Pictet Quest Global Sustainable Equities Fund

SRI Style:

Sustainability Tilt

SDR Labelling:

Not eligible to use label

Product:

SICAV/Offshore

Fund Region:

Global

Fund Asset Type:

Equity

Launch Date:

01/10/2002

Last Amended:

May 2025

Dialshifter ():

Fund Size:

£848.02m

(as at: 14/05/2025)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets:

£49415.00m

(as at: 31/07/2024)

Total Responsible Ownership Assets:

£174795.00m

(as at: 31/07/2024)

Total Assets Under Management:

£638000.00m

(as at: 31/12/2024)

ISIN:

LU2190601653, LU2317078918

Objectives:

To increase the value of your investment. By investing in robust, sustainable companies we seek to generate market returns with fewer risks

Sustainable, Responsible
&/or ESG Overview:

Pictet - Quest Global Sustainable Equities invests in companies focused on delivering long term shareholder returns through positive economic, social and environmental impact. We view sustainability as an underlying driver for innovation and profitable growth as well as key to managing unforeseen risks.

Primary fund last amended:

May 2025

Information directly from fund manager.

Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
Sustainability policy

Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.

UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy

Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/

Environmental - General
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.

Nature & Biodiversity
Genetic engineering exclusion

Fund avoids assets / companies directly involved in genetic engineering

Climate Change & Energy
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.

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

Nuclear exclusion policy

Find funds that have policies which say they avoid or limit their investment in the nuclear industry. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

Social / Employment
Social policy

Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.

Labour standards policy

Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards

Favours companies with strong social policies

Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded

Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Armaments manufacturers avoided

Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.

Civilian firearms production exclusion

Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.

Alcohol production excluded

Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.

Gambling avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.

Pornography avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information.

Governance & Management
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.

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
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee

Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.

External (fund) committee has veto powers

Find funds that employ an external committee (i.e. not company employees) that has power to veto (i.e. overrule) fund managers stock selection decisions. (This would typically mean the committee can tell the manager of this particular fund not to buy / sell a specific investment when they consider it appropriate to do so.)

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.

Asset Size
Over 50% large cap companies

Find funds that invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.

Targeted Positive Investments
EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy holdings 5-25% of fund assets

Find funds that have calculated the proportion of fund asset that meet the new EU Taxonomy requirements and that they total 5-25% of assets. This will typically require adding up the proportion of each individual company's activity that is regarded as 'green' so that the fund manager can produce an overall total for the whole fund / portfolio.

EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy holdings >25% of fund assets

Find funds that have calculated the proportion of fund asset that meet the new EU Taxonomy requirements and that they total over 25% of fund assets. This will typically require adding up the proportion of each individual company's activity that is regarded as 'green' so that the fund manager can produce an overall total for the whole fund / portfolio.

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.

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.

Negative selection bias

Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.

Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria

Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.

Focus on ESG risk mitigation

A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).

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).

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.

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.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.

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).

Invests in newly listed companies (AFM company wide)

This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).

Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)

Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.

Offer structured intermediary training on sustainable investment

Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

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

Fund EcoMarket partner

Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.

UN Principles of Responsible Banking framework signatory-co wide

This asset manager has signed up to the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) program which aims to encourage more responsible banking practices – focused on environmental and social issues.

TNFD forum member (AFM company wide)

A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.

Investment Association (IA) member

Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/

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.

Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers

Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.

Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies

Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.

Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.

Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.

Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change

Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.

Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste

Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.

Engaging to encourage responsible mining practices

Asset manager has a stewardship / responsible ownership policy that means they are working to encourage more responsible mining practices - where environmental and social issues are properly dealt with by the companies they invest in.

Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues

The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global

Engaging to encourage a Just Transition

Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/

Engaging on human rights issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on labour / employment issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)

Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues

Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets

Engaging on governance issues

Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets

Engaging on responsible supply chain issues

Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

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.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

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.)

Review(ing) carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)

Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.)

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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.

Carbon transition plan published (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have a company wide carbon transition plan - meaning that they have plotted a path to how they will move away from activities that produce or use carbon based energy sources (that emit greenhouse gases) towards clean, alternative, renewable energy sources.

‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.

Carbon offsetting - offset carbon as part of our net zero plan (AFM company wide)

This asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions with the help of a scheme that will lock away an amount of carbon that is equivalent to the company’s own emissions – so that the end result is ‘net zero’. Calculations and scope vary.

Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'.

Committed to SBTi / Science Based Targets Initiative

See https://sciencebasedtargets.org/

Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.

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.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts.

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.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

It is our belief that there is no disconnect between long term profitable growth and sustainability. More and more companies are incorporating sustainability in their core business strategy enabling them to rethink their business models, identify opportunities for long term growth and innovate in ways like never. In our view, sustainability is becoming key for economic success and superior shareholder returns. To achieve our objectives, we use a “sustainability at 360 ” approach that enables us to proactively identify companies that are at the forefront of adopting sustainability in the core of their business strategy and are likely to be long-term winners. ESG considerations are instrumental generate performance and reduce risk. Finally, via active ownership through engagement and proxy voting we contribute improving the long-term sustainability of the businesses we invest in.

 

Our over 23 years of experience in ESG investments is materialized in our framework. Simultaneous consideration of financial robustness and corporate responsibility underpins the best-in-class approach of sustainable strategies managed by the Quest Equities investment team. Financially robust companies that benefit from the drive to a more sustainable economy are identified by independently assessing the corporate and financial sustainability of issuers.

 

  • Corporate Responsibility: the level of awareness, willingness and actions taken by the company to make a positive impact on the society, the environment, all its stakeholders including employees and to benefit from the drive to a more sustainable economy

 

  • Financial Sustainability: the ability of the company to generate sustainable profits without taking undue operating and financial risks. Valuation considerations are also included in this assessment. We identify eligible candidates through our proprietary 4P framework: Profitability, Prudence, Price, and Protection.

 

The fund aims to invest in companies that demonstrate leadership both from a Financial and Corporate Sustainability point of view relative to peers. The final portfolio is well diversified across companies, sectors and countries to deliver steady capital growth to investors. We target a better aggregate profile in terms of E, S, and G. As the regulatory requirements evolve, is not yet possible to use the same physical measures for selection and reporting. For the aggregate sustainable behaviour of the portfolio, we target a strong reduction in terms of carbon intensity with respect to the reference investment universe and an improved profile in terms of social impact.

Process:

The investment universe is composed by the constituents of the MSCI World index. Our investment process is a three-step process.

 

“4P” and ESG Scoring & Exclusions

Financial assessment (“Financial Robustness”)

We apply a proprietary framework for assessing companies’ financial robustness. This is our framework developed based on our years of experience analysis global companies across markets and sectors and understanding the key drivers of corporate performance and value creation. Our proprietary framework is based on what we call the 4 Ps of “quality”: Profitability, Prudence, Protection and Price. Attractive companies can hence be described as high and stable return businesses that are resilient to economic cycles and attractively priced.

 

ESG assessment (“Corporate Responsibility”)

Our ESG analysis focuses on four aspects: Products, Reputation, Operations and Governance. This framework provides us with a strong basis for gaining further insight in corporate responsibility, avoiding green washing, and integrating relevant data sources as they become available to the marketplace.

 

  • Products: Impact of products and services on society and the environment, which entails a focus on clean technologies and the exclusion of activities such as controversial weapons, armament, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, tobacco, gambling, pornography or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Exclusions apply to companies with at least 5% turnover in controversial activities. This threshold is reduced to 0% for companies involved in controversial weapons such as anti-personnel landmines, cluster ammunition, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons.

 

  • Reputation: Reputation is assessed based on Company’s commitment to and demonstrated action in following UN Global Compact Principles. ESG-related controversies, such as incidents involving employees, major environmental pollution or damage, supply chain issues and product scandals are evaluated.

 

  • Operations: Impact of company operations on the Environment, Labour and Society. Environmental and social practices, which cover issues such as carbon footprint, energy efficiency, water management, labour and supply chain management are considered. For instance, companies with exposure to tar sands / fracking, coal extraction, oil production and power generation are analysed for their carbon footprint relative to peers and excluded from the portfolio if deemed to be excessive.

 

  • Governance: Corporate governance, including issues such as business ethics, audit and accounting practices, board independence, minority shareholders rights and executive remuneration. In order to classify companies in terms of their ESG profile we rely on our ESG scoring model developed over more than 20 years of experience and commitment to ESG quantitative research. The scoring model cast companies in four classes defined by one, two, tree, or four stars. One star being the worst, four stars the best ESG profile. In doing this we aggregate, by normalizing, and regularizing the information we gather from several external research providers. This allows us to maximize the coverage and reduce the biases we could inherit by using a unique research provider. Companies playing a verifiable role in sustainable developments may be promoted by one star if they are not exposed to severe risks. Typical areas that may upgrade a score are alternative energies, energy efficiency, environment green buildings, sustainable impact, or sustainable water. Our best-in-class sustainable strategies requires stocks with three stars or more for a company to be investable.

 

Step 3 is portfolio construction.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Pictet Asset Management has a dedicated ESG Team which leads and co-ordinates implementation of our responsible investment policy, including ESG integration in investment processes, ownership practices, risk management and reporting tools. The ESG Team reports directly to Sébastien Eisinger, Managing Partner Pictet Group, Co-CEO Pictet Asset Management and Head of Investments.

Key responsibilities include:
 

Investments

  • Selection and due-diligence of external data providers in collaboration with investment teams and other B/Ls
  • Development of proprietary assessment methodologies (eg sector-specific “E&S Deep Dives”, sovereign issuers)
  • Integration of relevant ESG datasets in IT systems and definition of quality checks
  • Training and awareness raising of investment teams

Active Ownership

  • Definition of engagement strategy and proxy voting policy
  • Co-ordinate targeted engagements and participation in collaborative initiatives
  • Consensus building between investment teams on specific resolutions

Pictet Asset Management has been a signatory of the UNPRI since 2007. In addition, Pictet Asset Management actively participates in several investor initiatives aimed at sharing best practices between asset managers and owners and encouraging corporate disclosure on ESG issues. We are notably involved in the IIGCC (Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change), SSF (Swiss Sustainable Finance) and similar organisation in the UK, Germany and Spain.

 Pictet Group and / or Pictet Asset Management supports and actively participates in international and national initiatives, organisations and partnerships including:

Organisation / Initiatives / Partnerships, Pictet's involvement,  year, and key areas of focus: 

  • FNG, SpainSIF: Member, 2006 - Transparency on ESG
  • UNPRI: Signatory, 2007 - Transparency on ESG
  • Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS): Member, Research Partnership: Megatrends Research, 2007 - Interdisciplinary academic disciplines
  • CDP: Member, 2007 - Carbon
  • Swiss Climate Foundation: Corporate sponsor, 2008 - Climate
  • Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG): Institutional Partner (Pictet Group), President Strategy and Surveillance Committee, 2008 - Promotion of sustainable finance
  • EFAMA (European Fund and Asset Management Association): Member of the Stewardship Market Integrity & ESG Investment Standing Committee, 2010 - Fund and Asset Management
  • Climate Bond Initiative: Member of the Standards Board, 2013 - Climate
  • IIGCC (Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change): Member of the Adaptation & Resilience Working Group, 2013 - Climate
  • FTSE Environmental Markets: Member of the Advisory Committee, 2013 - Environment
  • Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF): Founding member, 2014 - Promotion of the integration of sustainability in the financial industry
  • JP Stewardship Code: Signatory, 2014 - Stewardship standards
  • Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC): Research Partnership: Planetary Boundaries Framework (from 2014-ongoing), Mistra Biodiversity Finance programme (from 2022), 2014 - Core focus is to advance research in the frontier of biosphere-based sustainability science, applying a social ecological approach and resilience thinking
  • Investment Association: Member of the Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee , 2018 - Stewardship and Corporate governance
  • Climate Action 100+: Collaborative Engagement, 2018 - Climate
  • Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI): Signatory (Pictet Group), 2018 - Delivery of nutritious, affordable foods.
  • Empower: Partnership, 2019 - Youth at Risk
  • UNEP Finance Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2019 - Environment
  • Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): Signatory, 2020 - Consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures
  • FAIRR: Member, 2021 - Animal agriculture
  • ICGN (International Corporate Governance Network): Member, 2021 - Governance
  • Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI): Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Climate
  • Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Climate
  • ESG Data Convergence Project: Steering Committee member (Pictet Group), 2021 - ESG metrics
  • UN Principles on Responsible Banking: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Sustainable/responsible banking
  • UK Stewardship Code 2020: Signatory, 2022 - Stewardship standards
  • Institute of International Finance (IIF) : Research Partnership: Bonds that build back better, 2022 - Green, transition, social, sustainability & sustainability-linked bonds
  • Responsible Investing Association (RIA): Member, 2022 - Canada's industry association for responsible investment
  • Ceres Valuing Water Finance Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2022 - Water
  • Finance for Biodiversity Foundation: Member (Pictet Group); participants in the Impact Assessment and Engagement Working Groups, 2022 - Biodiversity
  • Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD): Member of TNFD Forum (Pictet Group), 2022 - Risk management and disclosure framework on nature-related issues
  • UN Global Compact: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2022 - Global sustainability principles

 

Source: Pictet Asset Management (April 2023)

 

Other industry associations:

Name, Involvement of Pictet Asset Management, Year and Scope

  • Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS): Member (Pictet Group), Member of the Distribution, Taxes Specialist Committees , 1993 - Swiss Asset Management industry development
  • German Investment Funds Association (BVI): Member, 2004 - German Asset Management industry development
  • International Capital Markets Association (ICMA): Member, xxxx - Securities market

 

Furthermore, Pictet, together with Swiss Sustainable Finance, was leading an initiative to put pressure on index providers to remove controversial weapon manufacturers from mainstream indices. The initiative, launched in August 2018, secured the backing of 174 signatories controlling over USD 9.7 trillion and including international asset owners and managers (as of January 2020). This initiative has now been closed due to inclusion of controversial weapons exposure disclosures in draft RTS and EU Benchmarking regulation.

SDR Labelling:

Not eligible to use label

Fund Holdings

Voting Record

Disclaimer

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The information and data presented in this document are not to be considered as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or subscribe to any securities or financial instruments or services.  

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

Pictet Quest Global Sustainable Equities Fund

Sustainability Tilt Not eligible to use label SICAV/Offshore Global Equity 01/10/2002 May 2025

Objectives

To increase the value of your investment. By investing in robust, sustainable companies we seek to generate market returns with fewer risks

Fund Size: £848.02m

(as at: 14/05/2025)

Total Screened Themed SRI Assets: £49415.00m

(as at: 31/07/2024)

Total Responsible Ownership Assets: £174795.00m

(as at: 31/07/2024)

Total Assets Under Management: £638000.00m

(as at: 31/12/2024)

ISIN: LU2190601653, LU2317078918

Contact Us: tedmans@pictet.com / cbertrand@pictet.com

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Overview

Pictet - Quest Global Sustainable Equities invests in companies focused on delivering long term shareholder returns through positive economic, social and environmental impact. We view sustainability as an underlying driver for innovation and profitable growth as well as key to managing unforeseen risks.

Primary fund last amended: May 2025

Information received directly from Fund Manager

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Fund Filters

Sustainability - General
Sustainability policy

Funds that have policies that consider (environmental and social) sustainability issues. Strategies vary but are likely to consider environmental issues like climate change, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, resource management, environmental impacts; and social issues like equal opportunities, human rights, labour standards, diversity and adherence to internationally recognised codes. See fund information.

UN Global Compact linked exclusion policy

Find funds that use the UN Global Compact to inform or help direct where they can or cannot invest and will typically not invest in companies with significant breaches (low standards) - although strategies vary. (The UNGC covers a wide range of issues - search 'UNGC'). See https://unglobalcompact.org/

Environmental - General
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.

Nature & Biodiversity
Genetic engineering exclusion

Fund avoids assets / companies directly involved in genetic engineering

Climate Change & Energy
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.

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

Nuclear exclusion policy

Find funds that have policies which say they avoid or limit their investment in the nuclear industry. Strategies vary. See fund information for further detail.

Social / Employment
Social policy

Find funds that have policies which set out their approach to social issues (e.g. human rights, labour standards, equal opportunities, child labour and adherence to internationally recognised codes such as the UN Global Compact). Funds with social policies typically avoid companies with low standards or work to encourage higher standards. See fund information for detail.

Labour standards policy

Find funds that have a labour standards policy - which can be expected to mean that the fund will invest in / favour companies that have higher standards in this area - although fund strategies can vary significantly (as with all policy areas). See eg https://www.ilo.org/international-labour-standards

Favours companies with strong social policies

Find funds that invest in line with positive strategies that relate to 'people' issues - such as having strong human rights, labour standards and equal opportunities practices. Such funds are likely to invest in companies that have market leading standards with regard to employee and supplier practices. Read fund literature for further information.

Ethical Values Led Exclusions
Tobacco and related product manufacturers excluded

Companies are excluded if they are involved in any aspect of the production chain for tobacco products, including cigarettes, vaping, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars.

Armaments manufacturers avoided

Find funds that avoid companies that manufacture products intended specifically for military use. Fund strategies vary - particularly with regard to non-strategic military products. See fund literature for fund specific details.

Civilian firearms production exclusion

Find funds with a written civilian firearms exclusion policy - meaning that they will not invest in companies that make (or perhaps also sell) handguns made for non-military users.

Alcohol production excluded

Find funds that avoid investment in companies involved in the production of alcohol. Strategies vary; some funds allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund literature for further information.

Gambling avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies with significant involvement in the gambling industry. Some funds may allow a small proportion of profits to come from this area. See fund policy for further details.

Pornography avoidance policy

Find funds that avoid companies that derive significant income from pornography and related areas. Strategies vary. See fund details for further information.

Governance & Management
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.

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
Employ external (fund) oversight or advisory committee

Find funds that have an external committee that helps steer or advise fund managers on SRI policy or strategy related issues. These people may be paid for their time but are not employees of the fund manager.

External (fund) committee has veto powers

Find funds that employ an external committee (i.e. not company employees) that has power to veto (i.e. overrule) fund managers stock selection decisions. (This would typically mean the committee can tell the manager of this particular fund not to buy / sell a specific investment when they consider it appropriate to do so.)

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.

Asset Size
Over 50% large cap companies

Find funds that invests more than half of their money into what are commonly regarded as 'large companies'. This will typically mean that the market capitalisation (or value) of the companies they hold is in excess of £5 to £10 billion.

Targeted Positive Investments
EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy holdings 5-25% of fund assets

Find funds that have calculated the proportion of fund asset that meet the new EU Taxonomy requirements and that they total 5-25% of assets. This will typically require adding up the proportion of each individual company's activity that is regarded as 'green' so that the fund manager can produce an overall total for the whole fund / portfolio.

EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy holdings >25% of fund assets

Find funds that have calculated the proportion of fund asset that meet the new EU Taxonomy requirements and that they total over 25% of fund assets. This will typically require adding up the proportion of each individual company's activity that is regarded as 'green' so that the fund manager can produce an overall total for the whole fund / portfolio.

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.

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.

Negative selection bias

Find funds where their main 'ethical approach' is to avoid companies by using negative screening criteria. Read fund literature for further information.

Combines norms based exclusions with other SRI criteria

Find funds that make significant use of internationally agreed 'norms' (e.g. United Nations Global Compact - UNGC - or the UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs) as part of their investment selection process alongside additional SRI criteria such as positive or negative stock selection policies and/or stewardship strategies.

Focus on ESG risk mitigation

A major focus of these funds is the careful management of environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks - typically by avoiding or being underweight in companies seen as posing major risks in these areas (i.e. not necessarily by using themes, exclusions etc).

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).

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.

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.)

Responsible ownership / ESG a key differentiator (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that consider responsible ownership and ESG to be a key differentiator for their business.

Sustainable property strategy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that take sustainability criteria into account when selecting and/or managing all of their property / real estate investments.

Senior management KPIs include environmental goals (AFM company wide)

The leadership team of this asset manager have performance targets linked to environmental goals.

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).

Invests in newly listed companies (AFM company wide)

This asset management company invests in companies which have recently listed on a stock exchange (which is important as it can help grow new businesses).

Invests in new sustainability linked bond issuances (AFM company wide)

Asset management company has investments in bonds designed to meet sustainability requirements - however these assets may not be 'ringfenced' for this purpose. See fund manager website for details.

Offer structured intermediary training on sustainable investment

Fund management entity offers unstructured intermediary training on sustainable investment (ie for financial advisers and wealth managers)

Collaborations & Affiliations
PRI signatory

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

Fund EcoMarket partner

Find fund management companies that have partnered with Fund EcoMarket - meaning that they are helping to improve access to information on sustainable and responsible investment by paying an annual fee to us which enables us to publish information for free. Partner funds are listed ahead of other funds and have their logos displayed.

UN Principles of Responsible Banking framework signatory-co wide

This asset manager has signed up to the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) program which aims to encourage more responsible banking practices – focused on environmental and social issues.

TNFD forum member (AFM company wide)

A member of the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures group which aims to aid risk management and shift money towards nature-positive outcomes.

Investment Association (IA) member

Fund management entity is a member of the Investment Association https://www.theia.org/

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.

Employ specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability researchers

Find a fund management company that directly employs specialist ESG/SRI/sustainability researchers or analysts. This allows asset managers to discuss environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities directly with companies.

Use specialist ESG / SRI / sustainability research companies

Find fund management companies that makes use of expert external research companies. This can help deliver specialist expertise and means resources are pooled with other investors.

Accreditations
UK Stewardship Code signatory (AFM company wide)

Find fund managers that are signatories to the FRC UK Stewardship Code, which sets out a framework for constructive investor / investee relations where fund managers are encouraged to behave like responsible, typically longer term 'company owners'.

Engagement Approach
Regularly lead collaborative ESG initiatives (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that regularly initiate or run industry wide (collaborative) investor projects aimed at raising environmental, social and governance standards amongst investee companies.

Encourage responsible corporate taxation (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that are working with the companies they invest in to encourage more responsible corporate taxation.

Engaging with fossil fuel companies on climate change

Asset manager has a stewardship /responsible ownership strategy that involves working with fossil fuel companies on climate change related issues. See fund manager website for details.

Engaging to reduce plastics pollution / waste

Asset manager has stewardship /responsible ownership strategy with involves encouraging investee asset to reduce plastic waste and pollution.

Engaging to encourage responsible mining practices

Asset manager has a stewardship / responsible ownership policy that means they are working to encourage more responsible mining practices - where environmental and social issues are properly dealt with by the companies they invest in.

Engaging on biodiversity / nature issues

The asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy that focuses on biodiversity and nature issues relating to the assets they invest the aim of which will be to reduce harm and or deliver improvement. Strategies vary. https://tnfd.global

Engaging to encourage a Just Transition

Asset manager has a responsible ownership / stewardship strategy which means they are working to encourage the shift to more sustainable business practices in ways that respect and are sensitive to social issues and the impact change has on people effected by the changes that are taking place. https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/ https://transitiontaskforce.net/

Engaging on human rights issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place which aims to address human rights issues in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers) with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on labour / employment issues

Asset manager has responsible ownership / stewardship strategy in place that aims to improve labour standards for the benefit of employees in investee companies (and potentially their suppliers)

Engaging on diversity, equality and / or inclusion issues

Asset management company has a stewardship strategy in place which involves working to raise diversity, equality and inclusion standards across investee assets

Engaging on governance issues

Fund managers have stewardship strategies in place that focus on improving governance standards across investee assets

Engaging on responsible supply chain issues

Has a stewardship / responsible ownership strategy that encourages responsible supply chain - ie the managers will discuss environmental, social and governance issues with investee companies with the aim of raising standards

Engaging on the responsible use of AI

Working to address sustainability, ESG and related concerns around artificial intelligence.

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.

Tobacco avoidance policy (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that avoid investment in tobacco (manufacturing) companies across all their assets.

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.)

Review(ing) carbon / fossil fuel exposure for all funds (AFM company wide)

Find funds / fund managers that are reviewing, or have reviewed, their exposure to carbon intensive industries including (but not only) mining, oil and gas companies. (Typically with reference to climate change.)

Climate & Net Zero Transition
Net Zero - have set a Net Zero target date (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has set a date by which they plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

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.

Carbon transition plan published (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have a company wide carbon transition plan - meaning that they have plotted a path to how they will move away from activities that produce or use carbon based energy sources (that emit greenhouse gases) towards clean, alternative, renewable energy sources.

‘Forward Looking Climate Metrics’ published / ITR (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund managers that have published ‘forward looking climate metrics’ e.g. 'implied temperature rise' data that are a total of the asset management company's share (% owned) of all the investee company emissions of the assets they manage, as well as their own direct and other indirect emissions.

Carbon offsetting - offset carbon as part of our net zero plan (AFM company wide)

This asset management company plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions with the help of a scheme that will lock away an amount of carbon that is equivalent to the company’s own emissions – so that the end result is ‘net zero’. Calculations and scope vary.

Working towards a ‘Net Zero’ commitment (AFM company wide)

Finds organisations / fund management companies that are in the process of working out how to make a ‘net zero commitment’ - meaning that when that is finalised they will have started the process of reducing their total greenhouse gas emissions to'zero'.

Committed to SBTi / Science Based Targets Initiative

See https://sciencebasedtargets.org/

Transparency
Publish responsible ownership / stewardship report (AFM company wide)

Find fund management companies that publish a report detailing their responsible investment ownership - also known as 'Stewardship' - activity.

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.

Publish full voting record (AFM company wide)

Fund management companies that publish a full record of how they vote their shares at AGMs (annual general meetings) and EGMs (extraordinary general meetings). Voting strategies have an important role to play encouraging higher environmental, social and governance standards.

Sustainability transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are to become a sustainable business - without significant negative environmental or social impacts.

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.

Net Zero transition plan publicly available (AFM company wide)

This asset management company has published a plan that explains how they are going to achieve net zero greenhouse gas / CO2e emissions.

Sustainable, Responsible &/or ESG Policy:

It is our belief that there is no disconnect between long term profitable growth and sustainability. More and more companies are incorporating sustainability in their core business strategy enabling them to rethink their business models, identify opportunities for long term growth and innovate in ways like never. In our view, sustainability is becoming key for economic success and superior shareholder returns. To achieve our objectives, we use a “sustainability at 360 ” approach that enables us to proactively identify companies that are at the forefront of adopting sustainability in the core of their business strategy and are likely to be long-term winners. ESG considerations are instrumental generate performance and reduce risk. Finally, via active ownership through engagement and proxy voting we contribute improving the long-term sustainability of the businesses we invest in.

 

Our over 23 years of experience in ESG investments is materialized in our framework. Simultaneous consideration of financial robustness and corporate responsibility underpins the best-in-class approach of sustainable strategies managed by the Quest Equities investment team. Financially robust companies that benefit from the drive to a more sustainable economy are identified by independently assessing the corporate and financial sustainability of issuers.

 

  • Corporate Responsibility: the level of awareness, willingness and actions taken by the company to make a positive impact on the society, the environment, all its stakeholders including employees and to benefit from the drive to a more sustainable economy

 

  • Financial Sustainability: the ability of the company to generate sustainable profits without taking undue operating and financial risks. Valuation considerations are also included in this assessment. We identify eligible candidates through our proprietary 4P framework: Profitability, Prudence, Price, and Protection.

 

The fund aims to invest in companies that demonstrate leadership both from a Financial and Corporate Sustainability point of view relative to peers. The final portfolio is well diversified across companies, sectors and countries to deliver steady capital growth to investors. We target a better aggregate profile in terms of E, S, and G. As the regulatory requirements evolve, is not yet possible to use the same physical measures for selection and reporting. For the aggregate sustainable behaviour of the portfolio, we target a strong reduction in terms of carbon intensity with respect to the reference investment universe and an improved profile in terms of social impact.

Process:

The investment universe is composed by the constituents of the MSCI World index. Our investment process is a three-step process.

 

“4P” and ESG Scoring & Exclusions

Financial assessment (“Financial Robustness”)

We apply a proprietary framework for assessing companies’ financial robustness. This is our framework developed based on our years of experience analysis global companies across markets and sectors and understanding the key drivers of corporate performance and value creation. Our proprietary framework is based on what we call the 4 Ps of “quality”: Profitability, Prudence, Protection and Price. Attractive companies can hence be described as high and stable return businesses that are resilient to economic cycles and attractively priced.

 

ESG assessment (“Corporate Responsibility”)

Our ESG analysis focuses on four aspects: Products, Reputation, Operations and Governance. This framework provides us with a strong basis for gaining further insight in corporate responsibility, avoiding green washing, and integrating relevant data sources as they become available to the marketplace.

 

  • Products: Impact of products and services on society and the environment, which entails a focus on clean technologies and the exclusion of activities such as controversial weapons, armament, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, tobacco, gambling, pornography or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Exclusions apply to companies with at least 5% turnover in controversial activities. This threshold is reduced to 0% for companies involved in controversial weapons such as anti-personnel landmines, cluster ammunition, chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons.

 

  • Reputation: Reputation is assessed based on Company’s commitment to and demonstrated action in following UN Global Compact Principles. ESG-related controversies, such as incidents involving employees, major environmental pollution or damage, supply chain issues and product scandals are evaluated.

 

  • Operations: Impact of company operations on the Environment, Labour and Society. Environmental and social practices, which cover issues such as carbon footprint, energy efficiency, water management, labour and supply chain management are considered. For instance, companies with exposure to tar sands / fracking, coal extraction, oil production and power generation are analysed for their carbon footprint relative to peers and excluded from the portfolio if deemed to be excessive.

 

  • Governance: Corporate governance, including issues such as business ethics, audit and accounting practices, board independence, minority shareholders rights and executive remuneration. In order to classify companies in terms of their ESG profile we rely on our ESG scoring model developed over more than 20 years of experience and commitment to ESG quantitative research. The scoring model cast companies in four classes defined by one, two, tree, or four stars. One star being the worst, four stars the best ESG profile. In doing this we aggregate, by normalizing, and regularizing the information we gather from several external research providers. This allows us to maximize the coverage and reduce the biases we could inherit by using a unique research provider. Companies playing a verifiable role in sustainable developments may be promoted by one star if they are not exposed to severe risks. Typical areas that may upgrade a score are alternative energies, energy efficiency, environment green buildings, sustainable impact, or sustainable water. Our best-in-class sustainable strategies requires stocks with three stars or more for a company to be investable.

 

Step 3 is portfolio construction.

Resources, Affiliations & Corporate Strategies:

Pictet Asset Management has a dedicated ESG Team which leads and co-ordinates implementation of our responsible investment policy, including ESG integration in investment processes, ownership practices, risk management and reporting tools. The ESG Team reports directly to Sébastien Eisinger, Managing Partner Pictet Group, Co-CEO Pictet Asset Management and Head of Investments.

Key responsibilities include:
 

Investments

  • Selection and due-diligence of external data providers in collaboration with investment teams and other B/Ls
  • Development of proprietary assessment methodologies (eg sector-specific “E&S Deep Dives”, sovereign issuers)
  • Integration of relevant ESG datasets in IT systems and definition of quality checks
  • Training and awareness raising of investment teams

Active Ownership

  • Definition of engagement strategy and proxy voting policy
  • Co-ordinate targeted engagements and participation in collaborative initiatives
  • Consensus building between investment teams on specific resolutions

Pictet Asset Management has been a signatory of the UNPRI since 2007. In addition, Pictet Asset Management actively participates in several investor initiatives aimed at sharing best practices between asset managers and owners and encouraging corporate disclosure on ESG issues. We are notably involved in the IIGCC (Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change), SSF (Swiss Sustainable Finance) and similar organisation in the UK, Germany and Spain.

 Pictet Group and / or Pictet Asset Management supports and actively participates in international and national initiatives, organisations and partnerships including:

Organisation / Initiatives / Partnerships, Pictet's involvement,  year, and key areas of focus: 

  • FNG, SpainSIF: Member, 2006 - Transparency on ESG
  • UNPRI: Signatory, 2007 - Transparency on ESG
  • Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS): Member, Research Partnership: Megatrends Research, 2007 - Interdisciplinary academic disciplines
  • CDP: Member, 2007 - Carbon
  • Swiss Climate Foundation: Corporate sponsor, 2008 - Climate
  • Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG): Institutional Partner (Pictet Group), President Strategy and Surveillance Committee, 2008 - Promotion of sustainable finance
  • EFAMA (European Fund and Asset Management Association): Member of the Stewardship Market Integrity & ESG Investment Standing Committee, 2010 - Fund and Asset Management
  • Climate Bond Initiative: Member of the Standards Board, 2013 - Climate
  • IIGCC (Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change): Member of the Adaptation & Resilience Working Group, 2013 - Climate
  • FTSE Environmental Markets: Member of the Advisory Committee, 2013 - Environment
  • Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF): Founding member, 2014 - Promotion of the integration of sustainability in the financial industry
  • JP Stewardship Code: Signatory, 2014 - Stewardship standards
  • Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC): Research Partnership: Planetary Boundaries Framework (from 2014-ongoing), Mistra Biodiversity Finance programme (from 2022), 2014 - Core focus is to advance research in the frontier of biosphere-based sustainability science, applying a social ecological approach and resilience thinking
  • Investment Association: Member of the Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee , 2018 - Stewardship and Corporate governance
  • Climate Action 100+: Collaborative Engagement, 2018 - Climate
  • Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI): Signatory (Pictet Group), 2018 - Delivery of nutritious, affordable foods.
  • Empower: Partnership, 2019 - Youth at Risk
  • UNEP Finance Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2019 - Environment
  • Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): Signatory, 2020 - Consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures
  • FAIRR: Member, 2021 - Animal agriculture
  • ICGN (International Corporate Governance Network): Member, 2021 - Governance
  • Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI): Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Climate
  • Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Climate
  • ESG Data Convergence Project: Steering Committee member (Pictet Group), 2021 - ESG metrics
  • UN Principles on Responsible Banking: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2021 - Sustainable/responsible banking
  • UK Stewardship Code 2020: Signatory, 2022 - Stewardship standards
  • Institute of International Finance (IIF) : Research Partnership: Bonds that build back better, 2022 - Green, transition, social, sustainability & sustainability-linked bonds
  • Responsible Investing Association (RIA): Member, 2022 - Canada's industry association for responsible investment
  • Ceres Valuing Water Finance Initiative: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2022 - Water
  • Finance for Biodiversity Foundation: Member (Pictet Group); participants in the Impact Assessment and Engagement Working Groups, 2022 - Biodiversity
  • Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD): Member of TNFD Forum (Pictet Group), 2022 - Risk management and disclosure framework on nature-related issues
  • UN Global Compact: Signatory (Pictet Group), 2022 - Global sustainability principles

 

Source: Pictet Asset Management (April 2023)

 

Other industry associations:

Name, Involvement of Pictet Asset Management, Year and Scope

  • Asset Management Association Switzerland (AMAS): Member (Pictet Group), Member of the Distribution, Taxes Specialist Committees , 1993 - Swiss Asset Management industry development
  • German Investment Funds Association (BVI): Member, 2004 - German Asset Management industry development
  • International Capital Markets Association (ICMA): Member, xxxx - Securities market

 

Furthermore, Pictet, together with Swiss Sustainable Finance, was leading an initiative to put pressure on index providers to remove controversial weapon manufacturers from mainstream indices. The initiative, launched in August 2018, secured the backing of 174 signatories controlling over USD 9.7 trillion and including international asset owners and managers (as of January 2020). This initiative has now been closed due to inclusion of controversial weapons exposure disclosures in draft RTS and EU Benchmarking regulation.

SDR Labelling:

Not eligible to use label

Fund Holdings

Voting Record

Disclaimer

This marketing material is for distribution to professional, accredited and qualified investors only. It is neither directed to, nor intended for distribution or use by, any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or located in any locality, state, country, or jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation.

The information and data presented in this document are not to be considered as an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or subscribe to any securities or financial instruments or services.  

The information used in the preparation of this document is based upon sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of those sources. Information, opinions and estimates contained in this document reflect a judgment at the original date of publication and are subject to change without notice.

This material does not contain sufficient information to support an investment decision and it should not be relied upon by you in evaluating the merits of investing in any products or services offered or distributed by Pictet Asset Management. Pictet Asset Management has not ensured the suitability of the securities mentioned in this document for any specific investor, and it should not be relied upon as a substitute for independent judgment; investors are advised to determine the suitability of the investment based on their financial knowledge, experience, goals and situation, or to seek specific advice from an industry professional before making any investment decisions. Investors should read the prospectus or offering memorandum before investing in any Pictet managed funds. Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change in the future.

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.  The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested. This document has been issued in Switzerland by Pictet Asset Management S.A. and in the rest of the world by Pictet Asset Management (Europe) S.A., and may not be reproduced or distributed, either in part or in full, without their prior authorisation.

Effective allocations are subject to change and may have changed since the date of the marketing material.

Any index data referenced herein remains the property of the Data Vendor. Data Vendor Disclaimers are available on pictet.com/assetmanagement   in the “Resources” section of the footer.

The latest version of the fund‘s prospectus, Pre-Contractual Disclosure (PCD) when applicable, Key Investor Information Document (KIID), annual and semi-annual reports must be read before investing. They are available free of charge in English on pictet.com/assetmanagement or in paper copy at Pictet Asset Management (Europe) S.A., 6B, rue du Fort Niedergruenewald, L-2226 Luxembourg, or at the office of the fund local agent, distributor or centralizing agent if any. The KIID is also available in the local language of each country where the compartment is registered. The prospectus, the PCD when applicable, and the annual and semi-annual reports may also be available in other languages, please refer to the website for other available languages.  Only the latest version of these documents may be relied upon as the basis for investment decisions.

The summary of investor rights (in English and in the different languages of our website) is available here and at pictet.com/assetmanagement under the heading "Resources", at the bottom of the page.

The list of countries where the fund is registered can be obtained at all times from Pictet Asset Management (Europe) S.A., which may decide to terminate the arrangements made for the marketing of the fund or compartments of the fund in any given country.

Any investment guidelines presented are internal guidelines which are subject to change at any time and without any notice within the limits of the fund's prospectus or Private Placement Memorandum.

The mentioned financial instruments are provided for illustrative purposes only and shall not be considered as a direct offering, investment recommendation or investment advice. Reference to a specific security is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security.

Past performance is not a guarantee or a reliable indicator of future performance. Performance data does not include the commissions and fees charged at the time of subscribing for or redeeming shares.

This document is not in scope for any MiFID II/MiFIR requirements specifically related to investment research.

As part of its sustainable investing efforts, Pictet Asset Management (“Pictet”) utilises the SDG logos, icons and colour wheel as illustrations to advance the firm’s sustainable targets and goals. The SDG logos, icons and colour wheel are and remain the intellectual property of the United Nations. The United Nations is in no way affiliated with Pictet. This material contains certain artistic or designed elements for which copyrighted materials shall be used for illustrative purposes only. The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views of the United Nations or its officials or Member States and further the United Nations did not endorse the content or data behind the SDG logos, icons and colour wheel. All content and data have been compiled by Pictet for the advancement of the goals and should not be considered as a direct offering, investment recommendation or investment advice. Pictet makes no ownership claims for the colours, shapes, or names as shown in the illustrations. All design rights remain the design rights of the United Nations. For more information on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals please go to: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment