Rathbones Unit Trust Management is set to add a new sustainable bond to its offering on 30 November 2023.
The Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund will be managed by head of fixed income Bryn Jones, alongside fund manager Stuart Chilvers.
The new fund will focus on sustainable themes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The investment universe covers government, corporate investment grade and high yield bonds and will focus predominantly on US dollars, euros and sterling, the firm said.
Greenbank, Rathbones’ ethical, sustainable and impact investment division, will provide independent sustainability screening of securities, using the same framework utilised by the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainability Fund and the Rathbone Greenbank Multi-Asset portfolios.
Greenbank said that it will veto the inclusion of any bonds that fail to pass the screening.
Bryn Jones, fund manager of the Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund, said: “With more than 20-years’ track record investing in ethical bonds, we feel this is a natural extension to our range.
“Regulation is leading to a higher cost of capital for ESG laggard companies and carbon intensive industries. Further, stricter disclosure requirements are making evaluation of high yield and emerging market debt opportunities significantly easier in terms of meeting our sustainability criteria. We believe adopting this global opportunity set makes sense when we can see diverging core inflationary pressures across the globe.”
Tom Carroll, chief executive officer of Rathbone Unit Trust Management, added: “We are pleased to introduce this new strategy to investors who are looking for a flexible global bond allocation, which meets strict sustainability standards. The Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond Fund both complements, and provides a different approach to, our existing bond funds.”
