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ESG in real assets

October 16, 2020

A real world impact combined with potentially higher returns and lower risk
ESG and Sustainability|Investments
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Case study: Controlled environment agriculture

This is a tech-based approach toward food production. This takes place within an enclosed growing structure such as a greenhouse. Plants are often grown using hydroponic or soilless-methods in order to supply the proper amounts of water (not too much) and nutrients to the root zone in a controlled and closed environment. This idea was identified within the sustainable agriculture theme and is helping to address a number of challenges that exist in the traditional agriculture sector. More detail in the below attachment.

We believe that fully integrating ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) into the investment process leads to better and more resilient performance, and that sustainable investment is central to successful long-term investment outcomes. It is therefore a key part of our beliefs and investment approach.

Once a sustainable investment strategy has been established, a challenge that often arises is measuring the actual impact on investments which has generally been difficult. Further, it can prove challenging for investors to articulate an impactful ESG strategy in traditional listed assets, such as equities and bonds, where the challenges of delivering real-world changes are often significant.

The increased popularity of ESG means the vast majority of companies or asset managers will showcase a plethora of initiatives. But what impact are they having? And are these initiatives actually embedded across the organisation and within the strategies? These initiatives need to go beyond simply being a box-ticking exercise, marketing campaign or compliance requirement.

We demonstrate in the below paper how we integrate sustainability and ESG into our real assets research, aiming to provide higher and more resilient returns. We show that real assets can not only provide investments that fit within a well-established ESG strategy but also how it can facilitate ongoing measurements of real-world impacts given their physical nature. There is also an actual example of a recently rated investment.

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Lidia Medojevic
Investment Consultant, Real Assets Research
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