Sustainability creates value for unit holders

The concept of sustainability has gone from being an add-on to being a key concept in the finance industry of today. This transformation has also made the industry smarter. Initially, asset managers and banks established separate organisations tasked with ownership and sustainability issues, while the investment decisions were still taken by the portfolio managers.

The focus was primarily on excluding specific products and services that were considered controversial or directly unethical. Pretty soon, it was realised that drawing a line is difficult and that companies in a questionable sector can also maintain a high standard and enjoy the benefits of their internal ESG work.

Great strides have been made in understanding the financial value of sustainability and the integration of sustainability considerations with financial ones. This is also the path that Catella Fonder chose when shifting the focus of one of its Sweden funds, now called Catella Sverige Aktiv Hållbarhet.

We actively seek out companies that have sustainability as part of their actual business concept, says Anna Strömberg, who is part of the Catella Sverige Aktiv Hållbarhet team.

Sustainability as a value driver

Anna, who had extensive experience as a portfolio manager at Nordea, also worked on the sustainability team to identify a common language between equity management and sustainability analysis to reveal the financial value between the teams. When she came into contact with Catella Fonder, which had a stated ambition to integrate sustainability analysis with investment decisions, the role was immediately attractive. As a new launch of the former Reavinstfond fund we created Catella Sverige Aktiv Hållbarhet, with the intention of leading Catella Fonder's sustainability work.

Together with portfolio managers Henrik Gripenvik and Henrik Holmer, Anna sat down at the drawing board to work out how sustainability issues could be handled in a way that creates value for unit holders. Sustainability considerations themselves are usually about exclusion and risk management, which of course remain important components, but the team chose to focus even more on the opportunities and on sustainable business models.

"It is in the meeting between sustainability and finance that we believe extra value is created for our unit holders," says Anna. "We believe that companies that grasp the opportunities created by sustainability are able to demonstrate long-term and profitable growth, which is often underestimated by the market's otherwise fairly short-sighted expectations," says Anna.

Catella Fonder's sustainability journey

The company's sustainability journey began in 2009 when it signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. Since then the company has developed working methods and processes that keep its products free of companies that violate the UN principles and conventions on environmental, social and governance issues. In the summer of 2016, the resources associated with sustainability were expanded when the company set an ambition to launch a Sweden fund under a new sustainability flag.

In-depth analysis of companies is part of Catella Fonder's DNA. When we bring together sustainability with financial analysis we expand our knowledge and our potential to identify companies with profitable growth. "Return with a heart and a brain!" says Anna. We are therefore extremely proud to present the Catella Sverige Aktiv Hållbarhet fund," concludes Anna.

Anna Strömberg
Telefon: +46 8 614 25 76
anna.stromberg@catella.se