Much like guests at a party who always seem to arrive "fashionably late", allocators are often relatively timid about investing in a fund before it has passed the key three-year benchmark.
With this in mind we took a glance at some of the funds that are approaching the toddler stage in their lifespan.
One particular offering caught our eye: Schroder Global Sustainable Growth, which celebrates its third birthday on January 19.
It has outperformed its sector over the past three years, returning 24 per cent while its sector, the IA Global, returned 13 per cent, and it has achieved this fairly consistently in each of the past three years.
As of now, it is owned by just one allocator on our database: EQ Investors, but an established track record could go some way in opening the floodgates for further investment.
It isn't owned by a single fund picker in our ESG database.
EQ’s assistant portfolio manager Tertius Bonnin gave us the team’s rationale.
“We were initially attracted to the fund due to both its sustainability credentials and its quality growth-like characteristics. We think these two features naturally complement one another.”
He added that Schroders uses advanced investment capabilities, with tools such as SustainEx and Context, which assist DFMs’ decision making.
“Obviously the performance is pleasing, particularly at a time when sustainable investment strategies as a whole face some challenges with performance.”
Schroders runs a sister fund called Global Sustainable Value. This is held by three allocators in our balanced portfolios database and a further 10 in our ESG database where it is the second most popular global equity fund.
It has likely been assisted in this feat by being one of the few ESG-focused funds with a value tilt.
After the key three-year timeframe passes and with a relatively strong track record, perhaps Schroders’ global growth fund will follow in the footsteps of its value fund and attract a bit more DFM interest.
