Robeco and RobecoSAM have joined forces to introduce a new bond strategy aimed at corporate issuers abiding by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The new strategy, dubbed RobecoSAM Global SDG Credits, will only invest in bonds of corporates with a positive or neutral SDG rating.
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At the same time, it will offer exposure to green bonds with an “attractive performance potential”.
The fund will use RobecoSAM’s proprietary SDG framework. The framework incorporates a three-step approach, which includes identifying the extent to which companies’ offerings contribute to the SDGs, confirming that how the firm operates is compatible with the SDGs, and doing a check to verify if the company has been involved in controversies.
RobecoSAM head of sustainability investing (SI) research Jacob Messina said: “The SDGs have given asset owners a new lens through which to view the impacts of their investments. RobecoSAM is at the forefront of this conversation, helping define impact in the context of publicly traded securities.”
The new vehicle will be run by portfolio manager Jan Willem de Moor.
“I firmly believe that it is possible to contribute towards achieving the SDGs while generating competitive returns. We already integrate ESG information into the fundamental analysis of the issuers for all of our credit strategies, so to combine SI and Credit investing with the SDG component is very exciting,” Moor said.
