Friday Funds: Man GLG launches sustainability-focused hedge fund

Man GLG has launched a new sustainability-focused long/short equity hedge fund. The Article 8 fund will invest in 25-45 stocks which prioritise sustainability and have a positive impact in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while taking a short book “designed to hedge market and factor risk”.

FlexShares ETFs, the ETF arm of Northern Trust Asset Management, has launched four new climate-focused ETFs. The four new funds, a US Large Cap Core Index Fund, a Developed Markets ex-US Core Index Fund, an Investment Grade Corporate Core Index Fund, and a High Yield Corporate Core Index Fund, will all use Northern Trust’s ESG vector scores as well as a carbon risk rating, “in an effort to hedge ESG-related risks and capitalise on sustainable opportunities”.

Hartford Funds has announced the launch of an actively-managed ESG fixed income ETF. The Hartford Sustainable Income ETF will track its performance against the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index, investing in bonds across sectors including investment grade, high yield and emerging markets debt, from issuers which demonstrate a commitment to sustainable practices, are demonstrating ESG improvement, or are being engaged by sub-advisor Wellington Management on ESG characteristics.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) has put $120m – 5% of its endowment – into a new Paris-aligned global equity fund, launched in partnership with Arrowstreet Capital. The new fund is benchmarked against the MSCI Paris Aligned Index, and has embedded sustainability-based proxy voting requirements.

Xtrackers by DWS has completed the conversion of nine of its European equity ETFs to their MSCI ESG index equivalents. With the launch of a tenth fund in June, Xtrackers now offers ESG ETFs in the following sectors: communication services, consumer discretionary, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, utilities, materials and consumer staples. 

Aegon Asset Management has announced that UK consumer review site Trustpilot, tech firm Dynatrace, and bio-testing and analytical services firm Eurofins have been added to its Sustainable Equity and Global Sustainable Equity funds as ‘sustainable improver’ stocks in the first half of 2021. 

SWEN Capital partners has launched an ocean regeneration fund. The fund, which the asset manager classifies as an Article 9 fund under EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, will invest in “solutions which address the major threats to the ocean”, including overfishing, ocean pollution and climate change. A number of investors including Macif and Credit Mutuel Arkea committed €52m to the fund’s first closing, with a target raise of €120m.