ING Investment Management International (ING IM) has launched a new European Sustainable Equity strategy. The new fund is based on an institutional product that has a track record dating back to 2005. ING IM sees growth in demand for sustainable investments. In the last two years, the sustainable equity strategy has quadrupled in size.
The ING (L) Invest Europe Sustainable Equity strategy, which was launched on the 19th of December, invests in a diversified portfolio of sustainable stocks. The strategy combines risks and opportunities linked to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors with a thorough financial analysis of companies.
Hendrik-Jan Boer, Head of Sustainable Investments at ING IM: “We believe that now is a good time to invest in European equities and we feel that sustainability is an important value driver. It is the key factor in identifying corporate quality. Academic and market research increasingly demonstrate that attention to the quality of environmental, social and governance factors can boost corporate profitability and competitiveness and thus the return of equity portfolios as well”.
The strategy’s portfolio consists of 50 to 90 names. The team targets the best stocks per sector and allocates most of the risk budget to stock selection. The fund aims to outperform the mainstream MSCI Europe Net Index by 2% per year.
Hendrik-Jan Boer concludes: “The launch of this new fund is in response to the increasing demand from clients for sustainable products. Recent research published by ING IM demonstrates that three quarters of investors believe that being environmentally and socially responsible – as well as encouraging good governance – is important to the future of the investment industry”.
The ING Europe Sustainable Equity strategy has launched with EUR 40 million in assets under management. It is a Luxembourg domiciled UCITS fund.
With the introduction of its first sustainable strategy in April 2000, ING IM was a pioneer in the European market. The asset manager’s sustainable strategies currently have a total of EUR 1,150 bln in assets under management.
For Fórmate a Fondo