The new fund, which joins the STARS fund range already comprising the Nordea 1 – Emerging Stars Equity Fund and the Nordea 1 – Nordic Stars Equity Fund, is a long-only, benchmark-agnostic global equities fund blending traditional fundamental bottom-up stock selection with in-depth environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis.
Managed by Johan Swahn and Daniel Ovin, the 14-people strong Nordea responsible investment team provide input as well. NAM has a team of 12 ESG-analysts, of which three are dedicated to the Global STARS range. According to the firm daily interactions between portfolio managers and the ESG research team ensures that Global STARS integrates ESG analysis into the investment process.
The STARS concept is based on the belief that identifying companies with leading ESG practices, high and stable returns and sound valuations can be a source of sustainable outperformance and shareholder value, said the financial services group.
The aim of the fund is to select companies displaying high-quality ESG scores rather than negatively screening-out poor ESG performers. Nordea said they strive to minimize environmental footprint and encourage social engagement as they believe companies generating sustainable returns will be among future winners.
“We believe sustainable business models carry lower risk and expect to generate higher risk adjusted return,” added Nordea AM.
“Global STARS focuses on stocks with sustainable competitive advantages and high and stable returns, running multiple iterative processes to align portfolio composition with the portfolio manager’s conviction and manage risks,” added the asset manager.
