As one of our most precious natural resources, efficient and sustainable management of water is critical, particularly as climate change is expected to exacerbate water scarcity.
Portfolio examples: Two of our key holdings, Ecolab and Xylem, help to create positive impacts towards this theme by providing solutions across the water cycle. Ecolab is a global leader in water and sanitation solutions across food service, food processing, hospitality, healthcare, industrial and oil and gas markets. Through its cleaning and sanitation products and analytics capabilities, it helps deliver clean water and safe food to its customers, while reducing their water use, carbon footprint and waste. Meanwhile, Xylem delivers wastewater treatment solutions – and it is a pioneer in creating innovative water technology solutions, including Flygt Concertor, the world’s first wastewater pumping system with integrated intelligence. These companies demonstrate how sustainable technologies can be used to produce a better long-term environment.
Investing in pandemics
There has been much debate about how the global coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people live around the world. For many, the lockdown has provided time for reflection – an opportunity to consider what is truly important. For us, we believe the pandemic will serve as a catalyst to accelerate existing trends, thereby increasing the awareness of risks facing economies, the environment and society alike.
One of our theses is that we will increasingly see a transfer of funds from governments to the private sector to help address pressing environmental and societal challenges worldwide – issues which governments do not have the capacity or expertise to tackle or have failed in their attempts to do so previously. As governments worldwide look to fiscal stimulus to support the re-opening of economies, we believe that companies addressing the SDGs are best placed to benefit – and in doing so, they can help shape a sustainable future for all.
Read our full Federated Hermes Impact Opportunities Fund H1 2020 report, to find out more about our recent activity and performance, our engagement progress, and how we have been investing in pandemics through our impact themes.
The value of investments and income from them may go down as well as up, and you may not get back the original amount invested. Any investments overseas may be affected by currency exchange rates. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and targets are not guaranteed.
For professional investors only. This is a marketing communication. This document does not constitute a solicitation or offer to any person to buy or sell any related securities, financial instruments or products; nor does it constitute an offer to purchase securities to any person in the United States or to any US Person as such term is defined under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1933. It pays no regard to an individual’s investment objectives or financial needs of any recipient. No action should be taken or omitted to be taken based on this document. Tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and may change. This document is not advice on legal, taxation or investment matters so investors must rely on their own examination of such matters or seek advice. Before making any investment (new or continuous), please consult a professional and/or investment adviser as to its suitability. All figures, unless otherwise indicated, are sourced from Federated Hermes. All performance includes reinvestment of dividends and other earnings.