About Australia Sustainable Equity
The Martin Currie Australia Sustainable Equity strategy aims to provide higher returns than the index over the longer term, while considering and positively influencing the Sustainability practices of the companies it invests in.
Through ongoing discussions and engagement with clients, we understand that investors increasingly want to align their investments with achieving a more Sustainable environmental, social & economic future, but also do not want to forfeit economic returns.
The strategy intentionally has limited exclusions, and instead focuses on identifying and scoring companies that:
- provide more benefit vs. harm to society,
- have a management that focuses on their Sustainability risk, and
- have a clearly articulated pathway towards a Sustainable environmental, social & economic future.
We aim to positively influence a company’s Pathway to improve their Sustainability practices through Active Ownership, which is embedded in the investment process for all Martin Currie strategies.
The strategy builds on Martin Currie Australia’s long-term experience in integrating ESG into Australian Equity portfolios, and combines our unique multi-lensed research process (Valuation, Quality, Direction) with portfolio construction that tilts towards companies that score highly on its proprietary Sustainability assessments.
The combination of our deep fundamental insights and quantitative analysis for both Sustainability and Financial assessments provides conviction in security and portfolio positioning.
Stewardship is, and has always been, a critical element of our investment philosophy, and we believe that Financial Returns and Sustainability are fundamentally intertwined over the long term.
- Our Sustainability Returns focuses on companies that provide more benefit than harm to society, have a management that focuses on their Sustainability risk, and have a clearly articulated pathway towards a Sustainable environmental, social & economic future.
We believe that businesses with these Sustainability characteristics ensure they are relevant and resilient, and create long-term value for investors with the support of stakeholders.
We believe we can positively influence a company’s pathway to improve their sustainability practices through Active Ownership, which is embedded in our investment process. - Our Financial Returns is premised on long term equity market efficiency, with security prices ultimately reflecting the present value of future cash flows.
However, in the short term, the market’s behavioural biases can create temporary mispricing and divergence from fair value that can be exploited by our disciplined investment process.
The portfolio is built systematically to achieve an optimal balance of active risk and Sustainability, resulting in a diversified portfolio with:
- Higher expected returns than the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation index over the longer term
- Consistent returns in volatile environments
- Balanced exposure to MCA’s proprietary alpha/ESG signals
- Better Sustainability and lower shadow carbon cost than the market
| Portfolio characteristics | Australia Sustainable Equity |
|---|---|
| Long-term objective | To provide an after-fee return in excess of the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index over rolling three-year periods. |
| Investable Universe | Australian listed securities |
| Benchmark | S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index |
| Market capitalisation | All cap |
| Country limit | N/A |
| Sector limit | Benchmark +/- 6% |
| Security limit | Benchmark +/- 4% |
| Number of stocks | ~55 |
| Portfolio turnover | Typically 35% p.a. |
| Forecast tracking error | Typically ~3% p.a. (ex-ante) |
| Inception | May 2020 |
The characteristics shown are guidelines only and not hard limits.
An active part of a sustainable solution
The strategy intentionally has limited exclusions. Simple negative values screening places undue precedence on the past activities of a company and penalise those who are in fact moving in the right direction.
Will Baylis
Portfolio Manager
Will Baylis
- Job title
- Portfolio Manager
Naomi Bant
- Job title
- Portfolio Manager & Quantitative Research
Matthew Lambert
- Job title
- Portfolio Manager & Quantitative Research
Through the combination of our Sustainability and Financial assessments, using both fundamental and quantitative research, we can identify investment opportunities that can generate healthier outcomes for all stakeholders.
How to invest
We offer investors access to our strategies through a segregated account or a range of pooled vehicles.
Please contact us to discuss the most appropriate investment to meet your requirements.
How to invest
Martin Currie is an independently managed investment affiliate of Legg Mason, one of the world’s largest asset management firms.
Legg Mason is responsible for the sales and client service of our funds for financial advisers and individual investors.
If you would like to find out more about these funds, please visit the Legg Mason website.
How to invest
Martin Currie is an independently managed investment affiliate of Legg Mason, one of the world’s largest asset management firms.
Legg Mason is responsible for the sales and client service of our funds for financial advisers and individual investors.
If you would like to find out more about these funds, please visit the Legg Mason website.
How to invest
Martin Currie is an independently managed investment affiliate of Legg Mason, one of the world’s largest asset management firms.
Legg Mason is responsible for the sales and client service of our funds for financial advisers and individual investors.
If you would like to find out more about these funds, please visit the Legg Mason website.
Funds available
Related insights
-
Stewardship Annual Report 2020
We can help create long-term sustainable value for our clients by using one of our most powerful tools – engagement.
- Date published
- 26 Apr 2020
- Tag
- Stewardship & ESG
-
ESG challenges for investing in the modern age
In this modern age of climate change and the ‘me-too’ movement, Environmental and Social factors have become increasingly important investment risk factors to consider.
- Date published
- 18 Sep 2019
- Tag
- Stewardship & ESG