Which sectors are holding up best in the market volatility?
It has been a very tough start to 2022 for many investment funds and only three sectors out of 50...
ASI UK Ethical Equity
ASI UK Ethical Equity fund combines abrdn’s excellent company analysis with a 'no compromises' investor-led ethical screening system. The process is aided by the company's proprietary ‘matrix’ system, resulting in a portfolio of between 50 and 100 UK companies which manager Lesley Duncan will look to keep for three to five years. Although not a primary aim, the fund produces a small, natural yield.
Previously Standard Life Investments UK Ethical
Our opinion
The transparency behind the ethical considerations of this fund are a real stand out feature. By inviting investor opinion annually into what categories they want the fund to include or exclude, the portfolio can justifiably be held up as a best in class ethical fund. The process itself has the weight of Aberdeen Standard’s considerable research team behind it, plus a consistent and conscientious manager in Lesley Duncan, making for a very competitive option.
Company description
abrdn is the new brand of Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI). It unifies the merger of Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life Investments, which took place in August 2017. With more than 30 locations worldwide, abrdn seeks to find the most sustainable investment opportunities globally.
Fund manager
Lesley Duncan worked at Bothwell Asset Management as a trainee analyst before joining Standard Life in 1995. She has run ASI UK Ethical Equity fund since 2004. She puts ethics at the heart of her investment strategy and is also the group's housing sector specialist, contributing ideas and analysis for the wider team. Lesley has a BA (Hons) in Business Economics and Finance.
You can invest without compromising on your values and beliefs - and without compromising on your returns.
Lesley DuncanFund manager
Investment process
Lesley and her team regularly survey their investors to determine evolving ethical themes. The result of these surveys influences which sectors or companies are eliminated by the team's investment screen. For example, gambling, tobacco and alcohol production are avoided completely. This means they are picking companies that truly reflect the values of their investors. If a holding becomes unethical, or falls out of favour, Lesley will sell it completely. Stocks are selected based on abrdn’s proprietary screening tool, ‘matrix’. It looks for four key factors; quality, growth, momentum and value. Lesley then looks for companies whose upside potential is not priced into their shares.
ESG
ESG - Explicit
As the name of the fund would suggest, ESG is an explicit focus of the manager. The fund’s approach is investor-led, with a survey sent to clients to assess what they believe are unethical sectors. This is studied by abrdn’s ESG team and leads into a ‘no compromise’ screen, which removes companies involved in unethical activities from the investable universe. To ensure these rules are adhered to, and that investee businesses haven’t altered their approaches, there is oversight from an Ethical Funds Advisory Group, made up of both internal and external staff who also work on engagement and voting.
Beyond the screening, the fund also scores all companies in the investable universe on their ESG factors within their analysis programme. Inputs come from a variety of sources, including in-house work, and ranks all companies 1-5. Any stock scoring below a three cannot be bought in the portfolio. If a stock falls below this score after investment, the team will engage with the company and set milestones for improvement. If these are missed, the stock will be sold.
Risk
Due to the ethical screening, ASI UK Ethical Equity will avoid entire sectors, which means its performance can differ quite significantly from the benchmark. There is a noticeable bias to medium-sized companies in the fund, which could at times increase volatility. The process also creates a bias to growth-orientated stocks, which can lead to periods of underperformance when they are out of favour.
Read more about this fund
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