Abrdn has launched the Responsible Global Asset Strategies fund to meet growing investor demand for responsible and sustainable investing.
The fund will use the firm’s absolute return approach while investing in companies and issuers, including sovereigns, which promote environmental, social and governance characteristics.
It will be made up of 20 to 30 investment strategies that span geographies and asset classes.
The fund is targeting a return in excess of 5% over cash and a volatility of between 4 and 8% a year over a three-year period.
Classed as an EU SFDR article 8 fund, abrdn said it will avoid companies and countries with high or poorly managed ESG risks. As such, the fund will not invest in the sovereign bonds or currencies of China, Turkey or India.
To assess ESG risk, abrdn will use its ESG house score developed by its central ESG investment team to assess companies in terms of their responsibility and environmental sustainability.
It is headed up by Katy Forbes, Gerry Fowler and Catie Wearmouth of the multi-asset solutions team.
Katy Forbes, head of absolute return at abrdn, said: “We think that it is possible to invest responsibly without sacrificing returns. We aim to identity opportunities which offer attractive returns and hat we believe are responsible.”
Justin Simler, global head of multi-asset strategy and specialists, added: “We believe that investors increasingly care much more about how their money is invested and want to understand and manage the risks more effectively. This new strategy broadens our responsible/sustainable range and complements our newly launched multi asset climate funds.”
