IM WHEB Sustainability

Worldwise summary

• A global Multi-Thematic fund investing in 9 themes which provide solutions to sustainability challenges.
• The fund is managed by keeping regional allocations in line with the MSCI World Index, diversified across 70 or so stocks.
• Tim Dieppe, the Lead Fund Manager, moved from Henderson on 1st April 2012 where he managed the successful Henderson Industries of the Future fund, which outperformed the MSCI World Index in the 5 years prior to the 1st April 2012.
• The fund is managed predominantly from bottom up stock picking and is likely to have its heaviest weightings within the health, sustainable transport and energy efficiency themes.
• the fund managment team manage their 9 themes based on the 4 megatrends they see changing society which are - resource scarcity, the ageing of the west, rising living standards in emerging economies and the increased interconnectivity of the world.

Fund summary

The IM WHEB Sustainability fund is WHEB's Flagship fund which:

• Provides access to a new generation of investment themes with powerful long-term growth characteristic
• Applies a disciplined and diversified multi-thematic approach;
• Follows a global strategy providing access to the best investment ideas;
• Applies an integrated approach combining environmental, social &governance issues into analysis; and
• Adopts a responsible approach to ownership, promoting best practice among portfolio holdings.
  
  

Fund Philosophy

The pace and scale of change in the global economy today is creating profound challenges for businesses and societies around the world. This change in turn is driven by deep-rooted mega-trends involving escalating resource consumption and consequent scarcity, changing patterns of wealth, ever-greater connectivity and a growing, and ageing population.

 

This is no longer business as usual.  Not for businesses, and still less for investors. The economic landscape is being fundamentally reshaped: creating real opportunity for companies providing solutions to these challenges, and real risks for those sectors that deplete human and natural capital.

 

The Opportunity

Successful thematic investing is fundamentally about identifying investment themes in areas that will continue to enjoy above market growth over the long-term, selecting the best companies operating in these themes, and in buying and selling them at the right price.

 

Our analysis of mega-trends focuses above all on the social and environmental challenges that are playing an increasingly central role in the global economy.  It is our conviction that these trends will persist for decades and in turn create real market opportunities for companies that provide solutions to mitigate or ease these challenges.

 

From these trends, we have selected nine highly diversified investment themes which we use to direct our attention to companies that provide solutions to the challenges posed by the mega-trends and therefore have the potential to significantly grow their earnings. Our nine themes include four social and five environmental themes. 

Fund objectives