The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

Stewart Investors
Edinburgh-based Stewart Investors has just launched an Asia-Pacific and Japan Sustainability VCC Fund. 

A VCC fund is a variable capital company – a structure first established by Singapore four years ago to encourage the Asian city-state’s wealth sector. The new fund, managed by Doug Ledingham, is available as an EU-domiciled VCC in Europe, Stewart Investors said in a statement yesterday. 

The strategy aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in a portfolio of 30 to 60 companies in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. By including Japan, the fund provides early access to promising Japanese companies and a broader range of growth opportunities in the region. Stewart Investors, which was established in 1988, manages more than $19 billion in assets (as at 30 June 2024). The team aims to achieve positive social and environmental outcomes, it said. Besides its Edinburgh base, the firm also has offices in London, Frankfurt, Singapore, New York, Hong Kong, and Sydney. 

Evelyn Partners
Evelyn Partners Sustainable Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) team has initiated positions in the Trium Climate Impact and Regan Sustainable Water and Waste funds in its latest re-balance.

While the Sustainable MPS team believes that equities are broadly attractive, they have primarily continued to allocate to US and core-style global equity funds, the firm said in a statement. In the latest re-balance they have added to positions in the FTGF ClearBridge US Equity Sustainability Leaders and Brown US Sustainable Growth funds. In global equities, they added to holdings in the Impax Environmental Markets, Schroder Global Sustainable Value, CT Responsible Global Equity, Baillie Gifford Responsible Global Equity Income and Federated Hermes Global Equity funds.

Within fixed income the managers continue to favour sovereign bonds over corporate credit. “Across all models we switched from the JPM Global Macro Sustainable fund into Trium Climate Impact fund in the absolute return allocation. The shift is part of an exercise to reduce equity correlation in the absolute return allocation. Trium Climate Impact is a market neutral hedge fund which invests in mid and large cap climate solutions in its long book and hedges out volatility, factor and style risk in its short book," Philippa Douglas, assistant manager of the Evelyn Partners Sustainable MPS, said. "The team seek significantly higher avoided emissions than direct emissions in potential investee companies, as well as contributions to clean water, less waste, the circular economy and improved efficiencies. The fund targets a return of cash plus 6 to 8 per cent and volatility of 6 to 8 per cent with low correlation to traditional asset classes and driving positive environmental outcomes.”

"This reflects our preference for the more defensive nature of the water and waste theme, which is integral to daily life throughout the economic cycle, as well as the structural growth drivers for these sectors as global population increases and urbanises. Additionally, the team’s focus on quality characteristics of businesses and the sustainability of their investee companies’ operations reflects our own investment philosophy well,” Douglas added.