Nordea Asset Management (NAM) – a specialist in sustainable and responsible investing – has received an allocation in excess of USD550 million into its Emerging STARS Bond strategy.
The investment came from Danish pension provider Velliv.
Nordea’s Emerging STARS Bond strategy is an actively managed emerging market debt portfolio, which primarily invests in hard currency sovereigns. It avoids countries with poor ESG profiles, which helps to protect against financially-material ESG risks.
NAM, which manages EUR254 billion and forms part of the largest financial services group in the Nordic region, has been a pioneer in the responsible investment space and was an early signatory to the UNPRI in 2007.
Thede Rüst, head of emerging market debt at NAM, says: “We are extremely pleased by Velliv’s investment in the Emerging STARS Bond strategy. In the same way that ESG risk is an important factor in EM equities, it can be particularly material in the EM debt environment. This strategy aims to beat the benchmark and deliver long-term sustainable returns and responsibility by offering a materially improved ESG profile compared to the general market.”
Anders Stensbøl Christiansen, CIO at Velliv, adds: “We all have a responsibility to make sure our investments are managed with high sustainability standards. This does not only go for investments in companies, but is equally important when we invest in, for instance, bonds issued from emerging market countries. Nordea Asset Management sets high standards and has a very thorough process for analysing ESG-related risks in emerging market debt. Combining this with a strong and robust investment process and team around it, we are convinced our emerging market bonds exposures are in the right place with Nordea Asset Management.”
