Mistra invests in a new etichal fund for growth markets
As the first investor in a new ethical fund, Mistra (the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) is once more taking the initiative. BankInvest, the Danish company, has started a new ethical fund for Global Emerging Markets Debt SRI*. This fund will invest in corporate and government bonds on the world´s growth markets.
The fund applies an assessment based on positive criteria combined with a traditional negative filter. ‘Bonds on a growth market are an interesting investment. The SRI product now offered by BankInvest is particularly interesting, and it´s in line with Mistra´s investment policy,´ says Märtha Josefsson, chair of Mistra´s Asset Management Committee.
This is the fifth fund with an SRI profile in which Mistra is the pioneering initial investor. This time, Mistra is joined by three fellow investors: the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO), the Finnish Church and the Church of Norway. Last year, Mistra made a similar investment in a new Global Emerging Market Equity SRI fund with BankInvest.
Why, then, has Mistra chosen this fund? According to Eva Thörnelöf , Mistra´s Administrative Director, for reasons of risk spread it is advisable to have a large selection of asset types in the total portfolio — types that are not mutually correlated. For certain asset categories, a sustainability profile is difficult to obtain since they are insufficiently transparent.
‘That´s why it´s so good when an asset manager and investors jointly invest in funds with a sustainability profile where they haven´t been available to date. Especially in developing countries, it´s important to work for enterprise that´s sound in social and environmental terms,´ she says.
Mistra´s total capital, SEK 3.8 billion, has been invested 100% according to sustainability criteria since April 2007. Accordingly, Mistra has attained its objective of managing the entire portfolio in line with sustainability criteria by 2007 at the latest.‘We´re now fairly sure that sustainability criteria in asset management actually improve the financial return,´ says Märtha Josefsson.
