12 December 2024
CCLA has been distinguished by Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research with a Responsible-Positive Prospect rating for its Better World Global Equity Fund. The Square Mile rating is a respected and independent assessment widely used by financial advisers, wealth managers and investment platforms to inform their recommendations to clients.
The rating follows an extensive due diligence process of both fund and investment manager. It recognises that CCLA’s Better World Global Equity Fund provides investors with a robust global equity proposition, managed by an investment firm long committed to diligent stewardship, having led pioneering industry engagement initiatives around systemic sustainability challenges to drive positive societal and environmental outcomes.
Mr Jake Moeller, Associate Director – Responsible Investing, Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research, said:
We are proud to welcome the CCLA Better World Global Equity Fund to our Academy of Funds. CCLA's unwavering dedication to elevating social and environmental standards is a cornerstone of its ethos. This fund provides investors with access to a robustly constructed portfolio of global equities while exemplifying a transformative commitment to driving positive change within the asset management industry.
Launched in April 2022, the CCLA Better World Global Equity Fund aims to provide a total return over the long-term and invests its assets in quality global companies with strong long-term business models, positive free cash flow generation and that are well-positioned to benefit from secular trends.
The fund mirrors CCLA’s successful global equity strategy offered to its 30,000 charity clients since 2007.
Available for investment by wealth managers and IFAs, the fund is also now distributed through 41 of the major UK intermediary and direct-to-consumer UK investment platforms.
Mr Jasper Berens, Head of Client Relationships and Distribution, CCLA, said:
We are thrilled to be entering Square Mile’s Academy of Funds and are delighted to count Square Mile as one of the growing numbers of advocates for CCLA’s Better World Global Equity Fund. This recognition couldn’t have come at a better time given the wider industry’s focus on sustainability and enables us to end 2024 on a high, ahead of the fund’s three year anniversary milestone in April 2025.
The Square Mile rating follows last year’s Gold Medalist rating from Morningstar as well as an ESG assessment and validation from Defaqto and the Elite Radar badge awarded by FundCalibre.
Mr Sam Pennefather, Head of Intermediary Sales, CCLA, said:
We hope that these coveted assessments give financial advisers and wealth managers even more confidence in CCLA’s Better World Global Equity Fund. Not just in terms of the long-term performance of the strategy, but also that you can hold these leading global companies while contributing to driving positive change.
The fund is actively managed in accordance with CCLA’s approach to investing for a better world. This includes prioritising ongoing engagement with investee companies to improve operations and drive change towards greater sustainability in the real-world economy, assessing companies’ environmental, social and governance criteria to ensure the fund invests in companies with enduring business models and investing in a way that CCLA believes is aligned with the values of its clients.
CCLA has a long track-record of instigating positive change for a better world. In addition to its pioneering work on climate, modern slavery and mental health, CCLA has also successfully engaged with companies in its investment portfolio around social issues including paying a living wage and appropriate executive pay.