AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) today announced its fully integrated ESG (environmental, social and governance) smart beta equity pooled fund – AXA IM ACWI SmartBeta Equity Fund (the Fund) – has received further industry accolades in recognition of its unique structure and ability to outperform the market.
Following on from recent accolades which have included the Fund receiving a Morningstar Sustainability RatingTM of High1 and Responsible Investment Certification by Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), independent researcher Lonsec has now awarded the Fund a “Recommended” rating specifically recognising its ability to generate risk adjusted returns.
In the assessment, Lonsec acknowledged that in comparison to its peers, the Fund offers investors a low-fee, systematic approach, coupled with ESG considerations, to access global equities with volatility expected to be less than the benchmark.
Managed by AXA IM’s Rosenberg Equities team, the Fund is designed to give Australian long term investors a more efficient way of capturing global equity market beta, while avoiding the limitations of both market cap-weighted indices and alternative weighting schemes. Since launching in August 2014, the Fund has achieved an annualized return of 18.4%, outperforming its MSCI ACWI benchmark by 4.69% (AUD performance as at July 31, 2016).
AXA IM’s Sydney-based Executive Michelle Lacey said the rating highlighted the Fund’s ability to offer investors both the benefits of lower volatility while also improving long-term returns.
“The smart beta equity strategy offers a sensible middle ground between blind index tracking and alpha-oriented strategies so equips equity investors with a better chance of improving long- term investment success in a more cost efficient way.
“We are pleased to have the Fund recognised for generating quality returns at its two-year launch anniversary. The market has become more comfortable with the concept of smart beta investing and we’ve seen growing interest from both institutional clients and dealer groups,” Ms Lacey said.
Replicating Australian smart beta ESG integration success: new fund launched in Europe
Following the initial successful ‘Australia first’ launch two years ago, AXA IM has also recently launched a new fund in Europe – The AXA World Funds Global SmartBeta Equity ESG fund.
AXA IM’s Paris-based Global Head of Responsible Investing Matt Christensen commented on the opportunities in the European market to replicate the success in Australia.
“It’s been exciting to see how Australia has really led the charge on smart beta and ESG integration and that a wider pool of investors can now benefit from these types of solutions.
“Investors globally are increasingly focussing on how to manage their ESG risks and this is a trend which is not going away. We firmly believe that we will see the gradual progression of responsible investment from a specialist area to a ‘must have’. As such this fund is well positioned to help clients to better consider ESG risks and opportunities,” Mr Christensen said.
Notes:
BOut of 73 Equity World Large Blend funds as of 30/06/2016. Based on 99%of AUM. The Morningstar Sustainability RatingTM is used by investors to evaluate how well the companies in a fund portfolio are managing the environmental, social and governance (or ESG).
