23 September 2020
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Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has launched the GS Global ESG Enhanced Income Bond Portfolio.
This new product will be managed by the company's global fixed income team, which currently oversees more than $700bn in assets. It seeks to provide investors with access to the broad global fixed income opportunity set, including corporate bonds, securitised credit and emerging market debt, and deliver high income and long-term capital appreciation.
"The GS Global ESG Enhanced Income Bond Portfolio makes a conscious effort to avoid companies that in our view exhibit weak ESG profiles. We believe this approach can contribute to long-term performance," said Jonathon Orr, Global Fixed Income Portfolio Manager.
The GS Global ESG Enhanced Income Bond Portfolio makes a conscious effort to avoid companies that in our view exhibit weak ESG profiles"
GSAM said bonds held in the portfolio would be identified through rigorous fundamental research that integrates ESG analysis. It will apply exclusion-based screens, omitting sectors that are "inconsistent with widely accepted norms and values".
The fixed income team will then conduct in-depth analysis of individual company revenue streams to screen for negative social and environmental factors before using proprietary ESG scores to eliminate bonds from issuers with the lowest scores.
"We believe ESG analysis is critical for identifying 21st century business risks and ESG integration is therefore our fiduciary duty as an active asset manager. ESG is the responsibility of all investment professionals, not just those with ESG in their title," Ashish Shah, co-chief investment officer of Global Fixed Income, added.
The fund, which is a new sub-fund of the UCITS-qualifying, Luxembourg-domiciled Goldman Sachs Funds SICAV, is available to both institutional and retail clients across Europe.
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