Brett Jollie

Ethical investment pioneer U Ethical has appointed Brett Jollie as Chief Executive Officer, signalling a decisive move to scale its investment platform and expand its reach across Australia’s institutional and wholesale investor markets.

Mr Jollie brings more than three decades of experience across global and Australian funds management, including 14 years as Chief Executive Officer of Aberdeen Asset Management Australia. During his tenure, he led a sustained period of growth and transformation, significantly expanding funds under management while building a leading institutional and wholesale distribution platform. This growth was driven through a combination of disciplined organic expansion and targeted M&A initiatives.

His appointment marks a clear inflection point for U Ethical as it seeks to translate its long-standing ethical investment heritage into broader market segment relevance and growth in Funds under Management [FuM]. U Ethical serves more than 3,000 clients, with $1.5bn in FuM and has contributed $68 million since 1995 that indirectly supports a diverse range of community initiatives and projects.

Chair Fiona Pearse said the Board had undertaken a comprehensive search and was delighted to appoint a leader with a proven track record of scaling investment businesses in complex, highly regulated environments.

“U Ethical has built a highly credible, purpose-driven investment platform over more than 40 years,” Ms Pearse said.

“We see a significant opportunity to take that proposition to a broader investor market. Brett brings the commercial discipline, distribution expertise and leadership experience to scale the business while preserving what makes it distinctive.”

U Ethical is Australia’s original ethical fund manager, with a not-for-profit ownership model and a deeply embedded approach to responsible investment. Its investment philosophy integrates ethical screening, ESG analysis and active stewardship which includes bold positions on important ethical matters and not shying away from holding companies to account, underpinned by a long-term, risk-aware investment approach.

The organisation is driven to deliver strong investment performance while reinvesting value for investors, the environment and communities, underpinned by a long-term commitment to positive outcomes for future generations.

Mr Jollie said the opportunity was to unlock the full potential of a differentiated investment model in a market increasingly focused on authenticity and outcomes in responsible investing.

“U Ethical combines a clear ethical framework, an aligned ownership model and a disciplined investment capability. These are powerful foundations for growth,” Mr Jollie said.

“The opportunity now is to strengthen alignment across investment, product and distribution, and to scale that capability to a broader client base without diluting the integrity of the model.”

“This is about building on a strong platform. It includes enhancing investment capability, ensuring product market fit, and expanding distribution in a disciplined way.”

Mr Jollie’s experience spans the full investment value chain, including investment strategy, governance, distribution, operations and product development. He has held senior executive and board roles across the industry and is widely recognised for leading growth, transformation and organisational alignment.

Ms Pearse said the appointment positions U Ethical for its next phase of development.

“This is about taking a very strong business and stepping forward with intent,” she said.  “We have a clear growth strategy, and Brett is a leader who has successfully executed strategic growth agendas before.”

The Board also acknowledged the contribution of outgoing CEO Mathew Browning.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Mathew for his leadership and the strong, well-positioned platform he leaves behind,” Ms Pearse said.

“Mat has led the transformation of U Ethical from the Uniting Church’s internal investment arm into a stand-alone, award-winning responsible investment manager. His vision, leadership, and belief in the power of ethical investing have shaped U Ethical into what it is today, and we are deeply grateful for everything he has contributed.”

  Mr Jollie will commence as CEO on 7 April.

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Brett Jollie

Global asset manager abrdn has launched the first of what will be a series of sustainable actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the Australian Securities Exchange as part of a broader business strategy to increase investor access to its investment solutions across asset classes, regions and markets globally.

The abrdn Sustainable Asian Opportunities Active ETF fund (ASX: ASAO) is designed to provide investors with high capital growth over the medium to long term by seeking exposure to Asian markets excluding Japan.

The fund invests primarily in a portfolio of around 35-70 Asian (excl. Japan) quality listed companies which have the potential for capital growth and increased earning potential. abrdn searches out investment targets using a team of 40-strong equity professionals based at seven equity desks across Asia Pacific.

Brett Jollie, Managing Director – Australia, said the launch of the sustainable active ETF series was a core part of abrdn’s product and distribution strategy in the region. The choice of the abrdn Sustainable Asian Opportunities Active ETF fund as ‘the first cab off the rank’ was a reflection of abrdn’s 30 years of experience in managing Asia Pacific equities, the centrality of ESG to its investment approaches, as well as the opportunities abrdn currently sees for investors in Asia.

“We have been long time leaders in Asian and emerging markets investing and this heritage and level of commitment allows us to see opportunities where others can’t. Our research teams have identified several structural themes which we believe will support growth in Asian markets in years to come and the new Active ETF will give access to these. In the meantime, Asia offers attractive valuations with companies trading well below their five-year averages, with the risks of higher inflation and slower growth already priced in.

“Asia represents the most economically dynamic collection of markets anywhere in the world and is well positioned to benefit from the huge investment needed to decarbonise the world, with substantial opportunities in renewables and energy storage production capacity,” Mr Jollie said.

The abrdn Sustainable Asian Opportunities Active ETF investment team combines its own ESG expertise with strong top-down support from abrdn’s Sustainability Group of more than 30 ESG specialists. Our investment team employs a number of sustainable investing approaches, including assigning every company an ESG Quality rating to identify sustainable leaders or improvers, utilising a separate ESG House Score to complement our bottom-up research, and targeting a carbon footprint that is at least 20% lower than the benchmark.

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Raf Choudhury

Global asset manager abrdn has announced it has hired an Investment Director to further strengthen its Australian Multi-Asset Investment Solutions (MAIS) offering for wholesale and institutional investors, financial advice groups and investment platforms.

abrdn has appointed Raf Choudhury to the newly created position where he will play a leading role in managing abrdn’s Australian multi asset funds (including the Multi-Asset Real Return Fund and Multi-Asset Income Fund) and its rapidly growing managed accounts capability. Raf will report to Irene Goh, Head of Multi-Asset Investment Solutions – Asia Pacific, and will be an important member of abrdn’s Asia-Pacific and Global MAIS teams.

Choudhury joins abrdn from State Street Global Advisors where he held a range of portfolio manager roles over a 17-year period in both the UK and Australia, and most recently was State Street’s Head of Investment Strategy & Research – Australia.

Irene Goh, Head of Multi-Asset Investment Solutions – Asia Pacific, abrdn, said: “We are extremely pleased to have Raf onboard to further our successes in Asia Pacific. This signifies our commitment to the business and clients in Australia with Raf driving the growth of abrdn’s multi asset investment capability locally. He will assume the portfolio lead for the Australian-based portfolios and managed accounts.

“The breadth of abrdn’s investment platform across public, alternative and private markets, coupled with digital, sustainability and investment solutions capabilities anchors our ability to provide customised cross-asset solutions to meet clients’ complex needs today. Raf will be instrumental in bringing these to the doorstep of our Australian clients and the investing community. We look forward to partnering with our clients in addressing their challenges.

“A key element of Raf’s responsibilities will also be contributing investment insights to the broader MAIS teams that should translate into successful portfolio strategies. With his experience, we look to Raf delivering valuable and sophisticated analytical research as well as investment strategies to the regional and global investment network. ”

Brett Jollie, Managing Director – Australia, abrdn, added: “This new role is a great example of abrdn investing in the Australian business. We have listened to our clients and acted to meet their needs.

“While Raf will be the Multi Asset business’ point person here in Australia, he will be backed by our large global team of more than 100 MAIS professionals who manage more than AU$83billion (US$61billion) in multi-asset investment strategies.

“Raf will also play an integral role in the development and further growth of our managed account capability. abrdn Australia currently has a suite of over 20 separately managed account solutions for financial advice licensees and advisers to tap into, and is a core growth pillar for the Australian business.”

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The newly formed Sustainability Group will provide subject matter expertise to abrdn’s investment processes and support its sustainable investing value chain through generating insights; setting frameworks and standards; ensuring active ownership; and supporting product design and commerciality and client reporting and outcomes.

Previously Global Head of Responsible Investment, Amanda’s new role will see her sit on abrdn’s Investment Vector Executive for investments to ensure that sustainability remains core to its work, meeting clients’ needs and regulatory requirements. She will report to abrdn’s CEOs for investments, Chris Demetriou (UK, EMEA & Americas) and Rene Buehlmann (APAC).

To support her role, Amanda has made a number of key leadership appointments to the Sustainability Group, effective from 1st April:

Danielle Welsh-Rose, Head of Sustainability APAC and Head of Sustainability Specialists

In addition to taking on the newly created role of Head of Sustainability APAC, Danielle will lead the group responsible for ensuring that abrdn’s client proposition continues to evolve to meet current and future demand. She will also lead the development of abrdn’s sustainability training academy “Grow Sustainably”. Danielle sits on the Executive Leadership Team in APAC and is Head of Sustainability Institute – APAC*. Her previous role was ESG Investment Director (APAC).

Mike Everett, Head of Active Ownership

Mike will continue to lead abrdn’s Active Ownership team who work with teams across the investment vector to ensure that active ownership, including engagement and voting activities, remain at the heart of its investment process. His previous role was Head of Stewardship.

Eva Cairns, Head of Sustainability Insights and Climate Strategy

Eva’s team will lead the sustainability research, climate strategy and thought leadership for investments, through strong partnerships across abrdn. They will ensure that its research is core to sustainability standards, innovation and the client proposition. The team will continue to work with the abrdn Research Institute and across the research functions within each of the investment teams to ensure they capitalise on abrdn’s research capabilities. Eva’s previous role was Head of Climate Change Strategy.

Dan Grandage, Head of Sustainable Investing

Dan will lead efforts in building abrdn’s common approach to sustainable investing across abrdn. This will include setting the sustainability standards and building investment frameworks for the house and abrdn’s sustainability funds, with ESG integration remaining a core part of the investment process within asset classes. Dan’s previous role was Head of ESG, Real Assets in which he will still retain involvement and oversight of.

Amanda Young, chief sustainability officer, abrdn, said: “As client expectations continue to focus increasingly on material ESG matters, we must continue to evolve as an active asset manager to provide solutions which meet these expectations. As part of our on-going commitment to achieve this, and to invest sustainably, we have created the Sustainability Group which is a central component to our investment process.

“The Sustainability Group will continue to coordinate and set the abrdn house view and standards on sustainability matters including climate change, corporate governance, voting and active ownership to support the investment teams in delivering a coherent ESG integration and engagement strategy. More broadly, our strong leadership team will help drive abrdn’s Sustainable Investment approach forward, working to influence external bodies on governance, sustainability, engagement and regulatory matters.”

Brett Jollie, Managing Director, abrdn Australia, said: “At abrdn we integrate ESG considerations into every stage of our investment process, working closely with our companies, clients and regulators to help shape the world around us.

Client demand for Sustainable Investment products is evolving rapidly and The Sustainability Group will help ensure abrdn builds on its position as an ESG pioneer and market leader for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”

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Brett Jollie

At COP26, global asset manager abrdn has announced its target to reduce the carbon intensity of its assets by 50% by 2030 vs a 2019 baseline^[1].

abrdn has developed a climate change strategy focused on Net Zero Directed Investing (NZDI). This means moving towards the goal of net zero in the real world – not just in its portfolios. abrdn will seek to achieve this goal through a set of actions, including rigorous research into net-zero trajectories, developing net-zero-directed investment solutions and active ownership to influence corporates and policy makers.

The goal will be delivered via three pillars of action:

1. Decarbonisation: abrdn is committed to tracking and reducing the carbon intensity of its portfolios. That means continuing to incorporate carbon analysis into the investment process and supporting credible transition leaders and climate solutions. Our equities, credit and quants investments already have the majority of assets with a carbon intensity below benchmark and our Real Estate business has committed to aligning their assets to net zero 2050 pathways.
2. Providing net zero solutions: abrdn is committed to increasing the proportion of assets flowing into net zero directed investing solutions. Around 30% of AUM is currently managed in line with net zero 2050. abrdn will aim to increase this by continuing to develop net zero solutions across all asset classes, actively engaging with clients as well as transitioning its fund range to support net zero goals.
3. Active ownership: abrdn is committed to voting and engaging with its investee companies to drive change and transition real assets. The team will engage with the highest financed emitters across equity and credit holdings seeking transparency on progress against clear transition milestones assessed against relevant standards – such as the Climate Action 100+ net zero benchmark. abrdn will divest from companies where, after two years, it considers insufficient progress has been made against the transition milestones set, unless it’s not in line with the client mandate.

abrdn recognises that sustainable change starts with its own operations. That’s why it is also announcing its own ambitious target of net zero in operations by 2040.

Stephen Bird, CEO of abrdn said: “At abrdn we are acutely aware of our obligation to support the drive towards net zero. That’s why I’m pleased we can announce these climate commitments today – both for the investments we manage and our own operations – which build on those we made earlier in the year.”

“But we must be very clear: simply moving our clients’ money out of high-carbon intensity stocks into greener options will not solve the world’s crisis. Decarbonising a portfolio is not the same as decarbonising an industry. To achieve that we need effective engagement with companies, because more seismic change will come from backing credible transition firms on their path from high to low carbon intensity.”

“And asset managers cannot operate in a vacuum. Bolder, collective action by governments is desperately needed. Effective incentives in the form of appropriate carbon pricing are absolutely critical to enable capital allocation in line with net zero and to create an investment environment which rewards companies and investors that go green. We also need a proper debate  and action on the role of the tax system in the transition. Pricing carbon needs to be focused on changing behaviours, and ensuring a just transition, on a national and global scale.”

Brett Jollie, Managing Director of abrdn Australia added: “At abrdn we believe asset managers must take a forward-looking view to support the net zero transition by providing capital to companies that have ambitious and credible decarbonisation strategies. Active ownership is a powerful tool to influence real world decarbonisation and provides a means to challenge companies on their transition strategies and influence corporate behaviour

“Stronger global climate policy is fundamental to enabling capital allocation in line with net zero 2050 and we urge governments to step up ambition and action,” Mr Jollie said.

This new pledge builds on the commitments abrdn announced earlier this year.

abrdn also believes in collective change which is why it joined the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative which this week also published the first Net Zero Asset Managers initiative Progress Report.

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Brett Jollie

abrdn is making its well established Global Risk Mitigation (GRM) Strategy available to Australian professional and advised investors from yesterday. The strategy aims to help investors mitigate equity risk, reduce portfolio volatility and deliver stronger long-term compounded returns as they plan for their financial future and retirement.

Incepted in 2019, the GRM Strategy is designed to provide investors with an efficient hedge to reduce exposure to large developed market equity drawdowns. This is achieved by actively managing around 30 systematic hedging strategies at all times, brought together within the one solution. 

It is a defensive strategy that targets a strong negative correlation to equities and a beta to the MSCI World Index of -0.6 or lower.

It is also designed to offer greater protection as the equity market drawdown increases (known as convexity), meaning the greater the fall in in the equity market the stronger the potential return generated by the strategy. In March 2020 when the MSCI World Index fell 13.23% the GRM Strategy returned +34.62%^[1].

The GRM Strategy is managed by abrdn’s 50-strong global alternative investment strategies team. The team has over 20 years’ track record in creating and managing outcome-oriented alternative investment portfolios to meet clients’ needs, using a disciplined research-driven investment process.

Stephen Coltman, Lead Portfolio Manager of Global Risk Mitigation Strategy at abrdn said the GRM Strategy has been developed to address the single biggest problem investors face today: finding alternatives to fixed income in order to manage drawdown risk in a portfolio.

“Returns have been plentiful over the past decade as policymakers have kept interest rates low while at the same time injecting liquidity into financial markets. But economic and geopolitical uncertainties, low bond yields and variable cross correlations among traditional assets – particularly in distressed markets – are now clouding the outlook.

“That leaves investors with a tricky dilemma: how to meet return objectives without excessively increasing risk? In a yield-compressed world like today, equities have more room for upside and investors are willing to pay a premium for that. But equities can be a volatile asset class,” Stephen said.

“Traditionally, global bonds would have dampened risks, while still generating returns in a portfolio. That feature seems less reliable today. We have therefore designed the GRM Strategy with a clear objective: to protect growth portfolios at a time when many historically defensive assets have become increasingly correlated to equities.

“GRM brings together a variety of hedging strategies into one managed solution that allows clients to maintain or increase allocations to higher expected return investments while still managing their overall drawdown risk. The strategy brings together the benefits of systematic implementation and execution with active oversight to deliver an efficient and cost effective protective strategy,” he added.

Brett Jollie, Managing Director at abrdn Australia, said: “The GRM Strategy is a great example of the solutions we can provide to investors to help them reach their goals. Financial planners in particular will find this strategy a powerful tool and a valuable addition to their investment proposition to clients.

“Financial planners benefit from having strategies available to them that can help manage downside volatility. Such strategies can reduce drawdowns, provide access to market liquidity during market dislocations, and improve overall compound rates of return.

“GRM is designed to protect an investor’s portfolio throughout their career and into retirement, working to safeguard their financial future and smoothing the investment journey.  It should be regarded as an adviser’s financial planning investment partner, ensuring the foundational strength of their investment strategy.

“One additional consequence if you allocate to GRM is that the expected volatility of the portfolio will fall. If you don’t want risk to be lower, you can allocate more to equities and less to low returning assets such as government bonds,” Brett said.

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[1] Source: July 2020, abrdn, BNP Paribas, GRM Index ticker ENHA GRM3, gross of fees. For illustrative purposes only, past performance is not a guide to future results.

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Michelle Lopez

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) launches the Aberdeen Standard Focused Sustainable Australian Equity Fund (the Fund), as it looks to capitalise on its long track record in global environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing to promote sustainable and responsible investing in Australia.

The Fund is ASI’s first sustainable Australian equity product, and seeks to generate strong long-term performance by investing in an all cap, concentrated portfolio of 20 to 35 financially attractive ASX listed companies that have been identified through ASI’s rigorous bottom-up stock selection as sustainable leaders and improvers in managing ESG risks and opportunities. The fund will target a weighted average carbon intensity at least 20% lower than its benchmark, the S&P /ASX200 Accumulation Index^[1].

The launch of the Fund sees ASI deploy its globally recognised ESG investment capabilities within the Australian equities market at a time when local investors are demanding greater access to an increasingly diverse offering of sustainable and responsible investment products.

The Fund is managed by ASI’s high performing Australian equities team, led by Head of Australian Equities Michelle Lopez and Deputy Head of Australian Equities Natalie Tam.

ASI’s dedicated Responsible Investment and Stewardship function of over 20 ESG specialists conducts thematic ESG research used by it’s on-desk ESG specialists to complement their industry insights and bottom-up ESG analysis, in order to deliver high impact company engagements and actionable ESG insights.

ASI’s Responsible Investment team will also provide top-down support to the fund’s management team, using its proprietary ESG scoring methodology – which incorporates ASI’s own voting and internal analytical insight data – to identify high risk companies for active exclusion, rather than relying wholly on third party research providers.

This allows ASI to take its own views on sector-specific risks into account, enabling a broader assessment of operations and governance risks, rather than just ESG factors.

“The decision to launch the Aberdeen Standard Focused Sustainable Australian Equity Fund now is a reflection of clients’ increasing demand for funds which are focused on investing in more sustainable companies,” Michelle said.

“The notion that looking for ‘sustainable’ companies compromises performance is outdated; at ASI we believe sustainable leaders and improvers are better managed, more proactive, and better positioned to deal with upcoming challenges related to major environmental and social change. We want more Australians to be able to take advantage of these benefits.”

ASI Managing Director Australia Brett Jollie said the firm had a strong track record of responsible investing, stretching across almost three decades.

“We have a long heritage of integrating ESG factors into our equity process, and we’re excited to take the next step in the Australian market with the launch of our inaugural sustainable and responsible Australian equity product, the Aberdeen Standard Focused Sustainable Australian Equity Fund,” Brett said.

“We’ve also got one of the largest dedicated ESG resources in the industry, including our central Responsible Investment and Stewardship teams, our on-desk ESG equity specialists and more than 120 equity investment managers responsible for the ESG assessment of each of our companies.

“We’re looking forward to the success of the fund and we plan to roll out a broader range of sustainable and responsible products in the near future.”

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[1] As measured by the ASI Carbon Footprint tool, which uses Trucost data for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

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Brett Jollie

Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Managing Director Brett Jollie welcomed the Retirement Income Review findings and its acknowledgement that insufficient attention had been given to retirement income.

“As Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has said consistently, Australia has a gaping retirement income system gap. Up until now the solutions have been piecemeal. And it is fair to say that superannuation funds are not ready for the huge shift to decumulation, despite the fact it has already arrived for many Baby Boomers,” Mr Jollie said, adding he looked forward to the government’s response.

ASI Head of Retirement and Product Strategy Jason Nyilas, said a key recommendation of the 2014 Financial System Inquiry was that superannuation funds should make available what are referred to as Comprehensive Income Products for Retirement (CIPR’s) – an approach referenced in the review report.

“While we are happy with advancing the concept of the Retirement Income Covenant in order to provide an overall strategic framework that would guide members into effective retirement strategies, we believe advocating the CIPR approach now puts the cart before the horse. The industry should focus on looking at the complete end-to-end picture, starting with understanding an individual’s wants, needs, risk appetite and changing goals. Product should be the last thing you look at when designing retirement income solutions.

“Without an adequate and clearly mapped out retirement income solutions framework, Australians are headed into the unknown when they retire. We are not currently set up to offer mass customisation and a one size fits all approach is not what is needed. There needs to be a robust retirement income framework before we consider CIPR implications and I hope this review is a catalyst for this,” Mr Nyilas said.

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Brett Jollie

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has signed two more financial planning firms to its separately managed account (SMA) service, as it continues to rapidly grow its presence in the market.

Queensland-based financial planning licensee Futuro Financial Services and WA-based advice firm Profusion Planning are the latest to have joined ASI’s SMA Service, which manages 18 multi-asset, Australian equities and ETF managed portfolios both privately for specific advice businesses and on public menus.

Con Koromilas, Aberdeen Standard Investments Head of Wholesale Sales said ASI’s SMA service was designed to support the new business models required of advice firms to reduce the cost and complexity in efficiently servicing clients in a consistently compliant manner.  The investment solutions embrace goals-based investing to deliver specific outcomes for clients through all market conditions.

“After a decade of structural change, increased regulation and industry reform, many financial planners are finding it difficult to balance an increased compliance burden and still give their entire book of clients the individual attention they deserve”.

“Our separately managed account solutions give time back to advisers so they can service each of their clients the way they want to, with the trust and backing of ASI’s team of over 1000 investment professionals, including 120 multi-asset experts,” Koromilas said.

ASI has provided Australian advice firms with outcome-oriented managed accounts tailored to the goals of their clients since 2017. These SMAs can be used on whichever platform an advice firm nominates, and deliver an end-to-end transparent model with compelling pricing and no reliance on rebates, which is a critical aspect for advice firms.

Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Managing Director Brett Jollie said the Australian SMA market was a significant growth opportunity for ASI, as research showed strong adviser demand for their use and indicated half the industry could be using them by 2022.

“We’re expecting very strong growth in both the number of SMA portfolios we offer and our SMA funds under management because of our ability to provide wholesale advice firms with institutional-grade resources, risk management frameworks, and capabilities at institutional prices,” he said.

Profusion Planning Director Brad Dudumas said the Perth-based firm had already realised the benefits of ASI’s SMA solutions.

Dudumas said “The implementation of ASI’s goal-based models enables closer alignment to our client’s individual objectives as well as greater flexibility when managing downside investment risk. In addition, we have been able to strip back cost for our clients which was a key focus for us.”

Paul Kelly, Managing Director of the group that owns Futuro Financial Services and Insight Investment Services said “partnering with ASI to deliver bespoke SMA solutions will make recent and future periods of market instability far more manageable for our member firms and independent financial adviser partners.”

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Brett Jollie

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has launched the Aberdeen Standard Global Smaller Companies Fund (the “Fund”) in Australia.

The Fund provides investors and financial advisers with access to a high-conviction, professionally managed portfolio of quality global smaller company investment opportunities.

“We are delighted to be making our Global Smaller Companies strategy available in Australia,” said Brett Jollie, Managing Director of Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia. “It’s a further demonstration of our focus on bringing our suite of world-leading global investment capabilities to meet the needs of Australian investors.”

“Australian investors tend to have a high exposure to larger companies in their offshore portfolios,” Brett continued. “By adding exposure to smaller companies investors can introduce additional long-term capital growth opportunities while diversifying investment risk.”

The Aberdeen Standard Global Smaller Companies Fund is co-managed by Alan Rowsell and Kirsty Desson, who have 24 years and 20 years’ investment experience respectively and are part of a dedicated team of nine covering global small caps.

The U.K. version of the Fund has GBP1.16 billion in assets under management as at end May 2020, and has achieved an annualised return of 14% (net of fees) over the five years to 31 May 2020. During this period, the Fund has achieved an average annualised outperformance of 6.4% (net of fees) when compared with MSCI AC World Small Cap^[1].

Alan Rowsell, manager of the Aberdeen Standard Global Smaller Companies Fund, said: “Around 70 percent of the world’s listed companies are small-caps, but they attract less analyst coverage than their larger cap peers. This means there are often greater and more frequent discrepancies between their fundamentals and their market valuations, creating a rich environment for a fundamental, active stock picker like ASI to find promising businesses before the rest of the market.

“While market conditions have been challenging recently, we have significant experience managing client money in a range of market environments, using an investment process that has been unchanged since the 1990s.

“We are long term investors, thinking about companies over the next 3-5 years, not the next 3-5 months. We are driven by a focus on high quality companies with strong balance sheets and resilient earnings profiles, many of which are leaders and innovators with sustainable growth prospects in niche market segments, and as a result tend to generate higher returns over the long term regardless of the challenging macro environment.”

“Importantly, we place environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations and active stewardship at the heart of our investment approach. Understanding ESG risks and opportunities in small caps alongside other financial metrics allows us to make more informed decisions and generate better risk-adjusted returns  for our clients,” he added.

The Aberdeen Standard Global Smaller Companies Fund recently received its inaugural research rating of “Recommended” from research house Zenith Investment Partners.

The product disclosure statement is available on ASI’s Australian website.

ASI also recently partnered with leading investment platform HUB24 to provide comprehensive digital client engagement tools and tailored investment solutions, enabling financial advisers to serve a wider range of clients in a more personalised way.

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[1] Bloomberg, May 31 2020

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