Man GLG launches global sustainable growth fund
Man GLG, the discretionary investment management business of Man Group, today introduced a new strategy; the fund is called Man GLG RI Global Sustainable Growth, and is co-managed by Virginia Nordbäck and Rory Powe.
Operating within Man Group’s existing Responsible Investment (‘RI’) framework, the fund aims to generate alpha by identifying the strongest companies globally who, through embracing sustainability, ultimately increase shareholder value.
The fund will focus on businesses run in a sustainable way – in particular those with a purpose-led culture that aligns the interests of all stakeholders ultimately leading to a competitive advantage. Companies that think long-term, beyond short-term profit maximisation, and are in a strong position to tackle negative environmental externalities, will be favoured.
The fund’s focus on sustainability is integrated into the investment process. The investment team analyse in detail the competitive advantages of its holdings, including barriers to entry, as well as their revenue traction potential, robustness of profitability, strength of their balance sheets and valuation. The team will consider sustainability at each of these process steps including, but not limited to, how a focus on sustainability can lead to innovation, and how mismanaged environment, social and governance (ESG) risks can impede future growth.
From time to time, the investment team will seek to collaborate with select companies to encourage best practice ESG behaviours and drive change.
Overall, the portfolio will hold 25 – 35 positions. Available in UCITS format, the long only fund takes an all-cap and global approach to investing in a fundamentally selected, concentrated portfolio of stocks which demonstrate long-term growth and return potential. The fund aims to outperform the MSCI World Index.
Virginia Nordbäck, co-Portfolio Manager of the Man GLG RI Global Sustainable Growth Fund, said: “It’s our view that in the future, companies who want to keep their world-class status need to be leaders in ESG in order to attract and retain talent, customers, and ultimately receive capital allocation. Investors will gravitate to those businesses that take their wider sustainability responsibilities seriously and concentrate on integrating these into their everyday practises. We’re focussed on delivering strong results to investors through performance, while supporting companies who share our thinking on sustainability, and making a positive difference.”
Teun Johnston, CEO of Man GLG, said: “Virginia and Rory have an established track record of investing in sustainable, growth-oriented companies across Europe. With this strategy, they will be able to apply their expertise to the global investment universe with a focus on those companies leading the way on sustainability. The fund underscores our commitment both to offering clients a breadth of investment opportunities across our platform, and to responsible investment.”