The Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund has won in the ‘2021 UNCTAD Sustainable Global Fund Award’ category at the inaugural UNCTAD Sustainable Fund Awards 2021 which took place at the 7th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Forum.
The awards, which were announced at the virtual ceremony held on October 20, 2021, recognize outstanding funds that demonstrate the highest standards of sustainability and impact, while outperforming their respective financial performance benchmarks.
The Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund was amongst just three others to win in the prestigious ‘UNCTAD Sustainable Global Fund Award category, which is dedicated to sustainable equity funds. Equity funds represent the largest share of the sustainable fund universe by both number of funds and assets under management.
Overall, just six fund winners were decided on at the awards, from over 780 sustainable funds that met multidimensional sustainability criteria while outperforming their respective financial benchmarks. The final selection was voted on by an international committee comprising sustainable finance experts from international organizations, industry associations and academia, and chaired by UNCTAD.
The four joint winners in the Global Sustainable Fund category, which included the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund, were cited as having ‘exceptionally high sustainability and ESG ratings, a significant exposure to SDG sectors and low or zero exposure to fossil fuels and controversial sectors’*.
Malcolm McPartlin, co-manager of the Aegon Global Sustainable Equity Fund said: “We have a passionate belief in sustainability and that investing in transformational companies will help the world grapple with long term sustainable issues.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that the fund and our ethos has been recognised by UNCTAD in receiving this award. Huge thanks to colleagues across both our ESG and equities teams who have been instrumental to this success.”
Source: UNCTAD: https://unctad.org/news/un-awards-worlds-best-sustainable-funds-launches-global-observatory-sustainable-finance
