The socially responsible investment (SRI) team that left UK-listed fund manager Henderson Global Investors in late 2011 has re-surfaced at London-based environmental investment manager WHEB Group.
The team of four – George Latham, Seb Beloe, Tim Dieppe and Hyewon Kong – will join the existing WHEB team led by Clare Brook to focus on a core global growth strategy in the form of the IM WHEB Sustainability Fund, a long-only multi-themed equities fund.
“There is a very close fit between the investment themes in the IM WHEB Sustainability fund and the themes we pursued under the ‘Industries of the Future’ strategy at Henderson,” Latham, the former head of SRI at Henderson Global Investors, said.
Latham added: “We can see a huge opportunity in growing client demand for sustainability-oriented investment products. This has in part been created by several larger institutional fund managers reducing resources in this area just at the moment when these investment themes are becoming increasingly important in driving returns.”
Last week Kames Capital, part of the Dutch Aegon group, re-affirmed its commitment to the SRI sector after other firms, which includes Aviva Investors, scaled back or closed SRI teams.
©2012 funds europe
