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    First Bond Fund to Receive Swan Label in Sweden

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    Stockholm (NordSIP) – On September 26, Pareto Asset Management obtained the Swan Ecolabel for its Global Corporate Bond fund. To qualify for the Swan distrinction, a fund has to fulfill 25 ESG-related criteria. Out of 20 funds to have received the label, the Pareto Global Corporate Bond fund is one of only two fixed income products, but the only bond fund managed in the Nordics.

    According to its investment criteria, the fund takes into account ESG criteria and excludes from its univeres all the companies figuring on the Norwegian Government Pension Fund’s blacklist. In addition, the fund managers have excluded further companies based on the Swan Ecolabel criteria. The 25 criteria a fund must follow in order to qualify for the Swan-label include not only exclusions, but also rules for inclusions and transparency.

    - Partner Message -

    ESG is a recurring theme which will just grow in importance. The challenge has and will be that all attention is on equity funds and then the industry tries to just push FI into same box.  We have worked diligently to try to bring forward the obvious differences that exist , one being we have no voting shares and therefore cannot actively work with other owners.

    In a press release (in Swedish), Pareto Asset Management declares that it has always worked systematically to integrate ethical consideration across its range of funds. The eco-labeling of its Global Corporate Bond fund is one step further in that direction.

    Stefan Ericson, Head of Fixed Income at Pareto Asset Management believes that a combination of a negative screening with a positive screening based on ESG criteria will produce a better return for investors over time. He is very proud to see the fund being the first one in fixed income to receive this quality stamp.

    For Per Sandell, Head of Financial Services at Miljömärkning Sverige AB, the company behind the Swan Eco-label, it is both positive and necessary that a broader range of funds becomes available for Swedish savers and consumers. Until now, mostly actively managed equity funds had qualified for the label. Broadening the list with another credit fund is a step in the right direction.

    Picture from Pixabay

     

    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA
    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA
    Aline Reichenberg Gustafsson, CFA is Editor-in-Chief for NordSIP and Managing Director for Big Green Tree Media. She has 18 years of experience in the asset management industry in Stockholm, London and Geneva, including as a long/short equity hedge fund portfolio manager, and buy-side analyst, but also as CFO and COO in several asset management firms. Aline holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a License in Economic Sciences from the University of Geneva.

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