NEWS
T. Rowe Price Launches RIAA Certified Global Impact Equity Fund
24
January 2022
The Fund brings a global approach of impact investing to Australian Investors
SYDNEY, 24 January 2022 - T. Rowe Price today announced the launch of a first global impact equity product that allows Australian investors to simultaneously pursue their financial goals and a positive impact on global environment and social equity issues. In recognition of the important linkage between societal good and financial performance, the T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund (the Fund) provides a high-conviction, truly global equity portfolio that seeks to invest in companies creating sustainable, positive, and measurable impact, and identify the added return potential this can bring.
The Fund employs an active management approach to seek companies that we believe are on the right side of societal and environmental change. It focuses on three impact pillars: climate and resources, social equity and quality of life, and sustainable innovation and productivity guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It excludes certain industries and companies that the manager believes do not conform to the Fund’s impact mandate, such as fossil fuel1, tobacco, gambling/ casinos, and for-profit prison companies.
The Fund is certified by RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program2, which is a leading initiative for distinguishing quality responsible, ethical and impact investment products and services in Australia and New Zealand. In close partnership with RIAA (Responsible Investment Association Australasia), the Fund adopts industry-leading practices to provide full transparency on the impact targets of all its portfolio holdings. Its investment process is endorsed by RIAA as embedding clear principles of materiality and measurability to form the basis for identifying positive impact for clients.
As an Australian Unit Trust, the Fund is available now to wholesale and institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand, as well as to retail and advised investors in Australia on various distribution platforms, including Hub24, Netwealth and Wealth O2. It is also being added to more major platforms.
We are pleased to launch the Fund with a RIAA certification that signifies best-in-class operational and disclosure standards. Over the last decade, T. Rowe Price has invested significantly to integrate ESG factors into our investment research platform, recognising that the long-term sustainability of our portfolio companies is critical to their financial success and to our mission of helping clients reach their financial goals. As an active manager, we want to make a difference with our dollars by directing capital towards desired impact outcomes as well as to influence positive environmental and social progress.
RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program differentiates quality, true to label responsible investment products which meet the Responsible Investment Standard. It is pleasing to see the growing number of fund managers offering quality impact investment options in the Australian market place in response to the demand from investors who want to achieve a positive impact on the environment and society alongside strong financial returns. We congratulate T. Rowe Price on meeting the high benchmark set for Certification as an impact investment fund.
The investment industry has reached an exciting point where we can contribute to positive societal and environmental change, alongside a focus on financial performance. Being able to marry these goals together in a single strategy is an exciting step forward for us as investors, and we look forward to partnering with clients in our pursuit of positive impact at scale, on a truly global basis.
T. ROWE PRICE GLOBAL IMPACT EQUITY FUND DETAILS
- The Fund will be aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), a globally recognized framework designed to end poverty, ensure prosperity, and protect the planet.
- The Fund is managed by Hari Balkrishna. Balkrishna has 15 years of investment industry experience, almost entirely at T. Rowe Price. Prior to being appointed the portfolio manager of the Fund, Balkrishna worked closely with Scott Berg on the T. Rowe Price Global Equity Strategy for more than five years. Having lived and worked on five continents, including Australia, Balkrishna has a deep appreciation for the many different social systems around the world and he is personally passionate about addressing climate change.
- The Fund will employ an all-capitalization, high-conviction approach, typically owning between 55 and 85 securities, focused on those that Balkrishna believes will create positive environmental and social impact, along with attractive outcomes, over a long-term time horizon.
- As with other T. Rowe Price strategies, the Fund will draw upon the firm’s global equity research platform, comprising 203 equity research analysts, 10 sector portfolio managers, and 73 regional and diversified portfolio managers. In addition, the Fund will tap the deep expertise of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) experts and responsible investing research analysts as well as its proprietary Responsible Investing Indicator Model (RIIM), a database detailing how more than 15,000 securities measure up against established environmental and social parameters.
- The Fund received an “Approved” rating from renowned research and investment consultancy, Zenith Investment Partners, which highlighted the Fund’s the investment process as “differentiated and logical”3.
ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE
Founded in 1937, Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (troweprice.com) is a global investment management organization with US$1.69 trillion in assets under management4 as of December 31, 2021. The organization provides a broad array of mutual funds, subadvisor services, and separate account management for individual and institutional investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. The company also offers sophisticated investment planning and guidance tools. T. Rowe Price’s disciplined, risk-aware investment approach focuses on diversification, style consistency, and fundamental research. For more information, visit troweprice.com.
MEDIA CONTACT
Phoebe Ho
T. Rowe Price
852-2536-7826
phoebe.ho@troweprice.com
Emma Cullen-Ward
OneProfile Communications
61 414 989 137
emma@oneprofile.com.au
1 Fossil fuel companies are defined as those that generate greater than 5% of revenues from the production of thermal coal and companies that are identified within the Oil or Gas industry through the GICS and/or BICS classification.
2 T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund has been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia according to the strict operational and disclosure practices required under the Responsible Investment Certification Program. See ttp://www.responsiblereturns.com.au for details. The Responsible Investment Certification Program does not constitute financial product advice. Neither the Certification Symbol nor RIAA recommends to any person that any financial product is suitable investment or that returns are guaranteed. Appropriate professional advice should be sought prior to making an investment decision. RIAA does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
3 The Zenith Investment Partners (ABN 27 103 132 672, AFS Licence 226872) (“Zenith”) rating (assigned 24 November 2021) referred to in this piece is limited to “General Advice” (s766BCorporationsAct2001) for Wholesale clients only. This advice has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any individual, including target markets of financial products, where applicable, and is subject to change at any time without prior notice. It is not a specific recommendation to purchase, sell or hold the relevant product(s). Investors should seek independent financial advice before making an investment decision and should consider the appropriateness of this advice in light of their own objectives, financial situation and needs. Investors should obtain a copy of, and consider the PDS or offer document before making any decision and refer to the full Zenith Product Assessment available on the Zenith website. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Zenith usually charges the product issuer, fund manager or related party to conduct Product Assessments. Full details regarding Zenith’s methodology, ratings definitions and regulatory compliance are available on our Product Assessments and at Fund Research Regulatory Guidelines [zenithpartners.com.au].
4 Firmwide AUM includes assets managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and its investment advisory affiliates. Preliminary data. Subject to adjustment.
Important Information
Unless indicated otherwise the source of all data is T. Rowe Price as of 31 December 2021.
Equity Trustees Limited (“Equity Trustees”) (ABN 46 004 031 298 AFSL 240975) is a subsidiary of EQT Holdings Limited (ABN 22 607 797 615), a publicly listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:EQT). Equity Trustees and T. Rowe Price Australia Limited (“TRPAU”) (ABN: 13 620 668 895 and AFSL: 503741) are, respectively, the responsible entity and investment manager of the T. Rowe Price Australian Unit Trusts.
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Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The price of any fund may go up or down. Investment involves risk including a possible loss to the principal amount invested. For general information purposes only, does not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular investor. For further details, please refer to each fund’s product disclosure statement and reference guide which are available from Equity Trustees (www.eqt.com.au/insto) and TRPAU (www.troweprice.com.au/investor).
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This document has been prepared without taking account of any person’s individual objectives, financial situation or needs. A person should, before making any investment decisions, consider the appropriateness of the information in this document and seek independent professional advice having regard to their objectives, financial situation and needs.
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