Vanguard Australia has expanded its range of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)-focused funds with the release of a global equity fund that will aim to outperform the broad global equities market.
The Vanguard Active Positive Impact Fund will be managed by investment firm Baillie Gifford with a portfolio of 25 to 50 global companies seeking long-term outperformance and a positive impact in areas such as social inclusion and education, healthcare and quality of life, environment and the resource needs of the world’s poorest populations.
The fund will aim to hold securities for at least five years, which will result in low portfolio turnover and is in line with its long-term investment outlook, and it will be available to investors on the Vanguard Personal Investor platform for a management fee of 0.79 per cent. Availability via third-party platforms will follow in due course.
The new product expands Vanguard Australia’s ESG product range to three exchange-traded funds (ETF) and five managed funds and its total number of fund offerings to 80, including 27 ETFs.
Vanguard Australia head of product Evan Reedman said: “We are thoughtfully broadening our ESG line-up with solutions that enable investors to align investment objectives with personal preferences and ESG considerations.
“Australian investors are increasingly weighing ESG factors alongside more traditional considerations such as risk and return. This fund allows investors to target positive impact alongside financial outperformance.
“Impact investing, an investing style targeting a dual objective of generating long-term returns and a positive social or environmental outcome, requires creativity and patience. We believe Baillie Gifford’s diverse team and commitment to thinking in decades rather than quarters is well suited to this style of investing.”
Baillie Gifford head of Australia Rosemary Shannon revealed the firm’s core philosophy was that investment returns and impact go hand in hand.
“In seeking out companies whose products and services are providing solutions to global challenges, we believe a proactive investment approach can also be the basis of attractive investment returns. Everyone wants to make a difference and capital thoughtfully and responsibly deployed is a powerful mechanism for change,” Shannon said.
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