The new strategy targets global issuers with strong commitments to emissions reduction and carbon neutrality over time – both within and beyond the burgeoning green bond market.
The Fund will invest in green bonds, which are issued explicitly for climate-related and low-carbon investments, but will also invest beyond that market. The scope of opportunity within the rapidly developing green bond space remains narrow at an industry level, with conventional companies largely excluded. This hybrid strategy seeks to harness the full opportunity set of the energy transition, by also investing in corporate issuers making positive moves in a sustainable manner, and in line with the Paris Climate Agreement targets.
With a bottom-up thematic approach, the Fund aims to actively manage credit risk and duration whilst exploiting relative value opportunities across different geographies, sectors and components of the fixed income universe. The Fund objective is to generate an attractive longer-term total return with low volatility, whilst maintaining a focus on climate improvement and sustainability. The fund is benchmarked against the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, and the portfolio itself will maintain a weighted average temperature of sub 2°C and net zero in line with the Paris Agreement targets.
The Mirabaud – Global Climate Bond Fund is managed by Andrew Lake, Mirabaud Asset Management’s head of fixed income, and Fatima Luis, senior fixed income portfolio manager. They work closely alongside the group’s dedicated and highly experienced SRI team.
The team’s meaningful engagement programme will not just target a reduction in emissions; it will also focus on enhancing disclosures around climate change risks and promote effective climate governance on corporate boards.
Sustainability has been at the core of Mirabaud Asset Management’s business model and culture for many years, with the group a signatory to the UN PRI since 2010, and achieving the highest ratings (A+) in all categories. In addition, the broader Mirabaud Group’s three business lines each follow four key responsibility pillars – economic, social, environmental and societal.
Andrew Lake comments: “The warming of our planet, which is already on an unsustainable path, will have a significant impact upon our environment, economies, health, and future. As investors, we have a responsibility to future generations and to our planet to make sure that companies and countries adhere to high levels of environmental governance and climate reduction targets. This may sound dramatic, but the choice really is that stark.”
Lionel Aeschlimann, Managing Partner of the Mirabaud Group and CEO of Mirabaud Asset Management, adds: “As a 200-year-old independent financial group with seven successive generations of family ownership, legacy is all important. Sustainability has long been a critical factor in our thinking and philosophy, and the launch of the dynamic and forward-thinking Mirabaud – Global Climate Bond Fund is further evidence of our commitment to responsible investing.”
Notes to Editors:
Bio - Andrew Lake Andrew has experience in the asset management industry since 1996. Prior to joining Mirabaud Asset Management in 2013, Andrew was Head of High Yield Portfolio Management at Aviva Investors. He has managed High Yield funds at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, where he was responsible for High Yield in London, and
at F&C Investments, where he co-managed the institutional High Yield product. He also managed investment grade funds at IBJ Asset Management.
Andrew has a history degree from the University of York, an M.B.A from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago and is a non-practicing barrister.