Stonehage Fleming Investment Management, the UK investment division of one of the world’s leading international Family Offices, announces the launch of its Global Sustainable Equity Fund (GSEF) in South Africa, having successfully launched its Global Sustainable Investment Portfolios (GSIP) in 2019. Stonehage Fleming Investment Management is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. 

The Fund replicates the equity component of Stonehage Fleming’s Global Sustainable Investment Portfolio (GSIP)¹, which has returned +27.5% (GBP, net of fees) for the 12 months ending 30^th June 2021, ahead of the global equity benchmark, MSCI All Countries World Index TR at +24.6% (GBP, gross of fees)².³

Since the initial launch in the UK in November 2020, the Fund has already attracted over $130 million in assets from private and professional investors, demonstrating clear demand for global sustainable equity strategies (data as at end of June 2021). 

Mona Shah, Director at Stonehage Fleming Investment Management, says: “We strongly believe that today’s portfolio returns should not be at the expense of future generations. The outlook for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies today is more interesting than at the start of 2020 and we have seen increased appetite for this approach as clients actively seek to demonstrate their social capital in their investment philosophy and measure their positive contribution. By launching the Global Sustainable Equity Fund, we are going some way to meet their demands.”

Graham Wainer, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Investments at Stonehage Fleming Investment Management, adds: “We made the decision that this, our first standalone sustainable investment fund, should be focused solely on equity investments as we see them as the key drivers of return. Our equity investments can tackle a breadth of issues, including building back from Covid-19 and helping to address the majority of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  We can also measure and report the impact that our clients’ investments make towards creating a sustainable planet and society.”

Stonehage Fleming’s published proprietary research, ‘The Four Pillars of Capital: A time for reflection’ (2020), found that ultra-high net worth families and wealth creators have remained committed to ESG investment, despite the impact of COVID-19. 83% of respondents that applied ESG principles to their investments had not wavered from this, even as the pandemic caused turbulence in markets in the first half of 2020.

South Africa Chief Investment Officer Bryn Hatty concludes: “In the wake of the pandemic, an increasing number of South African investors are turning to ESG and impact investing as they see the positive impact it has on devastated local and global economies. We are excited to be able to offer the Global Sustainable Equity Fund to our South African clients as we believe the fund is well placed to achieve its sustainability goals while still providing attractive returns to investors.” 

The Global Sustainable Equity Fund is now registered for sale in South Africa and can be accessed by local investors either as clients of Stonehage Fleming or directly by completing an application form and submitting it to the Fund’s administrator, Link Fund Administrators (Ireland) Limited. 

¹ Source: Stonehage Fleming Investment Management Ltd

² Source: Bloomberg

³ Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. If the information is not displayed in your base currency, then the return may increase or decrease due to currency fluctuations.