Ecofin Sustainable Listed Infrastructure UCITS Fund

SRI Style:

Sustainable Style

SDR Labelling:

Not eligible to use label

Product:

SICAV/Offshore

Fund Region:

Global

Fund Asset Type:

Equity

Launch Date:

23/02/2022

Last Amended:

Aug 2024

Dialshifter ():

Fund Size:

£1.90m

(as at: 30/04/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:

£2070.00m

Total Assets Under Management:

£2070.00m

ISIN:

IE00073SD237, IE000PMTLZO6, IE000JB71MO6

Objectives:

The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve a high and secure dividend yield on its portfolio and to realise long-term growth in the capital value of its net assets for the benefit of investors while taking care to preserve capital.

 

The Fund invests globally in the equity securities of growth-oriented sustainable infrastructure companies which are delivering increasing cash flows. The portfolio is diversified with respect to geography, sub-sector and investment themes, and it has a positive impact given the strategy’s focus on sustainability. The Fund’s assets are predominantly invested in the equity of economic infrastructure companies in developed countries.

Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:

Ecofin’s Sustainable Listed Infrastructure (SLI) strategy invests globally in growth-oriented economic infrastructure companies which are committed to the energy transition and have fundamentally strong ESG credentials. For the purposes of investment, economic infrastructure companies are those that own and operate assets which are essential to the functioning of economies and to economic development and growth, notably utilities and transportation-related assets such as roads, railways, ports, and airports. We attempt to identify and invest in the infrastructure supporting growth and sustainability objectives, and do so through three main Introduction investment themes: Electrification, Environmental Services, and Transportation Infrastructure.

Primary fund last amended:

Aug 2024

Information directly from fund manager.

Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
Sustainability policy

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Sustainability focus

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Sustainability theme or focus

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Encourage more sustainable practices through stewardship

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UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) focus

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Transition focus

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Report against sustainability objectives

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Environmental - General
Environmental policy

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Favours cleaner, greener companies

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Climate Change & Energy
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy

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Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded

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Fracking and tar sands excluded

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Arctic drilling exclusion

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Fossil fuel reserves exclusion

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Clean / renewable energy theme or focus

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Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity

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Invests in clean energy / renewables

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Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement

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Paris aligned fund strategy

This fund has a strategy that aims ensure its holdings will gradually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The ultimate aim is to achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary. Read fund information.

Human Rights
Human rights policy

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Child labour exclusion

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Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

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Responsible supply chain policy or theme

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Gilts & Sovereigns
Gilts / government bonds - exclude some

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Gilts / government bonds - exclude all

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Governance & Management
Governance policy

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Avoids companies with poor governance

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UN sanctions exclusion

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Anti-bribery and corruption policy

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Encourage board diversity e.g. gender

Fund managers encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)

Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity

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Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy

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Targeted Positive Investments
Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

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Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

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Impact Methodologies
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')

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Measures positive impacts

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Positive environmental impact theme

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Invests in environmental solutions companies

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Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’

50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.

How The Fund Works
Positive selection bias

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Limited / few ethical exclusions

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Significant harm exclusion

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Assets mapped to SDGs

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Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria

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SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website

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Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 80 – 89%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives > 90%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets

No ‘diversifiers’ used other than cash

Fund that only invest in cash to aid the practical management (buying and selling) of assets. These funds do not use additional financial instruments.

Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for investors interested in sustainability

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Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact

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Labels & Accreditations
SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU)

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Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Boutique / specialist fund management company

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Specialist positive impact fund management company

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Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)

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ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)

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Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

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SDG aligned aims / objectives (AFM company wide)

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Responsible ownership policy for non SRI funds (AFM company wide)

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Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research

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In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)

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Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)

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Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

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Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise

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ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)

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Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

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Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)

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Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)

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Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)

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Publish 'CEO owned' Climate Risk policy (AFM company wide)

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Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)

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Transparency
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website

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Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information available on request

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Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

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Dialshifter statement

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Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

Ecofin’s Sustainable Listed Infrastructure (SLI) strategy invests in companies whose core assets respond to essential needs, operate within solid regulatory frameworks, and have predictable and sustainable cash flows. These include electric and gas utilities and renewable energies, environmental services, and transportation infrastructure. The businesses we select for our portfolios are growing as they invest to accomplish vital infrastructure upgrades and sustainability objectives. We leverage our expertise as sector-specialists to identify companies transitioning from legacy structures to cleaner business models in the early stages of their transformation, in order to capture the full value creation associated with it.

 

We attempt to identify and invest in the infrastructure supporting growth and sustainability objectives, and do so through three main sustainable investment themes:

Electrification: The power sector is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the decarbonization and electrification of energy demand. Utilities are at the forefront of this multidecade transition. By adapting and, in many cases, substantially overhauling their business models to accommodate new greener technologies and decentralized power sources, utilities are bound to be major beneficiaries of secular growth and attractive returns on significant capital investments.

 

Environmental Services: Companies involved in the abstraction, treatment and supply of water and the treatment of waste-water, and the provision of environmental services such as recycling and waste management. These businesses are critical to the conservation of energy and water resources and an overall reduction in waste and emissions.

 

Transportation Infrastructure: Transportation infrastructure and services are essential to developed societies and economic growth. These business models have growth potential due to the urgent need to build out and/or replace outdated infrastructure to accommodate economic growth and to modernize infrastructure to cope with the energy transition. This includes the buildout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure along toll roads, the upgrading of refueling infrastructure to accommodate sustainable aviation fuels and potentially hydrogen at airports, and the repurposing of land area adjacent to the infrastructure for sustainable uses such as the production of renewable energy or afforestation. According to most calculations, the annual level of global infrastructure investment must increase two-fold by 2035 to keep pace with projected GDP growth, the disruption caused by the energy transition and the adoption of renewables, and to meet the UN’s SDGs.

 

In partnership with CarbonAnalytics, and regarding the Scope 1 emissions of the asset-backed infrastructure sub-universe, the team updates a global proprietary database of power generation companies with detailed CO2 emissions by source of power and by company.  This is compared to the respective power grids in which each company’s assets are operating to arrive at a ‘net improvement’ position for all of these exposures, which is important because the utilities industry has the highest carbon emission intensity (per $ revenue) of any specific industry group. We warehouse this power generation emissions data for a period of time to monitor portfolio emissions trends and utilise these to define our investment universe.

 

Additionally, the investment team utilizes a proprietary data and reporting framework that was developed in-house, which collects and summarizes a combination of datapoints, scores, and controversies on public companies using data obtained from third-party ESG data providers and other internal and external sources. This framework is known as the Ecofin Sustainability Monitor (the “ESM ”).

 

We also have a series of specific ESG and sustainability quantitative screens:

  • Besides the power generation emission data from CarbonAnalytics, we conduct analysis internally on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and calculate the portfolio’s carbon footprint including financed emissions and carbon intensity.
  • We monitor revenue and CAPEX exposure to the investment themes.
  • We track companies’ Net Zero and more general emissions reduction targets
  • The fund is committed to a minimum portion of investments to be sustainable investments as defined by the Sub-Investment Manager’s proprietary methodology that identifies sustainable investments based on contribution to UN SDGs. Details can be found in our strategy level Sustainability and Impact report.

 

We believe our strategy is positively contributing towards a more sustainable future by aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 3,6,7,8,9,11,12,13 and 14.

 

 

Process:

At the idea generation stage, both qualitative and quantitative methods incorporating ESG factors are adopted. To define our investment universe, we include ESG criteria such as revenue exposure to strategy themes and fossil fuel exposure thresholds. In the subsequent investment due diligence process, the team conducts sustainability analysis. We obtain sustainability data from different sources including companies’ management team and third-party data sources.

 

The investment process comprises an assessment of macroeconomic and regulatory factors relevant to the sectors but it concentrates first and foremost on grass-roots fundamental analysis of companies. The team utilises a four-pronged research approach which includes qualitative, quantitative, relative value analyses and carbon analysis. For each company the team considers a host of non-financial data points and examines supplementary disclosures and materials around sustainability or ESG issues issued by the company or by a review agency. This ESG analysis is then considered along with other quantitative and qualitative factors to create a composite qualitative picture of a company.

We typically employ the below analyses to arrive at investment decisions: 

  • Qualitative analysis: The team uses proprietary risk models to assess a company’s asset quality, management, stability of cash flows and ESG factors
  • Quantitative analysis: The team employs proprietary financial models to understand growth prospects, liquidity position and sensitivities to key drivers
  • Relative value analysis: Valuation models and equity market indicators guide portfolio weightings; screening tables allow the investment team to compare companies and stocks according to different criteria (for example, regulatory risk profile, valuation metrics, ESG scores, historical valuation ranges)
  • Carbon analysis: in partnership with a third-party provider, the team updates a global proprietary database of power generation companies with detailed CO2 emissions by source of power and by company

 

Sustainability risk analysis is also a part of stock assessment to identify ESG risks, or potential risks, of investments to ascertain the nature of the sustainability risk, as well as its materiality. This process seeks to assess how ESG risks can derail or materially impact the underlying investment case of a company. The team integrates sustainability risks into its investment decision making process both at the initial due diligence stage and as part of its ongoing risk management.

 

To evaluate the ESG credentials of companies, we collect different types of data from various resources, direct and indirect. 

 

  • Third party sustainability data providers: MSCI and Bloomberg. We obtain raw sustainability related data, such as emissions data and climate targets, to conduct subsequent in-house analysis with our own analytics tools.
  • Sell-side research: the Sustainable Investment Strategist interacts with ESG teams from different organizations on investment mega trends, regulations and stock specific ESG analysis. The investment team also receives and reads research papers on similar topics.
  • Proprietary data: we work with CarbonAnalytics on a contracted basis to maintain our proprietary generators database. We warehouse power generation emissions data for a period of time to monitor portfolio emissions trends and utilise these to define our investment universe.
  • Investee companies: we collect data from companies’ sustainability reports, other filings and websites. We may also directly engage the companies’ management teams to encourage them to disclosure relevant sustainability data.
  • Other third-party resources: we collect data from different sources including SBTi, IEA, CDP and so on.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Each company is assigned a Lead Analyst who is responsible for all aspects of the research process and for engaging with company management both before investment and on an ongoing basis.  The Lead Analyst and the Sustainability Strategist identify the E, S and G risks or potential risks to ascertain the nature of the risk as well as its materiality and monitor them throughout the holding period, with support from the SRI team. The primary aim of this process is to assess how each risk can derail the underlying investment case of a company.  As part of this process, the SRI team provides external data tools in addition to our internal ESM system to assist our analysts in this review. No part of the decision-making process is outsourced to an external entity or individual.

 

The Sustainable Investment Strategist (the “Strategist”), who sits on the investment team, is responsible for sustainability and ESG analysis within the investment process. The Strategist reviews sustainability and ESG attributes of each public company prior to inclusion in a portfolio and implements the policies developed and maintained by the SRI team. The Strategist also leads sustainability-related engagement efforts with companies.

 

Additionally, the investment team is supported by a dedicated sustainability and ESG team referred to as the Sustainability & Responsible Investing (“SRI”) Team. The SRI team is responsible for the firm’s sustainability and ESG policies and procedures, regulatory and governance framework, impact reporting, and other strategic initiatives. The SRI team supports data, reporting, and training needs, assists with the implementation of the Sustainability & Impact Policy, and collaborates with peers through global initiatives like UN PRI, Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, and the GIIN. Additionally, the SRI team works closely with the investment teams to integrate firm policies within the investment process.

The firm’s Sustainability & Impact Committee (the “Committee”) is responsible for oversight of the firm’s sustainability and ESG framework. The Committee provides governance to comply with evolving global regulatory frameworks such as the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) and works with the SRI team to align policies with the firm’s strategic values. The Committee includes representatives from Ecofin’s executive leadership team, compliance team, and investment team, among others, to ensure consistent implementation of policies and initiatives across the firm. The Committee meets at least quarterly.

 

While we rely heavily on proprietary research prepared in-house by the investment team and the Sustainability & Responsible Investing Team, we also utilise data provided by third parties as well as a wide array of sell-side research primarily used to compare expectations as well as to get timely news.

 

Important third-party research sources include Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), CarbonAnalytics, MSCI and Sustainalytics. BNEF’s data is helpful and important for the team’s understanding of sector and regulatory issues and allows it to identify discrepancies between BNEF, proprietary and sell-side research forecasts/models. Besides interaction with sell-side research sector analysts on fundamental analysis, our Sustainable Investment Strategist may interact with sell-side sustainability teams for updates on market trends and sustainability investment themes.

 

The investment team utilises Bloomberg, MSCI, and Sustainalytics data to complement the team’s proprietary environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) assessments, with the goal of leveraging MSCI’s thorough ESG review for each company entering into the portfolio and broad coverage. The MSCI service is a helpful tool to assist the investment team in quickly identifying focus areas for each company’s E, S, and G assessments. Sustainalytics helps us to identify controversies in different areas and the ongoing monitoring of such.

 

In addition to qualitative research, the investment team utilizes a proprietary data and reporting framework that was developed in-house, which collects and summarizes a combination of datapoints, scores, and controversies on public companies using data obtained from third-party ESG data providers and other internal and external sources. This framework is known as the Ecofin Sustainability Monitor (the “ESM ”).

 

 

Ecofin’s parent company and/or its affiliates are signatory to or involved in the following ESG related organizations: United Principles for Responsible Investment, Ceres, CDP, TCFD, Net Zero Asset Management Initiatives, GIIN, Climate Action 100+ among others.

Dialshifter

This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by…

investing globally in growth-oriented economic infrastructure companies which are committed to the energy transition and have fundamentally strong ESG credentials.

 

Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…

…supporting a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy and being a proud signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.  

 

SDR Labelling: Not eligible to use label

Fund Name SRI Style SDR Labelling Product Region Asset Type Launch Date Last Amended

Ecofin Sustainable Listed Infrastructure UCITS Fund

Sustainable Style Not eligible to use label SICAV/Offshore Global Equity 23/02/2022 Aug 2024

Objectives

The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve a high and secure dividend yield on its portfolio and to realise long-term growth in the capital value of its net assets for the benefit of investors while taking care to preserve capital.

 

The Fund invests globally in the equity securities of growth-oriented sustainable infrastructure companies which are delivering increasing cash flows. The portfolio is diversified with respect to geography, sub-sector and investment themes, and it has a positive impact given the strategy’s focus on sustainability. The Fund’s assets are predominantly invested in the equity of economic infrastructure companies in developed countries.

Fund Size: £1.90m

(as at: 30/04/2024)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £2070.00m

(as at: 30/04/2024)

Total Assets Under Management: £2070.00m

(as at: 30/04/2024)

ISIN: IE00073SD237, IE000PMTLZO6, IE000JB71MO6

Contact Us: apickard@ecofininvest.com

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Overview

Ecofin’s Sustainable Listed Infrastructure (SLI) strategy invests globally in growth-oriented economic infrastructure companies which are committed to the energy transition and have fundamentally strong ESG credentials. For the purposes of investment, economic infrastructure companies are those that own and operate assets which are essential to the functioning of economies and to economic development and growth, notably utilities and transportation-related assets such as roads, railways, ports, and airports. We attempt to identify and invest in the infrastructure supporting growth and sustainability objectives, and do so through three main Introduction investment themes: Electrification, Environmental Services, and Transportation Infrastructure.

Primary fund last amended: Aug 2024

Information received directly from Fund Manager

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Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
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Report against sustainability objectives

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Environmental - General
Environmental policy

Funds that have policies which relate to environmental issues. These will typically set out the fund's stance on issues such as pollution, climate change, resource management, biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, plastics and/or additional environmental impacts. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.

Favours cleaner, greener companies

Funds that aim to invest in companies with strong or market leading environmental policies and practices. Strategies vary - in particular the balance between 'financial' aspects and environmental benefits. Some may invest substantially in solutions or 'positive impact' companies - others may invest in more conventional companies providing certain environmental criteria are met. See fund information for further detail.

Climate Change & Energy
Climate change / greenhouse gas emissions policy

Funds that have policies (documented strategies that explain their position on) climate change related issues such as greenhouse gas/carbon emissions, net zero, transitioning to lower carbon. Strategies vary. Read fund details for further information.

Coal, oil & / or gas majors excluded

Funds that avoid investing in major coal, oil and/or gas (extraction) companies. Funds vary: some may exclude all companies that extract oil. Others may have exposure to oil extraction via more diversified energy companies. See fund literature to confirm details.

Fracking and tar sands excluded

Funds that avoid companies involved in fracking and tar sands - which are widely regarded as controversial methods of oil and gas extraction. Strategies vary. See fund information for further information.

Arctic drilling exclusion

Funds that avoid companies that are involved in extracting oil from the Arctic regions. See fund literature for further details.

Fossil fuel reserves exclusion

Funds that avoid investing in companies with coal, oil and gas reserves. See fund information for further details.

Clean / renewable energy theme or focus

Find funds where investment in clean / renewable energy companies an other assets is central to their investment selection strategy. The proportion of the fund that is directly or indirectly invested in renewable energy varies between funds and over time. See fund information for further details.

Encourage transition to low carbon through stewardship activity

A core element of these funds will aim to encourage the transition to lower carbon activities through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement / voting activity

Invests in clean energy / renewables

Funds that hold companies in the clean energy and renewable energy sectors (at the time research was supplied). Fund strategies vary, in particular the proportion of investment in these areas may vary significantly. Check fund literature for details.

Fossil fuel exploration exclusion - direct involvement

The fund manager excludes companies with direct involvement in fossil fuel exploration (eg coal, oil and gas companies)

Paris aligned fund strategy

This fund has a strategy that aims ensure its holdings will gradually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with targets set at COP21 in Paris. The ultimate aim is to achieve ‘net zero emissions by 2050’ and a ‘maximum global temperature increase of +1.5 to +2 degrees above preindustrial levels’. Strategies and opinions vary. Read fund information.

Human Rights
Human rights policy

Find funds that have policies relating to human rights issues. Funds of this kind typically require companies to demonstrate higher standards, although some fund managers work to encourage improvements. Investee companies are often judged against internationally agreed norms or standards. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

Child labour exclusion

Find funds that have policies in place to ensure they do not invest in companies that employ children.

Oppressive regimes (not free or democratic) exclusion policy

Find funds with policies that exclude companies or other assets where regimes are not democratic, or where people may be oppressed. May use eg. Freedom House research. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Responsible supply chain policy or theme

Find funds that have policies or a theme that relates to the responsible management of supply chains. These may relate to employment issues, notably people employed by their suppliers, as well as the sourcing of materials and products. See fund literature for further information.

Gilts & Sovereigns
Gilts / government bonds - exclude some

Find funds that avoid investing in 'some' gilts or government bonds. Strategies vary, but this may relate to avoiding specific countries or particular reasons for bond issuance. 'Green gilts' for example would be likely to be acceptable. See fund literature for further information.

Gilts / government bonds - exclude all

Find funds that do not invest in, or exclude, gilts and/or government bonds.

Governance & Management
Governance policy

Find fund options that have policies that relate to corporate governance issues such as board structure, executive remuneration, bribery and/or corporate corruption. These funds will typically avoid companies with poor practices. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Avoids companies with poor governance

Find funds that aim to avoid investing in companies with poor governance practices.(e.g. board structure, management practices etc.) Views may however vary on what counts as 'poor' practices - and funds may not immediately divest as they may prefer to work to encourage higher standards. See fund literature for further information.

UN sanctions exclusion

Exclude companies that are subject to United Nations sanctions. See eg https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list

Anti-bribery and corruption policy

Find funds that have policies explaining how managers will respond to assets / companies that do not comply with relevant anti-bribery and anti-corruption standards or laws. Strategies vary; options include stewardship/ engagement and divestment - or a combination. See fund literature for further information.

Encourage board diversity e.g. gender

Fund managers encourage the companies they invest in to have more diverse board structures (e.g. more women on boards)

Encourage higher ESG standards through stewardship activity

A core element of these funds will aim to encourage higher ESG standards through responsible ownership / stewardship / engagement /voting activity

Fund Governance
ESG integration strategy

Find funds that factor in 'environmental, social and governance' issues as part of their investment decision making process. A focus on 'ESG' typically means a fund is carrying out additional research to help reduce ESG related risks. It does not necessarily mean a focus on sustainability. Strategies vary. See fund literature.

Targeted Positive Investments
Invests >25% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >25% of their capital towards companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

Invests >50% of fund in environmental/social solutions companies

Find funds that invest >50% of their capital in companies where a major part of their business is focused on helping to address environmental or social challenges.

Impact Methodologies
Aims to generate positive impacts (or 'outcomes')

Funds that aim to help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Measures positive impacts

Funds that aim to measure the positive real world environmental and / or social benefits that are associated with their investment strategy. Funds that aim to deliver positive impacts and measure those impacts may be referred to as 'impact funds' - although impact measurement is not restricted to impact funds. Strategies vary. See fund information.

Positive environmental impact theme

Find funds that specifically set out to help deliver positive environmental impacts, benefits or 'real world' outcomes.

Invests in environmental solutions companies

Find funds that direct investment towards companies where a major part of their business is about solving environmental challenges. e.g. companies helping to address climate change.

Over 50% in assets providing environmental or social ‘solutions’

50% of fund assets are regarded by the fund manager as being significantly focused on providing solutions to environmental or social challenges. Strategies vary.

How The Fund Works
Positive selection bias

Find funds that focus on finding and investing in companies with positive / beneficial attributes. This strategy can be applied in addition to exclusion criteria and engagement/stewardship activity.

Limited / few ethical exclusions

Find funds with few exclusions - typically for example exclude tobacco or companies that breach commonly adopted standards or norms such as the UN Global Compact.

Significant harm exclusion

Aims to avoid companies that do significant harm. This originates from the EU’s sustainable finance ‘DNSH’ (do no significant harm) work, which is not necessarily used by UK investors.

Assets mapped to SDGs

Find funds that have 'mapped' (reviewed) their investment selection and management strategies to identify which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the fund is helping to address.

Combines ESG strategy with other SRI criteria

Find funds that have an ESG strategy (which is typically focused on avoiding companies that pose environmental, social or governance related risks) with additional criteria such as positive and/or negative screens, themes and stewardship strategies.

SRI / ESG / Ethical policies explained on website

Find funds that have published explanations of their ethical, social and/or environmental policies online (i.e. fund decision making strategies/ buy/sell &/or asset management strategies).

Unscreened Assets & Cash
Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 70 - 79%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives 80 – 89%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets.

Assets typically aligned to sustainability objectives > 90%

The percentage of assets held within the fund that match the fund’s sustainability objectives and are not being held purely for risk management purposes, such as derivatives and cash equivalent assets

No ‘diversifiers’ used other than cash

Fund that only invest in cash to aid the practical management (buying and selling) of assets. These funds do not use additional financial instruments.

Intended Clients & Product Options
Intended for investors interested in sustainability

Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in sustainability issues.

Intended for clients who want to have a positive impact

Finds funds designed to meet the needs of individual investors with an interest in ‘Impact investment funds’ which help or support the delivery of positive social or environmental impacts (or societal/real world outcomes) by investing in companies they regard as beneficial to people and / or the planet. Strategies vary. See fund literature for further information.

Labels & Accreditations
SFDR Article 8 fund / product (EU)

Finds funds classified under Article 8 of the EU’s SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Requirements). Article 8 of the SFDR is a set of requirements that apply to financial products that 'promote' environmental or social characteristics with high governance also. These rules do not currently apply to UK funds so many managers may leave this field blank.

Fund Management Company Information

About The Business
Boutique / specialist fund management company

Find fund management companies that are smaller or specialise in particular areas - notably, ideally ESG related. Strategies vary.

Specialist positive impact fund management company

Find fund management companies (or subsidiaries) that specialise in - or focus entirely on - investing in assets that are helping to deliver positive environmental and / or social impacts.

Responsible ownership / stewardship policy or strategy (AFM company wide)

Finds fund management companies that have a published company wide stewardship, engagement and / or responsible ownership policy or strategy that covers all investments. Stewardship typically involves encouraging higher ESG standards through voting and dialogue.

ESG / SRI engagement (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that actively encourage higher 'environmental, social and governance' and/or 'sustainable and responsible investment' practices across investee companies - typically where the aim is to encourage positive change that is aligned with the best interests of investors. Strategies vary. See additional information and options.

Vote all* shares at AGMs / EGMs (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that vote all* the shares they own at Annual General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. A commitment to voting shares is a key indicator of 'responsible share ownership' demonstrating their support for or disagreement with management policy. (*situations can legitimately, occasionally occur where voting proves impossible, but in principle all shares should be voted.)

SDG aligned aims / objectives (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that aim to align all their investments (across all funds) to help meet the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Responsible ownership policy for non SRI funds (AFM company wide)

Find funds run by fund managers that apply Responsible ownership or 'Stewardship' policies to all or most of their investment assets. This means active involvement (e.g. voting, dialogue) with the companies they invest in across funds (not normally limited to ethical or SRI options.) Read fund literature for further information.

Integrates ESG factors into all / most (AFM) fund research

Find fund management companies that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when deciding whether or not to invest in a company for all / almost all of their funds and other assets. This is increasingly seen as part of sound risk management.

In-house diversity improvement programme (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have an in-house (company wide) diversity improvement programme - meaning that they are working to ensure that within their own businesses they employ people from diverse backgrounds - often typically focused on ethnicity and/or sex.

Diversity, equality & inclusion engagement policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that encourage the companies they invest in to have strong diversity, race, gender and other equality policies across all assets held, not simply screened or themed SRI/ESG funds. (ie Asset Management company wide).

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

Find fund management companies that have signed up to the UN backed 'Principles of Responsible Investment'.

Resources
In-house responsible ownership / voting expertise

Find fund management companies that employ people to steer and support fund managers in voting shares at company AGM's and EGMs in ways that are consistent with encouraging higher ESG/sustainability standards.

ESG specialists on all investment desks (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have one or more ESG/sustainability experts on all investment teams or 'desks' (all asset types)

Company Wide Exclusions
Controversial weapons avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies (not funds) that avoid investment in 'controversial weapons' across all of their funds and other investment vehicles.

Fossil fuel exclusion policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in fossil fuel companies (e.g. coal, oil and gas) across all of their funds. (and/ or other assets.)

Coal exclusion policy (group wide coal mining exclusion policy)

This asset manager excludes direct investment in the coal mining industry. Managers ability to do this may depend on the geographic regions in which they invest.

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero commitment (AFM company wide)

Fund management organisations that have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’. Strategies vary - this area is changing rapidly.

Publish 'CEO owned' Climate Risk policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that have published a Climate Risk policy or statement that is signed / owned by their Chief Executive.

Encourage carbon / greenhouse gas reduction (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Transparency
Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information on company website

Find companies that publish information about their sustainable and responsible investment strategies on their company website.

Full SRI / responsible ownership policy information available on request

Find fund management companies that will supply information about their sustainable and responsible investment activity on request.

Paris Alignment plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they will align to the climate change commitments made at the Paris Climate Talks, COP21.

Dialshifter statement

Find fund management companies that have supplied Dialshifter information. See Dialshifter tab within record for more information.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

Ecofin’s Sustainable Listed Infrastructure (SLI) strategy invests in companies whose core assets respond to essential needs, operate within solid regulatory frameworks, and have predictable and sustainable cash flows. These include electric and gas utilities and renewable energies, environmental services, and transportation infrastructure. The businesses we select for our portfolios are growing as they invest to accomplish vital infrastructure upgrades and sustainability objectives. We leverage our expertise as sector-specialists to identify companies transitioning from legacy structures to cleaner business models in the early stages of their transformation, in order to capture the full value creation associated with it.

 

We attempt to identify and invest in the infrastructure supporting growth and sustainability objectives, and do so through three main sustainable investment themes:

Electrification: The power sector is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the decarbonization and electrification of energy demand. Utilities are at the forefront of this multidecade transition. By adapting and, in many cases, substantially overhauling their business models to accommodate new greener technologies and decentralized power sources, utilities are bound to be major beneficiaries of secular growth and attractive returns on significant capital investments.

 

Environmental Services: Companies involved in the abstraction, treatment and supply of water and the treatment of waste-water, and the provision of environmental services such as recycling and waste management. These businesses are critical to the conservation of energy and water resources and an overall reduction in waste and emissions.

 

Transportation Infrastructure: Transportation infrastructure and services are essential to developed societies and economic growth. These business models have growth potential due to the urgent need to build out and/or replace outdated infrastructure to accommodate economic growth and to modernize infrastructure to cope with the energy transition. This includes the buildout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure along toll roads, the upgrading of refueling infrastructure to accommodate sustainable aviation fuels and potentially hydrogen at airports, and the repurposing of land area adjacent to the infrastructure for sustainable uses such as the production of renewable energy or afforestation. According to most calculations, the annual level of global infrastructure investment must increase two-fold by 2035 to keep pace with projected GDP growth, the disruption caused by the energy transition and the adoption of renewables, and to meet the UN’s SDGs.

 

In partnership with CarbonAnalytics, and regarding the Scope 1 emissions of the asset-backed infrastructure sub-universe, the team updates a global proprietary database of power generation companies with detailed CO2 emissions by source of power and by company.  This is compared to the respective power grids in which each company’s assets are operating to arrive at a ‘net improvement’ position for all of these exposures, which is important because the utilities industry has the highest carbon emission intensity (per $ revenue) of any specific industry group. We warehouse this power generation emissions data for a period of time to monitor portfolio emissions trends and utilise these to define our investment universe.

 

Additionally, the investment team utilizes a proprietary data and reporting framework that was developed in-house, which collects and summarizes a combination of datapoints, scores, and controversies on public companies using data obtained from third-party ESG data providers and other internal and external sources. This framework is known as the Ecofin Sustainability Monitor (the “ESM ”).

 

We also have a series of specific ESG and sustainability quantitative screens:

  • Besides the power generation emission data from CarbonAnalytics, we conduct analysis internally on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and calculate the portfolio’s carbon footprint including financed emissions and carbon intensity.
  • We monitor revenue and CAPEX exposure to the investment themes.
  • We track companies’ Net Zero and more general emissions reduction targets
  • The fund is committed to a minimum portion of investments to be sustainable investments as defined by the Sub-Investment Manager’s proprietary methodology that identifies sustainable investments based on contribution to UN SDGs. Details can be found in our strategy level Sustainability and Impact report.

 

We believe our strategy is positively contributing towards a more sustainable future by aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 3,6,7,8,9,11,12,13 and 14.

 

 

Process:

At the idea generation stage, both qualitative and quantitative methods incorporating ESG factors are adopted. To define our investment universe, we include ESG criteria such as revenue exposure to strategy themes and fossil fuel exposure thresholds. In the subsequent investment due diligence process, the team conducts sustainability analysis. We obtain sustainability data from different sources including companies’ management team and third-party data sources.

 

The investment process comprises an assessment of macroeconomic and regulatory factors relevant to the sectors but it concentrates first and foremost on grass-roots fundamental analysis of companies. The team utilises a four-pronged research approach which includes qualitative, quantitative, relative value analyses and carbon analysis. For each company the team considers a host of non-financial data points and examines supplementary disclosures and materials around sustainability or ESG issues issued by the company or by a review agency. This ESG analysis is then considered along with other quantitative and qualitative factors to create a composite qualitative picture of a company.

We typically employ the below analyses to arrive at investment decisions: 

  • Qualitative analysis: The team uses proprietary risk models to assess a company’s asset quality, management, stability of cash flows and ESG factors
  • Quantitative analysis: The team employs proprietary financial models to understand growth prospects, liquidity position and sensitivities to key drivers
  • Relative value analysis: Valuation models and equity market indicators guide portfolio weightings; screening tables allow the investment team to compare companies and stocks according to different criteria (for example, regulatory risk profile, valuation metrics, ESG scores, historical valuation ranges)
  • Carbon analysis: in partnership with a third-party provider, the team updates a global proprietary database of power generation companies with detailed CO2 emissions by source of power and by company

 

Sustainability risk analysis is also a part of stock assessment to identify ESG risks, or potential risks, of investments to ascertain the nature of the sustainability risk, as well as its materiality. This process seeks to assess how ESG risks can derail or materially impact the underlying investment case of a company. The team integrates sustainability risks into its investment decision making process both at the initial due diligence stage and as part of its ongoing risk management.

 

To evaluate the ESG credentials of companies, we collect different types of data from various resources, direct and indirect. 

 

  • Third party sustainability data providers: MSCI and Bloomberg. We obtain raw sustainability related data, such as emissions data and climate targets, to conduct subsequent in-house analysis with our own analytics tools.
  • Sell-side research: the Sustainable Investment Strategist interacts with ESG teams from different organizations on investment mega trends, regulations and stock specific ESG analysis. The investment team also receives and reads research papers on similar topics.
  • Proprietary data: we work with CarbonAnalytics on a contracted basis to maintain our proprietary generators database. We warehouse power generation emissions data for a period of time to monitor portfolio emissions trends and utilise these to define our investment universe.
  • Investee companies: we collect data from companies’ sustainability reports, other filings and websites. We may also directly engage the companies’ management teams to encourage them to disclosure relevant sustainability data.
  • Other third-party resources: we collect data from different sources including SBTi, IEA, CDP and so on.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Each company is assigned a Lead Analyst who is responsible for all aspects of the research process and for engaging with company management both before investment and on an ongoing basis.  The Lead Analyst and the Sustainability Strategist identify the E, S and G risks or potential risks to ascertain the nature of the risk as well as its materiality and monitor them throughout the holding period, with support from the SRI team. The primary aim of this process is to assess how each risk can derail the underlying investment case of a company.  As part of this process, the SRI team provides external data tools in addition to our internal ESM system to assist our analysts in this review. No part of the decision-making process is outsourced to an external entity or individual.

 

The Sustainable Investment Strategist (the “Strategist”), who sits on the investment team, is responsible for sustainability and ESG analysis within the investment process. The Strategist reviews sustainability and ESG attributes of each public company prior to inclusion in a portfolio and implements the policies developed and maintained by the SRI team. The Strategist also leads sustainability-related engagement efforts with companies.

 

Additionally, the investment team is supported by a dedicated sustainability and ESG team referred to as the Sustainability & Responsible Investing (“SRI”) Team. The SRI team is responsible for the firm’s sustainability and ESG policies and procedures, regulatory and governance framework, impact reporting, and other strategic initiatives. The SRI team supports data, reporting, and training needs, assists with the implementation of the Sustainability & Impact Policy, and collaborates with peers through global initiatives like UN PRI, Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, and the GIIN. Additionally, the SRI team works closely with the investment teams to integrate firm policies within the investment process.

The firm’s Sustainability & Impact Committee (the “Committee”) is responsible for oversight of the firm’s sustainability and ESG framework. The Committee provides governance to comply with evolving global regulatory frameworks such as the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) and works with the SRI team to align policies with the firm’s strategic values. The Committee includes representatives from Ecofin’s executive leadership team, compliance team, and investment team, among others, to ensure consistent implementation of policies and initiatives across the firm. The Committee meets at least quarterly.

 

While we rely heavily on proprietary research prepared in-house by the investment team and the Sustainability & Responsible Investing Team, we also utilise data provided by third parties as well as a wide array of sell-side research primarily used to compare expectations as well as to get timely news.

 

Important third-party research sources include Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), CarbonAnalytics, MSCI and Sustainalytics. BNEF’s data is helpful and important for the team’s understanding of sector and regulatory issues and allows it to identify discrepancies between BNEF, proprietary and sell-side research forecasts/models. Besides interaction with sell-side research sector analysts on fundamental analysis, our Sustainable Investment Strategist may interact with sell-side sustainability teams for updates on market trends and sustainability investment themes.

 

The investment team utilises Bloomberg, MSCI, and Sustainalytics data to complement the team’s proprietary environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) assessments, with the goal of leveraging MSCI’s thorough ESG review for each company entering into the portfolio and broad coverage. The MSCI service is a helpful tool to assist the investment team in quickly identifying focus areas for each company’s E, S, and G assessments. Sustainalytics helps us to identify controversies in different areas and the ongoing monitoring of such.

 

In addition to qualitative research, the investment team utilizes a proprietary data and reporting framework that was developed in-house, which collects and summarizes a combination of datapoints, scores, and controversies on public companies using data obtained from third-party ESG data providers and other internal and external sources. This framework is known as the Ecofin Sustainability Monitor (the “ESM ”).

 

 

Ecofin’s parent company and/or its affiliates are signatory to or involved in the following ESG related organizations: United Principles for Responsible Investment, Ceres, CDP, TCFD, Net Zero Asset Management Initiatives, GIIN, Climate Action 100+ among others.

Dialshifter

This fund is helping to ‘shift the dial from brown to green’ by…

investing globally in growth-oriented economic infrastructure companies which are committed to the energy transition and have fundamentally strong ESG credentials.

 

Our organisation is helping to support the Paris Climate Agreement and the Race to Net Zero by…

…supporting a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy and being a proud signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.  

 

SDR Labelling: Not eligible to use label