Neuberger Berman Global Sustainable Equity Fund Opens Door to Australian investors
Sydney, November 8, 2021 - Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, has launched the Neuberger Berman Global Sustainable Equity (GSE) Fund (“Fund”) in Australia, with strong early support from existing Neuberger Berman clients in Australia. The Fund will provide Australian investors with access to Neuberger Berman’s renowned sustainable asset management capability.
The Fund will implement a proven investment philosophy and process honed over 16 years by a highly rated* portfolio management team (GSE team) comprising Hendrik-Jan Boer, Alex Zuiderwijk and Jeroen Brand. The GSE team were early adopters of ESG-integrated sustainable investing and, prior to joining Neuberger Berman, were managing over $10 billion in global and European equity strategies.
The high conviction Fund, which will typically hold 40-60 stocks, will seek to invest in quality companies where sustainability reinforces returns. The GSE team adopts a rigorous, forward-looking assessment of material, ESG factors and deep bottom-up research focused on value chain economics.
Hendrik-Jan Boer, lead portfolio manager, says: “We are seeing increasing growth in what we call ‘conscious consumers’, who are holding corporations and governments to account through their consumption behaviour, elections and activism. This coupled with active regulators implementing new directives across borders to address ESG issues is driving a new wave of high-quality opportunities for sustainable investors.”
Head of Intermediary Distribution at Neuberger Berman Australia, Matthew Thompson, said, “We now live in a net-zero transition world and at Neuberger Berman we believe that the companies that are best-placed to benefit from this disruption are quality businesses where sustainability reinforces competitive advantage. We are excited to offer Australian investors the opportunity to invest in a portfolio of ‘transition winning’ companies drawn from a mix of industries and regarded as ‘global disruptors’ in their pursuit of ESG goals.”
“This Fund provides Australian investors with access to our best ideas as identified by our highly rated* and recognized GSE team. The Fund has been launched with strong support from key clients in Australia and complements our growing ESG offering across all asset classes.”
The GSE portfolio management team is supported by four dedicated career analysts focused on bottom-up assessment with a value chain lens, across fintech & financial inclusion, energy transition, digital enterprise, conscious consumer and access to healthcare.
The GSE team works closely with the Neuberger Berman’s ESG team and benefits from the depth of expertise across Neuberger Berman’s $133 billion equities platform. The firm’s centralised global equity research department comprises 48 dedicated research professionals, with 41 senior research analysts averaging 19 years of experience.
More than 80% of Neuberger Berman’s total assets under management are now ESG integrated, up from 60% in 2019. In October 2020, the firm was awarded top scores (straight A+) in the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) assessment report for the second consecutive year, and were named a 2020 PRI Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment managers.
Australian investors can access the PDS from this link and read Neuberger Berman’s white paper on ‘Identifying Transition Winners’.
As of 30 September 2021, Neuberger Berman’s local assets under management exceeded US$9.5billion.