Leading European asset manager Amundi announced today the launch of Amundi Funds Emerging Markets Equity ESG Improvers, extending its investment range targeting future ESG champions.

Amundi launched the ESG Improvers range in February 2021, with the introduction of a pair of equity funds, one focused on US equities, and one on Europe. The strategy takes a forward-looking approach to identify companies with promising ESG trajectories, investing in future ESG-related growth at an early stage. The new addition brings the total number of ESG Improvers Funds to six.

The new fund is the first of the range to offer exposure to emerging markets and will actively invest in a portfolio of 90-120 global emerging market stocks across capitalizations with a focus on improving sustainable characteristics, by blending ESG and fundamental analysis.

Engagement will be a crucial element of the strategy, with the aim of moving beyond static data and scoring methodology on ESG, and engaging instead with companies with a lower but improving ESG profile in order to help. those companies reach a higher ESG score.

Yerlan Syzdykov, Head of Emerging Markets at Amundi, said: 

“Emerging Markets are starting from a lower base with regards to their ESG journey. As ESG themes become more prevalent in developing markets, by combining our cross-asset approach in EM investing, and strong capabilities in engagement with companies, we believe we are offering investors a unique opportunity to generate responsible alpha by having a tangible impact on their investments. We are delighted to add to Amundi’s ESG Improvers concept with this new emerging markets solution.”

The fund will be co-managed by Deirdre Maher, Head of Frontier Markets, and Andrea Salvatori, Senior Portfolio Manager – Head of ESG Strategies Emerging Markets at Amundi. It is available within the Amundi Funds SICAV and is currently registered in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden.