North gets ESG, multi-asset face-lift

North’s investment menu has received an environmental, social and governance (ESG) and multi-asset boost with seven new actively managed portfolios added to the platform.

The platform attributed the move to the growing demand from advisers and their clients to have more ESG and responsible investment options to choose from when it comes to building their portfolios.

DNR Capital’s Australian Equities Socially Responsible Portfolio, offering concentrated exposure to high quality large and mid-cap Australian listed equities, is now available on the platform.

It employs a negative screening strategy alongside ESG ratings assessments, ESG integration and company engagement, and has been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) in accordance with its Responsible Investment Certification Program.

“AMP continues to invest in strengthening its managed account functionality and its multi-asset group capability, with strong ratings compared to our peers,” AMP Group Executive, Platforms, Edwina Maloney, said.

“We are continuing to expand North’s investment menu to give advisers the very best in range, flexibility and seamless on-platform experience.”

“We’ve had a long affiliation with AMP, already having a number of our products available via the North platform and we’re pleased to continue our strong partnership with them,” DNR Capital, Chief Executive Officer, Robert White, said.

North also added six actively managed portfolios from Morningstar’s Medalist Core suite comprising rated managed funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Using a combination of active and passive strategies, the range is available to advisers across several investment horizons and risk profiles from Conservative to All Growth.

“Morningstar is excited to have our Medalist Core portfolios be added to the North platform. The Medalist portfolios are a marrying of our extensive Research and Investment capabilities,” Morningstar Director of Research Products, Australia and New Zealand, Rick Di Cristoforo, said.

“We are pleased that advisers who seek to provide an implementation of our quality fund research and asset allocation within the well-regarded North platform will have access to this offering”.

“The addition of ESG and multi-asset portfolios from DNR Capital and Morningstar reflect the feedback we’ve received from advisers on what matters most to them and their clients, with North now having 111 high-quality managed portfolios available,” Maloney said.