CFS launches sustainable growth fund

Oksana Patron

22 November 2022

Colonial First State (CFS) has announced the launch of its new sustainable growth fund ‘Thrive+’ which will target Australian investors “seeking to avoid the industries identified as being of most concern to Australians”.

At the same time, the fund would seek out investments in areas including climate change solutions, resource efficiency, sustainable communities, healthcare and diversity and inclusion, the company said.

‘Thrive+’ would be actively managed fund operated in partnership with Al Gore and David Blood’s Generation Investment Management, Melior Investment Management, Impax Asset Management, Pendal Group and Affirmative Asset Management.

According to research by CFS, almost eight million of Australians indicated they were considering a switch to a more sustainable investment option over the next two years.

“The fund was developed in response to key research of 4,567 Australians seeking their investment intentions.  Of the respondents who were not yet CFS customers, 46% with superannuation or managed funds said they are likely to switch their investments to a sustainable option in the next two years.  This was even higher among CFS customers at 49%,” the firm said.

Kelly Power, chief executive officer of Colonial First State Superannuation, said the fund was designed to “give Australians greater choice in where their superannuation is invested” and that by choosing to invest in this product, investors “can look to use their personal investment for the benefit of the planet and the wider community”.

“Australians also want to be confident that switching to a sustainable superannuation option can deliver competitive long term returns at the same time as having positive social and environmental benefits. This is exactly what Thrive+ seeks to achieve” Power said.

Last week, Evergreen Consultants’ Evergreen Responsible Investment Grading (ERIG) index found that Australian responsible investment (RI) fund managers performed in line with index in the September quarter, which was a significant change from previous cycle where RI managers clearly outperformed the benchmark.

According to Evergreen, highly rated Aussie RI managers in the September quarter continued to struggle in volatile market conditions due to outperformance by energy and materials stocks.