyst for future performance.
Commenting on the announcement Justin Crab-Cox, CFA, said: “With more than $15tn in government bonds now trading with negative yields and credit spreads at historically tight levels, we believe the time is now for a long-term quality bias approach which provides risk-conscious investors an avenue of opportunity without the need to add material risks.”
“This name change for our fund reflects our increased focus on the integration and awareness of ESG analysis, and the fundamental role this can play in identifying both opportunities and potential long-term risks. This focus, combined with the team’s broad knowledge of convertible bonds and our fixation on quality bonds, allows us to build positions for clients that are controlled for risk but are still return-seeking. We think this will be an attractive combination for the future.”