27 June 2022
We are pleased to announce that the Trium Sustainable Innovators Global Equity and Trium Sustainable Innovators North American Equity funds have been awarded the ‘Label ISR’ – a high-water mark in ESG accreditation.
Both funds received the label following an independent evaluation to verify they adhere to the label's exacting ESG criteria. The Label ISR, considered the gold standard in ESG labelling, is a tool created by the French government to identify investment funds with measurable and concrete results, backed by a socially responsible investment (SRI) methodology.
The goal of the label is to increase the visibility of sustainable investing for investors, and demonstrate transparency and excellence in sustainable investing from asset managers, enabling investors to invest with confidence in funds that make sustainability claims.
Raphael Pitoun, Portfolio Manager of the Trium Sustainable Innovators funds believes common benchmarks are crucial to support investors navigating the complexity of ESG and sustainable investing:
"We welcome the recognition the label brings, which will support our engagement efforts and increase access to allocators and institutions across Europe. The principles of ESG investing are being diluted by the current green rush to launch new products as a response to elevated investor demand. Unfortunately, the complexity of applying well-defined ESG criteria is still not well understood."
“This means the Label ISR, which is carried out independently and based on objective and rigorous specifications, is more relevant than ever. Ultimately, the label enables SRI funds to explain their approach to investors in an easy-to-digest and comparable format."
ESG cannot be done by data-crunching alone, and without rigorous and common standards, ESG can be manipulated by subjective interests that may not be aligned with longer-term sustainability goals, such as net zero. This was underlined by the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, which revealed some ESG policies are not fit for purpose.”
Pitoun also believes avoiding engagement with underperforming companies in the context of ESG criteria is a regressive step in making progress on critical sustainability issues.
“It has become patently obvious that dialogue and engagement should be core to ESG strategies. We will continue to engage with our universe of companies to assess ESG standards and the sustainability of companies.”
Both the Trium Sustainable Innovators strategies develop an intense engagement approach with investee companies. The funds are classified Article 8 under SFDR. Their ESG pedigree has also been audited and recognised by the non-profit organisation LuxFLAG through its ESG label.
The funds target an average CO2 intensity of at least 80% below the benchmark and welcome registered charities as clients in non-management fee share classes.
