Andrea Carzana

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), has announced that Andrea Carzana has joined as co-manager of the Aviva Investors Climate Transition Global Equity Fund (CTGE).

Andrea is based in London and reports to Alistair Way, Head of Equities. He works alongside Max Burns, co-manager of the fund since July 2021, and senior ESG analyst and climate specialist Rick Stathers. Andrea, Max and Rick will also continue to draw on the investment ideas and analysis of the ESG research and Global Equities teams.

The Aviva Investors Climate Transition Global Equity Fund aims to outperform global equity markets and takes a long-term, high conviction investment approach, targeting global companies that derive material revenues from goods and services addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as investing in those companies aligning their business models for a warmer, low-carbon world.

Andrea joins Aviva Investors after seven years at Columbia Threadneedle, where he was an equities fund manager for ESG and sustainable outcome strategies. Previously, he spent three years as an insurance equity research analyst at Mediobanca.

Brett Jackson, Managing Director of Australia, said: “Global warming is one of the greatest challenges of the modern world. Through our Climate Transition strategies, we invest in companies and assets driving fundamental change towards a sustainable future. We are very pleased with Andrea’s appointment to Co-Manager of the Climate Transition Global Equity Fund. He will bring great value to the team, influencing the direction of Fund available in Australia.

In his role, together with Max Burns, Andrea will aim to identify the winners from the transition across a broad range of sectors by investing in companies that are either mitigating or adapting to climate change as transition-oriented businesses. We look forward to seeing what the team can achieve together for this Fund in our region.”

Alistair Way, Head of Equities at Aviva Investors, said: “I’m delighted that Andrea has joined is joining Aviva Investors as he will be a great asset to the team.  He brings extensive experience in sustainable outcomes, including climate strategies.  He will be a great addition and will further enhance our existing capabilities in sustainable outcomes as we continue to work with our clients to support the transition to a low carbon economy.”

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Based in Sydney, Divyesh will report to Brett Jackson, Managing Director, Australia at Aviva Investors. In this newly created role, Divyesh will focus on expanding the business’ institutional investor base in Australia.

Divyesh has over 20 years of industry experience, having held senior business development roles working with institutional investors and external market influencers such as asset and tender consulting and advisory firms. Most recently, he was a Senior Consultant at Russell Investments, where he was responsible for the growth of the firm’s institutional business in Australia. Prior to that, he spent eight years with BNP Paribas in various client relationship roles.

Divyesh holds a Masters in Applied Finance from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Chemistry from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Brett Jackson, Managing Director, Australia, Aviva Investors, said: “Expanding Aviva Investors’ business in the Australian institutional market is a key priority for us and we are very pleased to welcome Divyesh to the team. Divyesh’s strong relationships and deep knowledge of the local market will strengthen our ability to offer compelling solutions that cater to the evolving needs of institutional investors. His appointment complements our focus on externalising the business and will help to position us for further growth in Australia.”

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Brett Jackson

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’) yesterday announced that its Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Return Fund (AIMS TRF) and Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy Target Income Fund (AIMS TIF) have received “RECOMMENDED” ratings by leading research house Zenith Investment Partners (‘Zenith’).

In addition, LONSEC has also issued an “INVESTMENT GRADE” rating for the AIMS TIF, which is in addition to the “RECOMMENDED” rating for the AIMS TRF which LONSEC gave in July last year.

AIMS TRF and AIMS TIF were launched in the Australian market in July 2015 and July 2016 respectively. The Aviva Investors Multi-Strategy funds globally now manage on a currency equivalent basis approximately $AUD15.5 billion (as at 30 Dec 2016) since first being launched in Europe in July of 2014.

Zenith highlighted in their “Recommended” rating reports that Aviva Investors has created an integrated investment platform, which promotes collaboration and ensures that the best investment ideas from across the firm are represented in the funds’ portfolios, without diluting a focused portfolio management team’s ability effectively to manage the funds. It also stated that the classification of risk-reducing strategies is considered a positive aspect of the investment process as it anchors the portfolio management team to the diversification and capital preservation philosophy of the funds, and this focused approach to incorporating risk-reducing strategies is not common across the peer group.

Brett Jackson, Head of Business Development – Australasia, Aviva Investors commented: “We are delighted to have both our AIMS Target Return and AIMS Target Income funds recommended by LONSEC and Zenith Investment Partners. The recognition by retail and institutional consultants of our investment team and our risk management framework serves as a great endorsement of our investment proposition.

“We now have over $320m invested in the two Australian unit trusts (AIMS TRF and AIMS TIF) and late last year we also had one Australian client invest over $120m directly into the AIMS TRF, so we are delighted with the support we are getting here from Australian investors.”

Peter Fitzgerald, Head of Multi-Assets at Aviva Investors and co-manager of the fund, added: “2016 was a much harder investment environment, but for us several of our “House Views” played out in the market, such as our belief that some of the major economies would experience a reflationary environment. On the back of this, our funds and many multi-strategy funds that share the philosophy that our CEO Euan Munro has championed for the last decade witnessed strong performance in the last quarter of 2016.

Multi-Strategy Funds remained in focus in 2016 as the investment consultants and many of their clients continued to look to further diversify their investment portfolios. These types of strategies can help deliver their members a smoother return experience through not only improved diversification but also active management. We are big advocates of outcome based investing and this continues to resonate with many investors both in Australia and globally”

Brett Jackson, Head of Business Development – Australasia, Aviva Investors concluded: “It is now generally acknowledged that we have entered an environment with more uncertainty and where investment returns across all asset classes are expected to be lower compared to the last ten years. Due to this most of the leading investment consultants and their large institutional clients are reviewing their investment strategies. Some are now explicitly making large allocations to Multi-Asset or Multi-Strategy Funds to help ensure they deliver sustainable long-term returns for their members which is very encouraging.

“Going into 2017 we are confident our AIMS funds are well positioned to cope with the continuing uncertainty in the world and in the markets. Specifically, in Australia we expect the recently launched AIMS TIF to gain more interest as the large superannuation schemes look for more products that can generate regular income for the increasing number of their older members that now need to draw on their superannuation savings. The AIMS TIF is well poised given it is one of the few multi-strategy funds that are well rated by the institutional and retail researchers which delivers income via regular monthly distributions.”

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