Charles Stanley has launched a four-strong range of responsible model portfolios managed by investment director Jane Bransgrove.
The new range of risk-rated portfolios have an ESG focus, combining active management and asset allocation to invest in mainly passive funds that track responsible benchmarks or have an ESG thematic focus.
Dan James, head of asset management and chair of the Charles Stanley responsible investment committee, said its own research recently found that 51% of UK adults say the pandemic has increased their interest in investments with a sustainable focus.
Bransgrove has been named lead manager of the portfolios, with support from the Charles Stanley asset management team and the wider research team.
“People now want their investments to incorporate ESG considerations, whilst still delivering on their financial goals. We believe responsible investing has the potential to deliver better returns over the long-term due to strong governance and lower risk assigned to companies that have a focus on ESG,” said Bransgrove, director of asset management at Charles Stanley and a member of its responsible investment committee.
“These portfolios are designed to be low-cost, and well diversified, applying our skill in asset allocation to help investors meet their saving and investment goals.”
The four portfolios within the range are aligned with risk categories, from lower through to higher risk, with each currently assigned an AAA MSCI ESG rating.
The strategy has been running in-house at Charles Stanley for nearly five years, and in that time the portfolios have outperformed the benchmark since inception, with the lower risk, model 2, delivering 18.3% and model 5 delivering 34.7%, according to the firm.
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