Swiss asset manager Vontobel is to offer more enhanced details of how the investment choices in its clean technology fund are benefitting the environment.
Vontobel Asset Management, which manages more than CHF 15 billion of sustainable investments, has added seven new impact indicators as part of its Potential Avoided Emissions (PAE) approach.
The PAE method calculates the total carbon footprint over the entire lifecycle of the products marketed by investee companies in fund. The asset manager believes this is a more holistic and forward-looking approach than the carbon footprint method, which only captures emissions during the product’s manufacturing phase.
The PAE approach also gives investors the opportunity to shift from the current focus on mitigating ESG risks to positive impact considerations, according to the company.
The fund invests in companies that provide clean and innovative technologies.
The additional indicators provide data on the specific positive impacts of the portfolio’s holdings, such as how much waste water has been treated, or how many tonnes of coal was left in the ground by switching to renewable energy generation.
For example, in support of the affordable and clean energy SDG, a €1m investment in the fund provides clean energy for 475 people for a year, the fund manager explained.
“For the first time, our fund investors can see all the areas where their money makes a positive impact,” said Pascal Dudle, portfolio manager and head of global trend investing at Vontobel Asset Management.
“For us, impact investing is about capitalising on the investment opportunities that climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy can offer.”
