Hari Balkrishna
T. Rowe Price has announced the launch of a first global impact equity product that allows Australian investors to simultaneously pursue their financial goals and a positive impact on global environment and social equity issues.
In recognition of the important linkage between societal good and financial performance, the T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund (the Fund) provides a high-conviction, truly global equity portfolio that seeks to invest in companies creating sustainable, positive, and measurable impact, and identify the added return potential this can bring.
The Fund employs an active management approach to seek companies that we believe are on the right side of societal and environmental change. It focuses on three impact pillars: climate and resources, social equity and quality of life, and sustainable innovation and productivity guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It excludes certain industries and companies that the manager believes do not conform to the Fund’s impact mandate, such as fossil fuel[1], tobacco, gambling/ casinos, and for-profit prison companies.
The Fund is certified by RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program[2], which is a leading initiative for distinguishing quality responsible, ethical and impact investment products and services in Australia and New Zealand. In close partnership with RIAA (Responsible Investment Association Australasia), the Fund adopts industry-leading practices to provide full transparency on the impact targets of all its portfolio holdings. Its investment process is endorsed by RIAA as embedding clear principles of materiality and measurability to form the basis for identifying positive impact for clients.
As an Australian Unit Trust, the Fund is available now to wholesale and institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand, as well as to retail and advised investors in Australia on various distribution platforms, including Hub24, Netwealth and Wealth O2. It is also being added to more major platforms.
Darren Hall, Head of Distribution for Australia and New Zealand, T. Rowe Price said: “We are pleased to launch the Fund with a RIAA certification that signifies best-in-class operational and disclosure standards. Over the last decade, T. Rowe Price has invested significantly to integrate ESG factors into our investment research platform, recognising that the long-term sustainability of our portfolio companies is critical to their financial success and to our mission of helping clients reach their financial goals. As an active manager, we want to make a difference with our dollars by directing capital towards desired impact outcomes as well as to influence positive environmental and social progress.”
Simon O’Connor, CEO of Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) siad “RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program differentiates quality, true to label responsible investment products which meet the Responsible Investment Standard. It is pleasing to see the growing number of fund managers offering quality impact investment options in the Australian market place in response to the demand from investors who want to achieve a positive impact on the environment and society alongside strong financial returns. We congratulate T. Rowe Price on meeting the high benchmark set for Certification as an impact investment fund.”
Hari Balkrishna, Portfolio Manager, T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund said: “The investment industry has reached an exciting point where we can contribute to positive societal and environmental change, alongside a focus on financial performance. Being able to marry these goals together in a single strategy is an exciting step forward for us as investors, and we look forward to partnering with clients in our pursuit of positive impact at scale, on a truly global basis.”
T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund details
The Fund will be aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), a globally recognized framework designed to end poverty, ensure prosperity, and protect the planet.
The Fund is managed by Hari Balkrishna. Balkrishna has 15 years of investment industry experience, almost entirely at T. Rowe Price. Prior to being appointed the portfolio manager of the Fund, Balkrishna worked closely with Scott Berg on the T. Rowe Price Global Equity Strategy for more than five years. Having lived and worked on five continents, including Australia, Balkrishna has a deep appreciation for the many different social systems around the world and he is personally passionate about addressing climate change.
The Fund will employ an all-capitalization, high-conviction approach, typically owning between 55 and 85 securities, focused on those that Balkrishna believes will create positive environmental and social impact, along with attractive outcomes, over a long-term time horizon.
As with other T. Rowe Price strategies, the Fund will draw upon the firm’s global equity research platform, comprising 203 equity research analysts, 10 sector portfolio managers, and 73 regional and diversified portfolio managers. In addition, the Fund will tap the deep expertise of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) experts and responsible investing research analysts as well as its proprietary Responsible Investing Indicator Model (RIIM), a database detailing how more than 15,000 securities measure up against established environmental and social parameters.
The Fund received an “Approved” rating from renowned research and investment consultancy, Zenith Investment Partners, which highlighted the Fund’s the investment process as “differentiated and logical”[3].
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