SEB, a Northern European financial services company, has announced the launch of the SEB Global Sustainable Companies Fund. This new index-linked global fund will invest exclusively in companies classified as “sustainable,” aiming to achieve a return and risk profile aligned with its benchmark. The fund is classified as an Article 9 fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), focusing on investments that contribute to environmental and social sustainability or avoid significant harm to those goals. It targets companies aligned with the EU Taxonomy or contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Elisabet Jamal Bergström, Head of Sustainability at SEB Investment Management, noted a growing interest in index-linked funds and Article 9 funds with a focus on sustainable investments. The fund will use the MSCI World Net Return Index as its benchmark, investing in approximately 500 of the 1,500 companies in the index across 20 developed markets.
It will follow a systematic, rule-based model to limit deviations from the benchmark. SEB stated that the fund’s current carbon intensity is about 50% lower than that of its benchmark. Natasha Kubát, Portfolio Manager at SEB, highlighted the fund’s goal of sustainability while maintaining global diversification, considering various parameters like greenhouse gas emissions, the UN’s SDGs, and compatibility with the EU’s environmental goals. Martin Rydell, Head of Index and Solutions at SEB, emphasized that the fund is a cost-effective option providing access to SEB’s sustainability model while maintaining a return and risk profile in line with the benchmark.