CCLA Investment Management is the latest player to join the UK retail market with the launch of its Better World Global Equity Fund.
Launched with £230m ($288, €270m) of seed capital, the UK-domiciled Ucits is a considerable pivot from its wheelhouse of working with charities, local authorities and the Church of England.
The company said it was motivated to launch the fund following requests from “certain trustees” of its charity clients “wanting to invest their personal money in CCLA’s strategies”.
It will be managed by co-heads of investments Charlotte Ryland and James Ayre. Ryland joined CCLA from EFG in 2016 and previously worked for Newton Investment Management for 15 years, managing global equities and multi-asset segregated mandates for large UK and international clients. Ayre joined CCLA in 2007 and was formerly an investment analyst at Santander Asset Management.
The Better World Global Equity Fund will mirror CCLA’s global equity strategy, in that it will invest in quality global companies with strong long-term business models, positive free cashflow generation and which are well-positioned to benefit from secular trends.
The fund is immediately available to wealth managers and the company is working on making it accessible via direct-to-consumer and intermediary platforms.
‘Good investment’
JP Morgan Asset Management and Artemis alum Jasper Berens joined CCLA in October 2021 as head of client relationships and distribution.
He was tasked with helping the firm expand beyond its not-for-profit client base into the wider wealth, intermediary and retail market.
“This offering will appeal to those investors seeking good performance combined with a genuine and authentic approach to ESG and sustainable investing,” he said.
CCLA is a founding member of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and says it has a long track record of “instigating positive change for a better world”.
Berens added: “CCLA is different in that our approach to sustainability is applied across everything we do and not just at an individual fund level. This allows us to have a greater positive impact. It’s what we call ‘good investment’.”
Peter Hugh Smith, CCLA’s chief executive, said: “For more than 60 years, CCLA has brought our ‘good investment’ philosophy to the not-for-profit sector. This means we use our voice to engage with companies and government policy makers on issues that matter.
“We instigate conversations that result in real progress on the world’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to human rights and good governance. And we bring the investment industry along with us as the power of collaboration is huge.
“Majority owned by our funds, CCLA’s interests are aligned with those of our clients, clients that have relied on us for decades to generate a financial return to enable their good work and to do so in a way that is aligned with their community-oriented values.”
Hugh Smith added: “We are therefore excited to be bringing our Good Investment approach to individuals so that together, we can invest to create a better world for both today and the next generation.”
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