CIO William Davies said that investor demand and recent European regulation changes accounted for bolstering its ESG funds offerings.

The Threadneedle (Lux) Emerging Market ESG Equities Fund will be managed by senior portfolio manager Young Kim. The second Threadneedle (Lux) Pan European ESG Equities Fund is being repurposed from an existing fund, addiing an ESG label that will still be co-managed by Ann Steele and Dan Ison. The group indicated that an increase in ESG analysis over the past 18 months warranted rebranding the fund.

Steele added: “We have always successfully focused on high-quality companies with a strong competitive advantage, pricing power and high barriers to entry. Incorporating ESG factors into the definition of quality has been a natural evolution, helping to boost outperformance.”