MainStreet Partners, the London-based ESG Advisory and Portfolio Analytics founded in 2008 and specialist in Sustainable, ESG and Impact Investments, has today announced the funds and asset managers which are the winners of its inaugural “ESG Champions” list. BNP Asset Management (Best Asset Manager and Best Social Thematic Fund) and NN Investment Partners (Best Green Bond Fund) are among the award winners.
Neill Blanks, Research Director, commented: “For many years MainStreet Partners has implemented a structured process using a robust proprietary methodology to evaluate a fund’s ESG and Sustainability level. This holistic methodology was created to help investors identify real sustainable investments across asset classes and to avoid greenwashing. In 2021 we have decided to give special recognition to a select number of funds that have excelled in their own category among a total of 350 funds managed by over 60 asset managers which are rated by our team. Given the development and increasing depth of ESG fund offerings we have named nine broad categories across Equities, Fixed Income, Multi-Asset and Thematic investing together with the best overall Asset Manager as well as the best Boutique. Our investment analysts have based their decisions on MainStreet Partners proprietary models and have selected a winner for each of the categories”
This year’s winners are:
- Best Global Equity Fund: Candriam Sustainable Equity World – Candriam
- Best European Equity Fund: Echiquier Major SRI Growth Europe – La Financière de l’Echiquier – LFDE
- Best Global Fixed Income Fund: RobecoSAM Global SDG Credits – Robeco
- Best European Fixed Income Fund: DNCA Invest Beyond European Bond Opportunities – DNCA Finance
- Best Green Bond Fund: NN Green Bond – NN Investment Partners
- Best Multi-Asset Fund: Mirova Europe Sustainable Economy – Mirova
- Best Multi-Thematic Fund: Federated Hermes Impact Opportunities Equity – Federated Hermes – International
- Best Environmental Thematic Fund: Pictet Clean Energy – Pictet Asset Management
- Best Social Thematic Fund: BNP Paribas Smart Food – BNP Paribas Asset Management
- Best Asset Manager: BNP Paribas Asset Management
- Best Boutique: Sycomore Asset Management
On the methodology, Neill Blanks, said: “The new EU regulation requires the identification and disclosure of Sustainability risks which, in our opinion, are beyond the simple average rating of portfolio holdings because they involve the asset manager’s approach to Sustainability, its commitment, its disclosures, how Sustainability principles are incorporated in the investment process and how those may affect financial results. These aspects are crucially influenced by the actions, policies and procedures that the asset managers have to put in place to make informed decisions and construct portfolios. Furthermore, when looking at the portfolio, controversies also need to be taken into consideration since company ratings often do not incorporate them in a timely manner. Our approach overcomes these issues by severally considering the asset manager, team and strategy in addition to the portfolio holdings which means the Sustainability rating is more stable and
holistic.”
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