abrdn launches sustainable Asian active ETF

Oksana Patron

20 October 2022

abrdn has announced the launch of the actively managed exchange traded fund (ETF), the Sustainable Asian Opportunities Active ETF (ASAO), which will be its first of a series of sustainable active ETFs on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

The asset manager said that the launch of the sustainable active ETF series was a core part of its product and distribution strategy in the region, given that Asia represented the most economically dynamic collection of markets which was well-positioned to benefit from investments needed to decarbonisation, with substantial opportunities in renewables and energy storage production capacity.

The fund would offer investors with high capital growth over the medium to long term by seeking exposure to Asian markets excluding Japan and would aim to invest in a portfolio of around 35 to 70 Asian (exc. Japan) listed companies.

abrdn would use a team of 40 equity professionals based across seven desks in the Asia pacific region.

“Our research teams have identified several structural themes which we believe will support growth in Asian markets in years to come and the new Active ETF will give access to these. In the meantime, Asia offers attractive valuations with companies trading well below their five-year averages, with the risks of higher inflation and slower growth already priced in,” abrdn’s managing director – Australia, Brett Jollie, said.

The investment team would employ sustainable investing approaches, including assigning every company an ESG Quality rating to identify sustainable leaders or improvers, utilising a separate ESG House Score to complement our bottom-up research, and targeting a carbon footprint that is at least 20% lower than the benchmark, the firm said.