Arvella Investments, the sustainable wealth manager and investment advisor based in London and Paris, launched an innovative new tool, ESGforInvestors.com, offering free-to-use ESG applications for professional investors that strive to boost impact and risk-adjusted returns.
The tools are designed to be used alone, or to complement existing sustainable risk rating and analytics solutions.
Arvella believed that existing tools to integrate ESG in portfolios were not sufficiently focused on what matters most to investors: risk-adjusted returns, leading it to develop its own investment tools in conjunction with fellow investors and scholars from top institutions.
As well as offering the tools to other investors without charge, Arvella will partner with them, integrating verified research into its own data. The first investor partner is Fulcrum Asset Management, which has joined as both a user of the tools, and a contributor to the research.
The free tools available at launch on the website are: 3D (Risk-Return-Impact) Portfolio Optimisers and the ESG Engagement Maximiser.
- The 3D (Risk-Return-Impact) Portfolio Optimisers were designed to bolster “rules of thumb” – such as screening and best-in-class, with science. Many ESG investors still use such “rules” to build portfolios, leading, in Arvella’s view, to sub-optimal capital allocation. In 1952, Nobel Prize laureate H. Markowitz developed a portfolio optimiser to find the most efficient trade-off between risk and return. By adding impact as a third dimension, Arvella’s 3D optimisers enable investors to maximise impact without straying from their financial goals.
- The other tool available at the time of launch is the ESG Engagement Maximiser. This helps investors prioritise which two or three company-specific ESG improvements can unlock the most shareholder value for a universe of approximately 2,200 companies.
This tool can be used in conjunction with analytics offerings and in-house research, to hone in on impact outcomes, allowing investors to take a data set and find out which two or three ESG improvements could boost each company’s value the most.
Benoît Mercereau, CIO at Arvella Investments, says: “This tool is a potential game changer for effective engagement. Not only does it sharpen investor focus, but the notion of “more money” is likely to prove more persuasive with management and shareholders than “more impact,” creating a virtuous circle between impact and returns.”
Potential financial gains are large: if all firms in Arvella’s database were to bring two of their most relevant ESG metrics in line with peers’ best practices, the average potential share price upside is 20%, according to the firm.
Benoît Mercereau, CIO at Arvella Investments, adds: “Money is a powerful incentive. Thoughtful approaches striving to boost investment returns will likely generate outsized impact. More collaborative efforts are key to developing the rigorous tools needed to “mainstream” ESG for all investors”.
Nabeel Abdoula, Deputy CIO, Fulcrum Asset Management says: “We’ve been delighted to work with Arvella over many years, including for the launch of the Fulcrum Climate Change Fund in July last year. We’re proud to be ESG for Investors’ first investment house partner and are contributing an ongoing research resource to this important project.”
Matthew Roberts, Chair of the Responsible Investment Committee, Fulcrum Asset Management added: “To create a robust responsible investing framework, it is essential that financial and sustainability factors be viewed jointly, not as operating separately from one another.”
ESG for Investors.com is a collaborative effort bringing together investors and scholars. The website is an easy-to-use platform, where Arvella’s investment tools are available for free to all investors, magnifying impact.
Arvella, which is based in London and Paris was founded with two goals; to excel at managing wealth and to make the world a better place. “We are happy to share our knowledge freely. Spreading impact helps us fulfil our mission,” says Benoît Mercereau.
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