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Funds Group: KBI (The Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund)
Management Company: KBI Global Investors (North America) Ltd.
Funds Affected: KBI Global Investors Acquarius Fund
Principal Sustainable Investment Management Strategy: ESG Integration, Thematic, Engagement
Summary:
The fund invests in companies whose main business is in the water-related resource sector. The investment universe includes but is not limited to companies but are manufacturers, service providers and operators that offer solutions in one or more of the following four categories: (i) increasing supply and access; (ii) decreasing demand and waste; (iii) improving and testing quality; and (iv) building and fixing infrastructure.

The adviser explicitly integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the fund’s investment process in accordance with the adviser’s belief that companies with strong governance and whose products and services enhance social or environmental goals should meaningfully outperform other companies and are more likely to have long, durable, sustainable business models. The fund may invest in companies which already demonstrate leadership on ESG issues relevant to their industries, as well as in companies which have yet to make significant progress on such issues but have the potential to do so. The adviser believes that engagement with selected companies in the fund’s portfolio will encourage such companies to address issues where sufficient commitment is lacking, or reinforce progress that may be underway. While the adviser conducts its own assessment of the ESG performance of all companies, it also uses the services of a third-party provider of ESG research and ratings to assist with that process.

 

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Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments