Second ISR label in one month for a QUAERO CAPITAL fund

After obtaining the ISR label for its fund dedicated to educational real estate, QUAERO CAPITAL continues its momentum and receives the label for its Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Infrastructure Securities fund. The fund is the first actively managed fund 100% invested in listed infrastructure companies to have this label.

 Recognition of a concrete and structured commitment

This new label underlines QUAERO CAPITAL’s commitment to responsible investment. The Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Infrastructure Securities fund has a policy of only investing in companies that demonstrate a best-in-class approach to ESG issues or already applying good practices and committed to improving them.

Obtaining the ISR label is the result of an in-depth audit of each stage of the fund’s investment process, ensuring the robustness of the stock selection methods and the adherence to demanding ESG standards. This implies that within the investment universe, 20% of companies in the infrastructure universe are excluded from allocation decisions due to poor performance on ESG criteria. In addition to these initial criteria, the fund looks at the climate risk reduction policies of the companies under consideration. The resulting portfolio has a lower carbon intensity than the investment universe, as the management team favours companies with ambitious carbon reduction targets. In addition, the fund encourages companies without clear targets to be more transparent about their climate strategies and, in line with QUAERO CAPITAL’s upcoming commitment to the Net Zero Asset Manager initiative, the fund will engage with companies to set ‘Science Based Targets’. Through this approach, the fund aims to contribute to the achievement of the Paris Agreement targets.

Infrastructure, an investment sector with significant ESG challenges

The infrastructure sector is at the heart of sustainable development issues, facing major challenges in terms of carbon emissions, pollution and ecosystem management. It is therefore crucial that the fund’s investment team identifies and supports innovative and sustainable companies. Infrastructure involves a long-term development plan with regard to climate and environmental risks and therefore requires not only careful management of the underlying assets, but also separate expertise. Aware of these priorities, the investment team respects companies with high quality standards and strong governance structures to ensure effective long-term strategies, aligned with a more sustainable future, are implemented.

Stéphane de Buhren, Managing Director at Quaero Capital (France) SAS, said: “Whether through energy efficiency, environmental considerations or corporate governance, we invest in infrastructure that is designed and managed in accordance with more sustainable practices, in order to position our investments in line with a carbon neutral objective. This commitment is shared with our clients, whose expectations in terms of sustainable investment are increasingly high.”