Portfolio Partners’ SRI fund up and running
Portfolio Partners has launched a new Australian sustainability fund and poached Amanda McCluskey from BT to run it.
The Long/Short Sustainability Fund will see McCluskey handling research and Portfolio Partners’ portfolio manager Ian Lang handling investing.
The fund hopes to deliver “profit with principles” and will be looking for stocks with sustainable practices, such as environmental protection and human capital policies.
According to the Centre for European Economic Research, companies which qualify for inclusion in a sustainability portfolio tend to be less volatile and yield positive results in the long-term.
The centre argues that these types of companies with these principles are usually more viable and have better growth prospects. It also found these companies benefited were less likely to suffer from reputation damage, litigation and compensation payouts.
Portfolio Partners will use sustainability guidelines for stock selection and this will be combined with traditional financial analysis.
Sustainability funds are already operating in Europe and the US, and McCluskey said although Portfolio Partners was the first to launch a fund here, she expected others will follow.
“We are certainly seeing in the UK that this is a growth area,” she said.
McCluskey said there are no plans to expand the investment style into other asset classes.
Initially, the new fund will be wholesale only, but it will be available through platforms later this year.
However, investors with access to Portfolio Partners professional selection PDS will be able to access the sustainability fund with a minimum investment of $40,000, which is what the platform minimum will be as well.
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
