London, 27 July 2022 – Amundi, the largest European asset manager1 , announces the launch of Amundi Funds Emerging Markets Equity ESG Improvers (“the Fund”), an actively managed fund that aims to focus on companies demonstrating improving ESG characteristics and exhibiting strong sustainability growth potential. This addition, the first of the range to offer exposure to Emerging Markets, brings the total number of ESG Improvers Funds to six.2
The Fund will actively invest in a broad, diversified3 portfolio of 90-120 global emerging market stocks across capitalisations, focusing on improving sustainable characteristics, by blending ESG and fundamental analysis. In line with the philosophy underpinning the ESG Improvers range since its launch in 2021, the Fund will seek to take a forward-looking view on ESG.4 Engagement will be a key component with the aim of moving beyond a static data and scoring methodology on ESG, and engaging instead with companies with a lower but improving ESG profile, in order to have a stronger impact on investments and help those companies achieve a higher ESG score.5
The Fund will be co-managed by Deirdre Maher, Head of Frontier Markets, and Andrea Salvatori, Senior Portfolio Manager - Head of ESG Strategies Emerging Markets at Amundi. Amundi’s Emerging Markets team manages over €41 bn6 of assets under management, adopting a unique cross-asset approach based on the combination of both Fixed Income & Equity teams, in order to capture the full picture of emerging markets investing. We believe this 360° approach enables the investment teams understand the full cost of capital, helping to unearth and generate unique investment opportunities.
1 IPE Top 500 Asset Managers 31/12/2021
2 Funds launched to date within the ESG Improvers range: AF European Equity ESG Improvers, AF Global Equity ESG Improvers, AF Pioneer US Equity ESG improvers, Amundi Funds Global Corporate ESG Improvers Bond, Amundi Funds Pioneer Global High Yield ESG Improvers Bond
3 Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.
4 There is no guarantee that ESG considerations will enhance a Fund’s investment strategy or performance. The decision of the investor to invest in the promoted fund should take into account all the characteristics and objectives of the fund.
5 Increased ESG scores do not necessarily correlate to increased performance or performance potential.
6 Source: Amundi as at 31 March 2022
