LUXEMBOURG, LU — Nordea Asset Management (NAM) has expanded its ESG STARS
family with the launch of Nordea 1 – European Corporate Stars Bond Fund (BP-EUR LU1927797156; BI-EUR LU1927797586).
Building on the success of NAM’s STARS fund range in the equities space, the asset manager is expanding into fixed income starting with the new Nordea 1 – European Corporate Stars Bond Fund (the “Fund”).
Fixed income funds with true ESG implementation represent a relatively new approach to Responsible Investment. The market is beginning to take notice—there is growing recognition that ESG issues can present material credit risk with respect to corporate debt. “We exploit market inefficiencies by focusing on company specific research and ESG criteria to identify long-term changes critical to credit quality,” says Jan Sorensen, lead portfolio manager of the Fund.
The Fund benefits from Nordea Credit Team’s bottom-up credit selection in investment grade corporates and takes active management one step further with true ESG integration. Recognizing corporate governance and ESG factors as a source of both risk and opportunity, the investment team collaborates closely with Nordea’s in-house Responsible Investment Team. “We draw on Nordea’s vast organizational experience in ESG and our proven track record with the STARS equity strategies to apply our STARS concept to fixed income solutions,” says Marjo Koivisto, co-Head of Responsible Investment at NAM. “Emphasizing ESG factors can help deliver better risk adjusted returns.”* The STARS concept utilises a proprietary ESG rating model and funds invest only in companies that live up to NAM’s ESG standards.
