Green should not mean poor performance, say IFAs
- Research from Virgin Money shows advisers believe environmental funds need to perform
More than half of IFAs believe clients will no longer accept under-performance from environmental and green funds as the price they have to pay for following their conscience, new research* from Virgin Money shows.
The nationwide poll shows 51 per cent of advisers say clients are not willing to accept a performance lag with environmental investing compared with 37 per cent who say clients are prepared to suffer for their consciences.
And 69 per cent of advisers believe green and environmental funds can compete with mainstream funds and deliver strong performance.
The Virgin Climate Change Fund, launched in January 2008, aims to achieve high performance by investing in companies with a lighter than average environmental footprint.
Scott Mowbray, spokesman for Virgin Money, said: “Until now, the perception of environmental investing has been that investors must sacrifice some performance in return for going green.
“However clients are no longer as willing to accept lower returns on their investments as a price for following their consciences. Funds like the Virgin Climate Change Fund aims to show investors that they can out perform the so-called mainstream and be better for the environment.”
The Virgin fund’s advisor GLG Partners LP (“GLG”) only invest in companies with lighter than average environmental footprints in their sectors as well as companies who provide, manufacture or own solutions to environmental problems.
Data provided by leading environmental research organisation Trucost is combined with GLG’s own company research to select suitable stocks for investment. GLG have successfully managed a similar fund for institutions and high net worth individuals since March 2007 known as the 'GLG Environment Fund' which to date has outperformed the MSCI Europe Index.
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Notes to editors:
* IFA interviews were conducted by George Street Research in November 2007. A total of 100 interviews were completed amongst a cross-section of advisers throughout Great Britain. Quotas were imposed on the total sample in respect of size of IFA firms, region and areas of specialisation.
For further information
Jason Wyer-Smith or Scott Mowbray at the Virgin Money Press Office
Scott.mowbray@virginmoney.com 01603 215909
Kevan Reilly/Billy Partridge/Holly Clark, Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Firstname.lastname@citigatedr.co.uk 0207 638 9571
About Virgin Money
Virgin Money is Virgin’s financial services arm and was established in 1995.
Virgin Money has over two million customers and offers a wide range of financial products across lending (e.g. credit cards and personal loans), savings (e.g. deposits, investments and pensions) and protection (e.g. life insurance, home insurance and car insurance) to the UK market.
The Virgin Stakeholder Pension, Virgin Unit Trust and Virgin PEP are provided by Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered office: Discovery House, Whiting Road, Norwich, NR4 6EJ. Registered in England no. 3000482. Entered on the Financial Services Authority’s Register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register/), Register Number: 171748.
About GLG Partners LP
GLG, is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority and is one of the largest independent alternative asset managers in Europe. It offers its base of long-standing prestigious clients a diverse range of investment products and account management services. GLG’s focus is on preserving client’s capital and achieving consistent, superior absolute returns with low volatility and low correlations to both the equity and fixed income markets. Since its inception in 1995, GLG has built on the roots of its founders in the private wealth management industry to develop into one of Europe’s largest and most recognized alternative investment managers, while maintaining its tradition of client-focused product development and customer service. As of December 31st 2007, GLG managed gross assets under management of over $29 billion.
For further information please visit: www.glgpartners.com
About the GLG Environment Fund
The GLG Environment Fund, an Irish regulated fund, identifies and invests primarily in European companies that have a lighter footprint, or cost to the environment, using a combination of GLG’s rigorous stock selection criteria and the GLG Green Filter™, developed with the independent consultant Trucost.
About Trucost
Trucost is an environmental research company, which enables companies and investors to understand the environmental impacts of business activities in quantitative and financial terms. Trucost provides data, analysis and advice for institutional investors, corporations and government and has standardised comparable data on over 4,000 companies globally. Trucost wrote the environmental reporting guidelines for the UK Government published in 2006. Further information on Trucost is available from www.trucost.com
