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27 January 2021
Australian equity environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds saw a post-US election boost, as the Biden presidency has benefited ESG funds with holdings in renewables.
President Biden had already signed several executive orders related to environmental protections, which included re-entering the US into the Paris Agreement.
According to FE Analytics, within the Australia Core Strategies universe, the Australian equity sector returned 1.23% over the 12 months to 30 November, 2020.
There were 19 funds labelled ethical/sustainable in the sector, with 11 outperforming the sector average.
The Hyperion fund had consistently been one of the best-performing funds of 2020 thanks to allocations to companies winning market shares from weaker competitors as the pandemic had been a catalyst for market leadership disruption.
Meanwhile, APSEC had a long-bias strategy and invested in Australian-listed securities and derivatives.
Best-performing fund versus ASX 200 and Australian equity sector over one year to 30 November 2020
At the bottom end of the spectrum, there were 146 funds which reported losses, which represented 65% of the sector. However, only seven of these funds reported double-digit losses with the worst-performing fund being Invesco Australian Equity Efficient Income which lost 19.9%.