GIB Asset Management launches Emerging Markets Active Engagement Fund

Marketing Communication

London: 3^rd August 2022: GIB Asset Management (“GIB AM”), the UK-based sustainable asset manager, announced the launch of the GIB AM Emerging Markets Active Engagement Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is part of the Amundi UCITS Fund Partners ICAV, an Irish domiciled UCITS collective investment scheme.

The Fund will be managed by portfolio managers Greg Konieczny, Kunal Desai and Marcin Lewczuk, who combine 55 years of Emerging Markets and worked together at Mobius Capital Partners with Senior Analyst Megan Ie making 65 years of combined Emerging Market investing experience.

The Fund aims to generate strong returns through its differentiated approach to truly active emerging markets investing. The Fund is underpinned by a proprietary and tested two-pillar process that both identifies undervalued business through its fundamentally-driven bottom-up approach and seeks to generate additional alpha by partnering with all portfolio companies on material ESG and operational improvements. This is reflected in a high conviction, concentrated core strategy with a long-term focus to harness the power of compounding cashflows and active ESG engagement.

The Fund will be available for institutional investors in Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg and UK. It will be classified as Article 8 under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Greg Konieczny, Head of Emerging Markets Equities, commented: “We are excited to be launching our first emerging markets fund, which reinforces GIB AM’s commitment of delivering differentiated, sustainability focused, alpha generating strategies to institutional investors. This fund focuses on the power of constructive, active engagement to drive investment returns, as we consider it an especially powerful driver of outperformance in emerging markets.

We have long believed that a more comprehensive and differentiated approach is to invest exclusively in companies for which potential change through engagement is central to the investment case. This is reflected in an undiluted, focused and high conviction portfolio that generates returns through unlocking inefficiencies and underappreciated value."

Katherine Garrett-Cox, CEO, further added: “We believe that there is a growing need for active investment in emerging markets and having a mind-set for long term returns. This Fund represents another significant milestone for us, following the launch of our Sustainable World Fund in 2021, as we look to continue growing our business and scaling capital in support of sustainable development.”