Flagship €1.9 billion fund of abrdn aligns with Article 8

In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, Abrdn converted its flagship €1.9 billion Asia Pacific Equity fund and two additional strategies to Article 8. (SFDR).

The two additional funds, the €229 million Global Innovation Equity fund and the €481 million North American Smaller Companies fund, will both be converted as of August 1.

As a result of the conversion, the Asia Pacific Equity fund will now be known as the Asia Pacific Sustainable Equity fund.

As the business grows its line of sustainable products, it is improving its approach to sustainable investment through the conversions.

The expanded screening process and elimination of low-rated ESG companies from the investment pool are two benefits of the revised abrdn framework.

The funds will also now have clear ESG goals and a lower carbon intensity than their benchmarks.

"We are pleased to continue the evolution of our Sustainable Investment products as we expand our range in line with client demand," said Devan Kaloo, global head of public markets at abrdn.

"The Sustainable Investment range applies positive tilt to strong or improving sustainability factors, offering investors further opportunities to invest in a more sustainable world." 

These three conversions come after 24 SICAV funds, including 18 equity funds and 6 fixed income funds, were converted to Article 8 in April of this year.

At the time, the conversions doubled abrdn's SICAV AUM for responsible investing to €15.5 billion; abrdn stated that this was just the first of several planned conversions that would take place this year.

By fLEXI tEAM