Candriam has launched the Candriam Sustainable Bond Impact Fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg SICAV Candriam Sustainable, which has around €18 billion in assets under management.
The multi-asset manager will use each of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to invest in bond issuance that supports the transition to a low carbon economy or to improve social disparity.
The sub fund will use an advanced proprietary in-house screening approach that provides a deep assessment on the ESG quality of the issuer and examines how issue proceeds will finance underlying projects that are aligned with the UN SDGs.
According to the firm, financing sustainable debt must be linked to both issuer credibility on ESG commitments as well as its solvency profile.
As part of Candriam’s responsible investment approach, the sub fund will be managed using both fundamental and ESG analysis, led by Phillipe Dehoux, head of global bonds, Céline Deroux, senior fixed income strategist and Nicolas Forest, global head of fixed income.
The managers will work alongside Vincent Compiegne, deputy head of ESG investments and Lucia Meloni, lead ESG governance analyst, as well as a team of analysts with sovereign, high yield, and investment grade expertise.
The fund will include a minimum 75% ratio of sustainable bonds to contribute positively to the UN SDGs.
It will also be classified as an Article 9-financial product under the European Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Meanwhile, 10% of the net management fee will be donated to specific organisations supporting green or social projects.
Forest said that the sustainable bond market is fast-growing and increasingly diversified.
“By directly addressing the UN SDGs with this new strategy, we are able to target the full range of societal issues, providing financial inflows to specific initiatives that will make a material and positive contribution to global sustainable development,” he said.
The fund has been registered for distribution in Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
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