London, 2 Sep 2024 — Impact investment pioneer, WHEB Asset Management, confirms that it will be adopting the ‘Sustainability Impact’ label on the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund in the coming weeks. The Fund will therefore become one of the first funds to use this label since the Financial Conduct Authority’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime came into force on 31st July this year. An updated version of the Fund’s prospectus will be published in the coming weeks in line with the policy’s disclosure requirements. The name of the Fund will be changed to the FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund.
WHEB Asset Management is one of the leading impact investors in listed equities in Europe and has almost 20 years’ experience with the strategy in delivering financial performance alongside real-world positive environmental and social outcomes for its investors.
On adopting the label, George Latham, Managing Partner at WHEB Asset Management, says:
“Impact investing is all we do and all we have ever done. When the policy statement was first announced we said that WHEB would work with FundRock Partners, the authorised corporate director, as we planned to make use of the ‘sustainability impact’ label for our UK fund. We are very pleased to be among the first fund managers to be able to do so. We were involved in the FCA’s consultation in the build-up to announcing SDR, and we have welcomed the SDR’s introduction in order to tackle widespread greenwashing and encourage the level of impact reporting we have championed for over a decade.
“The average investor on the street doesn’t care what hoops have to be jumped through or what the regulation is called, but they do care that when they invest in a sustainability labelled fund it does what they expect it to do, by investing in stocks that are aligned with their environmental and social values.”
On the process to get to this point, Latham says:
“We make no bones about it, the SDR process has been challenging, even for an experienced impact investor like WHEB, but this was a team effort and we’re grateful to the authorised corporate director, FundRock Partners, part of the Apex Group, for their valued guidance along the way. The SDR labelling regime is a necessary and welcome step towards cementing trust with end investors, and a notable milestone for sustainable finance.
“It was always going to be a challenge to find a balance between being sufficiently detailed and robust yet accessible, understandable and engaging to retail investors, but we think the end result is worthwhile.
“We’ve seen frustration across the industry with the challenges of complying with the new disclosures required for a sustainability label to be used, but it’s what you would expect so early in any new framework regulation. The fact the process is so tough might be a sign that it is working, and it is in everyone’s interests that we have a regime that has a high enough standard that people trust it.”
Simon Gunson, Managing Director at Apex FundRock, said:
“We are delighted the WHEB fund will be one of the first adopters of the ‘Sustainability Impact’ label under the voluntary SDR labelling regime.
“This underpins our commitment to sustainable funds. We look forward to help drive positive change in an area which is so closely aligned with Apex Group’s sustainability goals.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About WHEB Asset Management
WHEB Asset Management are pioneering, global equity impact investors, managing ~£1.2bn for institutional and retail clients. The team, led by partners George Latham, Seb Beloe and Ted Franks, have been working in sustainable investments for over 25 years and trace the track record for the strategy back to 2005.
As positive impact investors, WHEB’s mission is to advance sustainability and create prosperity through positive impact investing for its clients and the world. WHEB believes in the fundamental connection between long-term positive change and long-term growth.
Known as ‘the impact people,’ WHEB have been investing in companies to achieve a measurable positive social/environmental impact alongside a financial return since 2005. (That’s around when ‘ESG’ was coined and a decade before the UN Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, were created.)
As established specialist impact investors, WHEB’s equity impact strategy has been tested across market cycles and developed over the long-term by a team of highly experienced investors. Ted Franks, Fund Manager and Head of Investments was a co-founder of WHEB and is supported by a team of eight other analysts including Seb Beloe as Head of Research.
WHEB manages three funds:
- FP WHEB Sustainability Fund (OEIC)
- WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund (ICAV)
- WHEB Environmental Impact Fund (ICAV)
As a B Corp certified company, and actively engaged across influential organisations – including the Impact Investing Institute, GIIN and more - WHEB is committed to transparency and Integrity. The latest annual impact report is the 10th in a series that has garnered multiple awards and has set the standard of impact reporting in listed equities.
Investing in businesses focused on the opportunities created by the zero-carbon transition and sustainable global economy is all WHEB does – now, then and always.
More information: https://www.whebgroup.com/
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About Apex Group
Apex Group is dedicated to driving positive change in financial services while fuelling the growth and ambitions of asset managers, allocators, financial institutions, and family offices. Established in Bermuda in 2003, the Group has continually disrupted the asset servicing industry through its continuous investment in innovation and talent.
Apex Group sets the pace in asset servicing and stands out for its unique single-source solution and unified cross asset-class platform which supports the entire value chain, harnesses leading innovative technology, and benefits from cross-jurisdictional expertise delivered by a long-standing management team and over 13,000 highly integrated professionals.
Apex Group leads the asset servicing industry with a broad and unmatched range of services, including capital raising, business and corporate management, fund and investor administration, portfolio and investment administration, ESG, capital markets and transactions support. These services are tailored to each client and are delivered both at the Group level and via specialist subsidiary brands.
As a pioneering data and fintech-enabled company, Apex Group is a disruptor driving digital tools into asset servicing. However, its vision to drive positive change extends beyond the industry. The Apex Foundation, a not-for-profit entity, is the Group’s passionate commitment to empower sustainable change.
www.apexgroup.com