Sustainability-focused asset management firm Candriam announced the launch of the Candriam Equities L ESG Market Neutral Fund, a new fund aimed at offering stable, positive returns, decorrelated from traditional asset classes, investing in companies as sustainability leaders and shorting companies identified as less sustainable.

In its announcement of the new fund, Candriam stated that “the Fund’s investment philosophy is based on the belief that financially sound companies adhering to robust ESG standards are positioned for long-term value creation, while companies with weak financial fundamentals that neglect ESG principles are likely to decrease in value,” adding that it is targeted at investors “seeking a diversified quantitative investment approach that incorporates ESG criteria.”

According to Candriam, the fund identifies long and short investment opportunities by considering financial and ESG criteria simultaneously, taking long positions in companies that the firm recognizes as leaders in sustainability, or those solid financials and strong ESG records, and short positions in companies identified as less sustainable, with weak financial fundamentals and ESG criteria. Candriam described the fund’s investment process as starting with a universe of the most liquid stocks within global developed markets, with the firm’s ESG team evaluating each company’s ESG credentials using its proprietary ESG model, and its Quantitative Equity Team assessing and scoring each company’s financial attractiveness, using its proprietary framework to evaluate value, quality, growth, market sentiment and volatility.

Steeve Brument, Global Head of Alternative Investments at Candriam, said:

“By combining our differentiated ESG process with the extensive expertise of our Quantitative Equity team, we provide our clients with access to unique solutions that seeks to offer an attractive risk-return profile, whilst supporting meaningful social and environmental change. We are confident that the appetite for both alternative strategies and ESG-aligned solutions will continue to grow, and this launch further represents the next step in our efforts to further embed ESG integration within our alternatives solutions.”

The new fund, available for distribution in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and The Netherlands, will be managed by Bart Goosens, Candriam’s Global Head of Quantitative Equity and Deputy Global Head of Alternative Investments, Dave Benichou, Deputy Head of Quantitative Equity.