Fidelity International has expanded its fund range to include a number of sustainable strategies.
The fund range will now include eight funds classified as Article 9 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. This selective group of active and exchange-traded fund strategies are open to retail, wholesale and institutional clients and address the growing client demand for strategies that contribute to and benefit from the transition to a more sustainable economy, Fidelity said.
Article 9 funds require 100% of fund investments, net of cash and hedging instruments, to be invested in ‘sustainable investments.’ For an issuer to meet Fidelity’s ‘sustainable investment’ definition, it must have at least 50% of its revenues generated from activities contributing to an environmental or social objective, measured by the EU Taxonomy, by Fidelity’s proprietary SDG tool or through a robust strategy to decarbonise towards net zero.
Jenn-Hui Tan, chief sustainability officer at Fidelity International, said: “These funds are supported by the further enhancement of Fidelity’s sustainable investing framework, including a proprietary dataset which assesses an issuer’s positive contribution to the targets and indicators of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“From this foundation, we have been able to develop a series of fund solutions for clients wishing to align their investments with the transition to a sustainable economy.”
Two of the new active Article 9 funds that have been launched aim to achieve capital growth over the long term by investing in sustainable investments through investments in their respective country remits. These are Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Global Equity Fund, managed by lead portfolio manager Cornelia Furse, and Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Asian Focus Fund, managed by portfolio manager Mohit Mandhana.
In addition, four of Fidelity’s Sustainable Family range of funds have been reclassified from SFDR Article 8 to Article 9. These are Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Biodiversity Fund; Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Climate Solutions Fund; Fidelity Funds – Sustainable Eurozone Equity Fund; and Fidelity Funds – Sustainable US Equity Fund.
The range of Article 9 active funds is complemented by 2 exchange traded funds managed under Article 9 of SFDR: the Fidelity Sustainable Global Corporate Bond Paris-Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF and Fidelity Sustainable Global High Yield Bond Paris-Aligned Multifactor UCITS ETF.
Christophe Gloser, head of sales, continental Europe, Fidelity International, added: “Sustainability is one of the biggest and most disruptive megatrends that the sector is facing and one that is impacting our investment decision process. We are committed to providing the best solutions for our clients which is why we strive to further develop relevant products for our clients in the long-term.
“The expansion of our Sustainable Family range of funds now counts nearly 60 active strategies, offering clients access to a range of funds across asset classes with a coherent ESG framework.”
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