News Announcement

Impact Leader WHEB Focuses on Sustainability Solutions as Source of Investment Returns in Ground-breaking Report

23rd June 2017

• Quantifies positive environmental impact of each £1m invested in the fund.
• One of first investors demonstrating portfolio consistency with climate targets using ‘TCFD’ framework.
• 51% rise in AUM as investors meet Positive Impact and UN Sustainable Development Goals

Award-winning investor WHEB Asset Management has again broken new ground in measuring and reporting the positive social and environmental impacts of the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund in conjunction with financial return.

This specialist firm is one of the world’s first investors to report using both the G20’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), led by Mark Carney and Michael Bloomberg and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The report states that in 2016 the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund:
• Helped avoid 1,600 tonnes of CO2e, diverted 140 tonnes of waste from landfill and treated 1.6m litres of waste water – for each £1m invested;
• Invested in companies which added 142,000 jobs to the economy – equivalent of creating a company the size of Gap;
• Contributed directly to 7 SDGs, with 35% of the Fund invested in companies that help to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being (SDG 3);
• Increased assets under management during 2016 by 51%, to £124m (AUM as at end of April £154m)

George Latham, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer said,
“Investors of all types are increasingly interested in the purpose of their investments, and understanding the impact their investments have on the world. The WHEB Fund is solely focused on companies providing solutions to sustainability challenges and this report builds on WHEB’s leadership in measuring and communicating the extent of this positive impact. We would encourage all investors, from the largest pension fund to the individual investor, to ask their advisors and asset managers for information on the impact of their investments.”

Seb Beloe, Partner and Head of Research said,
“Over the past three years, WHEB has developed increasingly sophisticated tools to measure the actual positive environmental and social outcomes generated by the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund’s investments. Our approach connects savers who have money in the Fund with the real-world impact of their investments. Investing can have a positive purpose, generating investment returns by helping to build a better future.

WHEB’s latest Impact report is one of the first in the world to report using the TCFD framework – a G20-backed system for climate-related financial disclosures which produced initial recommendations during 2016 and will release its final report in July 2017.

Latham added,
“For too long investors have blamed a lack of standardised climate information as a reason for not taking climate risk into account in their investment decisions. TCFD will remove that excuse, so we encourage all investors to embrace this reporting framework”

Alexander Hoare, co-Founder of Project Snowball LLP, an Impact Investment Partnership, added,

“Snowball searched long and hard to find public equities managers that aligned with our values – they’re not easy to find! We chose WHEB as our first Impact public equity manager. WHEB’s Impact report is a demonstration of leadership in Impact Investing; the team has developed its Impact reporting each year and provides detailed and carefully measured performance data on social and environmental themes alongside financial results. It cuts through the ‘ImpactWash’ and gives global investors a glimpse of what is possible if we back impact investment with mainstream capital”.

Notes to editor

About WHEB Asset Management
WHEB Asset Management is a specialist fund management business focussed on a single investment strategy. WHEB seeks to generate superior returns from global equities by investing in companies providing solutions to some of the most serious environmental and social challenges facing mankind over the coming decades. WHEB’s corporate mission in support of this aim is to “advance sustainability and create prosperity through positive impact investments”. For more information see: https://wheb.clientprojects.co.uk/

About Snowball LLP
Snowball’s mission is to build mass participation in Impact Investing. Snowball was created by pooling the Impact Investments of Golden Bottle Trust (a charitable arm of C. Hoare & Co.) and Panahpur and is building a dedicated Impact Investment organisation led by Peter Baxter and Paul Blyth.

For more information or for exclusive interviews with the WHEB team, contact:
• Paul Pizzala t: + 44 (0) 20 3219 3410|
• e: paul.pizzala@whebgroup.com;
or
• George Latham t: + 44 (0) 20 3219 3414|
• e: george.latham@whebgroup.com

Reporting impact

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Foresight Group LLP completed an acquisition of the trade and assets of WHEB Asset Management LLP (WHEB). By way of Novation, Foresight Group LLP now acts as investment manager. Foresight Group LLP uses the trading names WHEB and WHEB Asset Management.

Foresight Group LLP and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 198020 and has its registered office at The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9SG. FundRock Partners Limited (formerly Fund Partners Limited) remains the Authorised Corporate Director of the Funds and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 469278 and has its registered office at Hamilton Centre, Rodney Way, Chelmsford, England, CM1 3BY.

Important Notices:

Risks include: the price of shares (“Shares”) in FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund, WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund or WHEB Environmental Impact Fund may increase or decrease and you may not get back the amount originally invested, for reasons including adverse market and foreign exchange rate movements. Past performance does not predict future returns. The Fund invests in equities and is exposed to price fluctuations in the equity markets, and focuses on investments in mid-sized companies in certain sectors so its performance may not correlate closely with the MSCI World Index (the benchmark). For full risks, please see fund prospectus on www.whebgroup.com

General: This information, its contents and any related communication (altogether, the “Information”) is issued by WHEB Asset Management LLP (“WHEB Asset Management”). It is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to buy or sell any security including any shares in the FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund or WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund, including in the United States. It should not be relied upon to make an investment decision in relation to Shares in the FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund or WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund or otherwise; any such investment decision should be made only on the basis of the Fund scheme documents and appropriate professional advice. This Information does not constitute advice of any kind, investment research or a research recommendation, is in summary form and is subject to change without notice. The performance shown does not take account of any commissions and costs charged when subscribing to and redeeming shares. WHEB Asset Management has exercised reasonable care in preparing this Information including using reliable sources, however, makes no representation or warranty relating to its accuracy, reliability or completeness or whether any future event may or may not occur. This Information is only made available to recipients who may lawfully receive it in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and rules and binding guidance of regulators. WHEB Asset Management LLP is registered in England and Wales with number OC 341489 and has its registered office at 7 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PE. WHEB Asset Management LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 496413.

FP WHEB Sustainability Impact Fund

FundRock Partners Limited (formerly Fund Partners Limited) is the Authorised Corporate Director of the Fund and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 469278 and has its registered office at 6th Floor Bastion House, 140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN. The state of the origin of the Fund is England and Wales. The Representative in Switzerland is ACOLIN Fund Services AG, Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zurich, whilst the Paying Agent is NPB Neue Privat Bank AG, Limmatquai 1/am Bellevue, P.O. Box, 8024 Zurich . The relevant documents such as the prospectus, the key investor information document (KIIDs), the Articles of Association as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the Representative in Switzerland.

WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund

The Manager of the Fund is FundRock Management Company S.A., authorised and regulated by the Luxembourg regulator to act as UCITS management company and has its registered office at 33, rue de Gasperich, L-5826 Hesperange, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The Representative in Switzerland is ACOLIN Fund Services AG, Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zurich, whilst the Paying Agent is NPB Neue Privat Bank AG, Limmatquai 1/am Bellevue, P.O. Box, 8024 Zurich. The relevant documents such as the prospectus, the key investor information document (KIIDs), the Articles of Association as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the representative in Switzerland. The state of the origin of the Fund is Ireland. The Fund is registered for distribution to professional investors in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and is registered for offering to retail investors in Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands. The Fund is also available for professional investors in Belgium and Hong Kong. It is not available to investors domiciled in the United States.

WHEB Environmental Impact Fund

The MSCI information may only be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or re-dissseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or a component of any financial instruments or products or indices. None of the MSCI information is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an “as is” basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information. MSCI, each of its affiliates and each other person involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the “MSCI Parties”) expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, any warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose) with respect to this information. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including, without limitation, lost profits) or any other damages (www.msci.com).

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