The investment management industry is scrabbling to deliver “sustainable” solutions to investors. JPM have a successful emerging market franchise. Amit, who co-manages this fund, has outperformed 6 years out of ten across all market conditions with a tendency to outperform in rising markets. This strategy is built on the original Emerging Markets strategy and as they say, they are not re-inventing the wheel.
They were quick to explain that they see sustainability as the next stage of investments, and this will run alongside the mainstream offering. In all of this our observation is, if there is such a belief in sustainability, then why not change the existing strategy. The response was that the UK is not really ready for this, and this is mainly aimed at the European market. Compared to other strategies you feel this is more about box ticking than doing something that truly makes a difference, but that might match the requirements of some investors.
The fund was launched at the end of 2020 and focuses on stocks with a quality tilt. They see this investment as best-in-class businesses with long term growth opportunities. The investment process contains negative screening, then whether the business meets its sustainability criteria, then at what price are they willing to pay and then how the portfolio is constructed….read more