IFA Magazine: It’s been a year full of market uncertainty and asset allocation and stock selection decisions are challenging to say the least. Can you shed some light on the activity/ developments applied by T&IO over the past year for the planet range of funds?
PB: Indeed, it has. So, the T&IO is continuing to develop the PruFund Planet range (like we do for all of our ranges) to ensure that it evolves alongside the industry and a widening opportunity set – both from an asset class and fund perspective.
We must also give considerable credit to our illiquid managers (namely those in Property and Alternatives) who have continually managed to find attractive opportunities to purchase in these tough market conditions.
T&IO has also managed to deploy a substantial amount of capital to our broad-based UK Property Fund, as well as the M&G UK Residential and M&G Shared Ownership Property funds. Furthermore, it’s not just a UK success story – we have also gained significant exposure to the M&G European and the M&G Asian Property funds, as these funds also meet the positive outcome goals of PruFund Planet. In addition, we have also deployed capital into several new funds, launched by M&G, in the private asset space – which include the Private Equity Impact fund, the Real Assets Impact fund, and the Catalyst strategy.
OT: Speaking of the Catalyst strategy, this is an area where the overlap between Planet and PruFund has been very beneficial. We are extremely proud of the £5bn commitment that we made to the Catalyst team, and this is a perfect example of a fund that now also has a home within PruFund Planet. We developed this fund with the Catalyst team – and it invests in private assets where significant impact can be achieved, helping real-world problems. For example, we have recently invested in a sustainable housebuilder in the UK which builds “climate positive” homes (as construction is, of course, a very carbon-intensive activity). We have also recently made an investment in the Columbia Threadneedle UK Social Bond Fund, which marks the first new selection since the launch of PruFund Planet just over a year ago. Alongside its Impact credentials, the addition of this fund will add further investment grade credit skills to the portfolio and help us to meet our regional SAA, due to its UK focus.
Finally, we will continue to do more to ensure that PruFund Planet remains at the forefront of the market for many years to come.
IFA Magazine: What does the future look like in your view for the Planet Range?
PB: As we continue our sustainability journey with clients and advisers, we aim to achieve four key things:
Firstly, we hope to continue to build the scale of the range and maintain its proven track record of success.
Secondly, I believe that we need to be open-minded and receptive to new and exciting opportunities that fit the PruFund Planet sustainability and impact lenses.
Thirdly, we will work to fully implement PruFund Planet’s 2022 strategic asset allocation. For example, we recently added US property to Planet, following work on the broader PruFund range.
Finally, we will ensure that we keep the high standards of asset allocation, fund selection, and portfolio management that are expected of any PruFund product.
OT: We will also continue to look for new ways to broaden and enhance our offering. As the market grows, we believe that there will be more strategies to invest in and codesign. We will continue to work on bespoke solutions, both within M&G’s business and with our external partners. Furthermore, we will look for additional themes that align with our existing six Impact areas. We will also continue to meet clients’ needs as they develop and demand more from us and the PruFund Planet range.
We cannot believe that we’re already at the 1-year anniversary of the PruFund Planet range launch, but this is certainly only the beginning. We’re very confident that there’s so much more to come from PruFund Planet in the months and years ahead, so we hope more and more advisers will stay tuned and recognise the important part that the planet range can play in helping their clients to achieve their investment – and sustainability – objectives.
