News Announcement

WHEB Asset Management Client Survey

25th May 2021

Over the past year we have seen significant growth at WHEB, as the global pandemic has accelerated interest in sustainable solutions. Since the beginning of 2020, we have added several new team members, successfully launched the WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund (ICAV) in Europe, finalised and published the ‘impact engine’ research tool and crossed the threshold of £1bn in assets under management.

WHEB would now like to hear from you, our current investors and our prospective investors. We have always tried to be as transparent and inclusive as we can be. So we want to listen to any feedback you might have for us. Please take five minutes to complete our short survey to share your experiences of working with WHEB and how you think about sustainable investments.

To show our appreciation for every completed survey response we receive, WHEB has partnered with ClimateCare to offset 100 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) through their Climate+Care Mixed Portfolio.

Please read on to find out more about ClimateCare, the projects that you will be contributing to by completing our survey, and how WHEB has worked with ClimateCare previously.

About ClimateCare and the Climate+Care Mixed Portfolio Projects

ClimateCare¹ is a business that finances, develops, and manages carbon reduction projects across the world and is recognised within the industry for setting the highest standards in carbon offsetting.

Projects in Climate+Care Mixed Portfolio are specially selected to provide a mix of the highest quality emission reductions, whilst also delivering wide sustainable development impacts to local communities. Two example projects include:

Gyapa Stoves – Improving lives in Ghana

This project is creating a market for locally produced efficient cookstoves which cut emissions, reduce exposure to toxic fumes and decrease fuel bills. The project provides skilled employment for 180 manufacturers and extra income for over 600 retailers. As well as cutting more that 4 million tonnes of CO2, the Gyapa stoves project has saved households more than $165 million on their fuel bills so far.

Screenshot 2022 08 10 at 16 05 55 — Mr Ebrahim ‘Lucky’ Dowda, Gyapa distributor (above, left) “Every month I used to sell about 2,500-2,700 liners. Which means we manufacture about 2,700 stoves in a month. Our children are now in university through this work.”

Screenshot 2022 08 10 at 16 06 09 — Rahil, Gyapa retailer in Madina Market (above, right) “I sell Gyapa for 10 years now. It has improved my education and contributes to my family income. I also use Gyapa in the house.”

Bondhu Chula Stoves – Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

The Bangladesh Bondhu Foundation’s clean cookstove, the ‘Bondhu Chula’ (which loosely translates as the ‘friendly stove’), has a combustion chamber that ensures a more efficient burn – reducing fuel use. Its chimney also directs harmful pollutants out of the house, reducing indoor air pollution and improving respiratory health. The project supports livelihoods as well, training micro-entrepreneurs to produce and distribute the stoves.

Khaleq Zaman, Bangladesh Bondhu Foundation “Our unique seven-day training programme teaches entrepreneurs to produce and install stoves, as well as quality assurance, monitoring and after-sales service.”

WHEB & Carbon Offsetting

WHEB has made ambitious net zero carbon commitments of its own. This includes having 100% of the emissions produced by WHEB’s investee companies covered by net zero carbon commitments by 2030 under the Net Zero Asset Manager’s Initiative. Complementing this, is our own goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions from our business operations by 2025.

To accomplish these goals, WHEB’s primary focus is first and foremost to maximise absolute emissions reductions. Detailed policies covering how we aim to do this are available on our website, both for the strategy and within our business operations.²

For residual emissions that we cannot currently reduce, due to technology or other constraints, WHEB has committed to offsetting. This represents only a small proportion of our total emissions.³

We are acutely aware that not all carbon offsetting schemes are created equal and so we are very selective about who we work with. Since 2019, WHEB has had a policy of working only with offsetting projects that are verified to either the Gold Standard⁴ or Verified Carbon Standard.⁵ This allows us to ensure that we are using only the highest-quality carbon offsetting projects, such as those managed by ClimateCare.

¹ https://www.climateimpact.com/global-projects/gyapa-efficient-cookstoves-ghana/

²https://wheb.clientprojects.co.uk/media/2021/02/202004-NZC-Policy-Operational-emissions.pdf

³ In 2019, WHEB offset 15 tonnes of CO2e emissions arising purely from business travel which, in normal times, is a necessary part of WHEB’s business activities.

⁴ https://www.goldstandard.org

⁵ https://verra.org/project/vcs-program/

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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