AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) today announced it has received responsible investment certification by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) for its fully integrated ESG (environmental, social and governance) SmartBeta equity pooled fund – AXA IM ACWI SmartBeta Equity Fund (the Fund).
The Fund is designed to give Australian long term investors a more efficient way of capturing equity market beta, while avoiding the limitations of both market cap-weighted indices and alternative weighting schemes. Since launching in August 2014, AXA IM’s fully ESG integrated Fund is now around 5% ahead of its MSCI ACWI benchmark.
AXA IM Director for Australia and New Zealand Craig Hurt said RIAA’s certification reinforced AXA IM’s long-standing commitment to responsible investment (RI) and supporting sustainable financial markets.
“Since forming in 1997, AXA IM’s Responsible Investment team has become one of the largest and most experienced in the RI field. Our locally domiciled ESG integrated SmartBeta equity strategy continues to attract strong interest from both institutional and retail investors, looking for a more intelligent and pragmatic approach to capture the market return.”
According to its latest RI Annual Review the volume of ESG-integrated and impact investments managed globally by AXA IM grew substantially in 2015 to reach AU$655bn (€333bn).
“We expect this trend to continue as RI becomes more mainstream and the asset management industry further embraces ESG integration and impact-based outcomes,” Mr Hurt said.
RIAA, the peak industry body representing responsible and ethical investors across Australia and New Zealand, recently refreshed its Responsible Investment Certification Program aimed at helping investors of all kinds to choose an investment option that matches their investment beliefs. Achieving RIAA Certification requires meeting the industry body’s strict operational and disclosure requirements.
RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor said RIAA was pleased to welcome AXA IM to its renewed Certification Program.
“Our program is designed to help investors by providing standardised and consistent information about certified responsible investment products in direct response to the surging interest in the full range of responsible and ethical investment solutions. To achieve certification, AXA IM’s SmartBeta Fund has met strict requirements relating to transparency and disclosure and has demonstrated leading practice for responsible investments,” Mr O’Connor said.
