Australian Unity’s $1.9 billion sustainable cash and fixed interest boutique, Altius Asset Management, has released its inaugural bond portfolio impact report to investors.
Prepared in collaboration with the Australian Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ESG team, the report’s methodology brings global best practice ESG reporting benchmarks to Australian shores.
The report covers Altius’ three sustainable cash and fixed-interest funds (Altius Sustainable Bond Fund, Altius Sustainable Short Term Income Fund and Altius Green Bond) and provides investors with previously unreported data measuring environmental performance (such as the carbon footprint within a portfolio) and social performance as well as assessing evolving metrics modelled under International Energy Agency’s (IEA) environmental benchmarks and scenarios.
Altius’ 2022 Impact Report reveals:
- Altius’ combined funds have a predictive temperature increase of 1.5°C, aligning with the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), a Paris-aligned benchmark that seeks to limit a potential global temperature increase to 2.0°C by 2050.
- Altius’combined funds exposure to power generation is 100 per cent renewables, outperforming the combined benchmark of 13 per cent and both SDS 2030 and SDS 2050 targets.
- Altius’ combined funds portfolio emissions pathway is currently lower than benchmarks under all IEA scenarios, with a superior trajectory through to 2050.
- Case study examples of Altius’ positive impact such as green bonds issued by Woolworths Group in 2019, where the proceeds were used to finance projects such as solar and LED installations and heating, ventilation and air conditioning optimisations, leading to the creation of low carbon Woolworths stores.
Also read: Bill Bovingdon – An Australian Fixed Interest Veteran
The report also highlights Altius’ engagement activities with prominent issuers on environmental and social issues such as climate change, corporate misconduct, gambling, alcohol and human rights.
Mr Bill Bovingdon, Chief Investment Officer Altius Asset Management, said Altius believes that proactively managing and reporting on the risks associated with ESG issues is essential for proper stewardship and leads to better risk-reward outcomes for its investors.
“The report meaningfully advances ESG disclosure standards in Australia. In an era of greenwashing, our inaugural report brings together globally-recognised ISS frameworks to Australia, giving increased visibility to investors. It allows investors to carefully measure the impact of their capital while holding Altius accountable to more criteria in the long term,” Mr Bovingdon said.
“We’re delighted to see how well Altius’ portfolios match up to established environmental and social benchmarks, affirming the positive change our portfolio can help achieve and the effectiveness of some of our engagement on key issues such as gaming, governance and human rights.”
