Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has added to its emerging market fixed income product range with the launch of the UBAM – EM Sustainable High Grade Corporate Bond.
This launch reflects a strengthening in UBP’s approach to responsible investing and a commitment to further developing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities.
Managed by Denis Girault, Head of Emerging Market Fixed Income at UBP, the new fund combines UBP’s own know-how and extensive in-house credit and ESG analysis with the expertise of MSCI ESG Research LLC, which will provide both quantitative and qualitative screening and help the Bank invest in emerging market investment-grade corporate issuers with high ESG ratings.
In addition to identifying issuers that are performing better than their peers on environmental, social and governance issues, the fund’s screening process will exclude companies from a number of sectors with a negative sustainability impact. The portfolio is comprised of approximately 50 issuers from some 20 countries.
The new fund further expands UBP’s emerging market fixed income fund range which already consists of three corporate strategies (UBAM – EM Investment Grade Corporate Bond, UBAM – Emerging Market Corporate Bond, and UBAM – EM High Yield Short Duration Corporate Bond), a sovereign strategy (UBAM – Emerging Market Sovereign Bond) and an unconstrained strategy (UBAM – Emerging Market Debt Opportunities). The fund is available to investors in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Girault says: “Just like their developed market peers, many emerging market corporate issuers have decided to reinforce their ESG practices. This new fund aims to favour such responsible investment leaders and reflects UBP’s commitment to delivering best-in-class ESG investment capabilities to our clients, who show significant appetite for such solutions.”
UBP has recently expanded ESG requirements across the full range of its existing products and developed its Responsible Investment Policy to achieve superior, stable long-term returns in addition to meeting its clients’ ethical requirements. As part of its ongoing commitment to responsible investment, UBP has been a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) since 2012. More recently, the Bank joined the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s ‘Investment Leaders Group’, a select network of pension funds, insurers and asset managers committed to advancing the practice of responsible investment.
Victoria Leggett (pictured), Head of Responsible Investment at UBP, says: “It is our belief that both risk management and alpha-generation are enhanced by integrating ESG factors into our investment process, engaging with businesses to encourage change and, where possible, investing in assets which deliver a positive impact.”
