Dimensional launches two sustainability solutions for NZ

Dimensional Fund Advisors has announced the launch of two global sustainability funds through portfolio investment entities (PIEs), designed specifically for Kiwi investors.

The company said that for the past two decades it serviced NZ financial intermediaries via access to its Australian managed unit trusts, however, it said, offering its new strategies via PIEs would enable the firm to bring its strategies to New Zealand in a wrapper that is convenient and tax-effective.

In a PIE, described as a tax-effective New Zealand-domiciled investment structure, the tax administration was handled within the fund as opposed to the clients having to incorporate the fund’s returns and performance information within their own tax returns, the firm explained.

The firm launched two Dimensional Global Sustainability PIE Funds, one unhedged and one hedged to the NZ dollar. Within both, the firm would apply its sustainability approach – which targets greenhouse gas emission reductions and other environmental and social criteria – to developed market equities, it said.

“Ever since we set up in this part of the world in the 1990s, some of the strongest advocates for our systematic approach have been New Zealanders,” said Dimensional Australia chief executive, Glenn Crane.

“Offering PIEs just brings the benefits of that approach to more people and wraps it up in a tax-effective solution that targets sustainability outcomes.

“Our message to New Zealanders is that investing well and incorporating values around sustainability need not be mutually exclusive. We have effectively implemented sustainability strategies with this dual goal in mind for more than a decade.”

In launching the PIEs, Dimensional would partner with Wellington-based fund hosting platform, Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS), which is registered as manager and issuer of the funds.