Stephane Andre

Alphinity Investment Management’s Sustainable Share Fund has been added to the FirstChoice platform.

The Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund is rated Highly Recommended by Lonsec and Recommended by Zenith. It invests in between 35 and 55 companies listed on the ASX which support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, have good environmental, social and governance practices, and create positive social and economic outcomes.

The Fund is also a top performer, returning 9.1% p.a.^[1] in the ten years since its inception, 1.8% above its benchmark, the S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index.

Alphinity Principal and Portfolio Manager Stephane Andre said Alphinity was delighted to bring an Australian sustainable fund to FirstChoice.

“Over the last decade we’ve provided investors with access to a diversified portfolio of Australian stocks listed on the ASX that have strong ESG characteristics and, where possible, contribute towards the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By bringing the Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund to the Colonial First State FirstChoice platform we are able to reaffirm that commitment and broaden the reach of the Fund to even more investors,” Mr Andre said.

The Fund is co-managed by Stephane Andre and Bruce Smith, who are also Principals and founded Alphinity in 2010 along with Johan Carlberg and Andrew Martin.  Andre and Smith are supported by recently appointed Alphinity ESG and Sustainability Manager, Jessica Cairns along with rigorous overview by the Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund Compliance Committee, which includes independent sustainability experts Elaine Prior and Melissa Stewart.

Alphinity Investment Management is supported by Challenger Limited subsidiary Fidante Partners, which forms long term alliances with talented investment teams to support and grow specialist investment management businesses.

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[1] Source: Fidante Partners: returns are calculated after fees have been deducted and assume distributions have been reinvested. No allowance is made for tax when calculating these figures. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

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Bruce Smith

Leading Australian and global equities boutique fund manager, Alphinity Investment Management, has set a new standard in sustainable investing with the launch of the Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund (SSF).

The fund seeks to address the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda in its investment. It has also appointed Australian Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) investment pioneer Elaine Prior and fellow ESG veteran and Action Sustainability Asia Pacific co-founder Mark Lyster to its Sustainable Share Fund Compliance Committee, to provide an independent external review of companies in which the fund has invested.

Lonsec has recognised the strength of Alphinity‘s ESG investment framework and compliance committee by giving the new fund a Highly Recommended rating. In its rating report, Lonsec said it liked Alphinity’s ‘boutique’ ownership structure, and the investment philosophy of the investment team which applied a proven and well formulated combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis.

The Alphinity SSF provides a diversified portfolio of Australian stocks that have strong ESG characteristics and, where possible, contribute towards the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Alphinity SSF aims to outperform the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index (after fees) over rolling five-year periods. The fund will typically hold between 35-55 stocks and has a management fee of 0.95%.

Bruce Smith, Principal and Portfolio Manager of the Alphinity SSF said; “Society faces significant challenges to achieve sustainable development. Alphinity aims to address these challenges. We are committed to supporting companies our research shows do good and avoiding those that don’t.

“We seek companies which, along with offering attractive financial returns, have strong ESG practices and/or have the capacity to make a positive impact on society in areas of economic, environmental and social development by contributing towards the advancement of the UN SDG agenda. We avoid companies that are materially involved in activities we consider harmful to society and are inconsistent with the achievement of the goals, and/or display poor practices in their management of ESG issues.”

Stephane Andre, Principal and Portfolio Manager of the Alphinity SSF said; “The Alphinity Sustainable Share Fund is true to label. Sustainability is not just an add-on or a ‘bumper sticker’, it is at the core of this fund. For example, we will not support companies which generate more than 10% of their revenues from producing or operating high impact fuels such as uranium, thermal coal, coal seam gas, oil sands and arctic drilling which are considered environmentally unfriendly and for which sustainable alternatives exist.

“The fund also excludes companies involved in gold mining, animal mistreatment, old growth forest logging, predatory lending and hostile debt collection, and pornography. It will however invest in some companies in extractive industries, as the provision of certain commodities are vital if you want to achieve sustainable development,” said Mr Andre.

The Alphinity SSF was recently awarded the Lonsec/Money Management Fund Manager of the Year award in the Responsible Investment category.

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