Auckland-headquartered investment research and consultancy firm, MyFiduciary, will target net-zero carbon emissions across client portfolios under a new policy unveiled last week.
In a release, MyFiduciary principal, David Rae, said the boutique research house would join the push to net-zero by tilting to emission-reducing investments as well as collaborating with the wider industry to ensure better climate change portfolio measurement tools are available to all investors.
Rae said the goal to achieve net-zero carbon emission exposure in portfolios by 2050 should be achievable “by all investors – not just the largest asset owners”.
“A first step for many investors is measuring their current emission profiles,” he said. “This will require that comprehensive and cost efficient measurement tools are developed for smaller scale New Zealand investors in private markets. In making the net carbon zero pledge, we will work with providers and the government sector to help develop these solutions.”
The move follows a recent surge in signatories to the global Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative.
“A record 92 new asset managers representing USD 10.8 trillion in assets join initiative, bringing the total to 220 investors managing USD 57.4 trillion,” NZAM reported last week.
The NZAM release also says 43 fund managers revealed interim portfolio emission-reduction targets for the first time over both short- and long-term timeframes.
“Signatories disclose that 35% of their total assets under management, totalling USD 4.2 trillion out of a possible USD 11.9 trillion, is being managed in line with achieving net zero by 2050,” the NZAM statement says.
But while larger investment firms may have more resources at their disposal to measure and manage carbon emission exposure, Rae said iwi investors in NZ, for example, have other advantages.
“Sustainability is integral to Te Ao Māori, and kaitiakitanga – guardianship or stewardship – have been part of their investment strategies for decades,” he said in the statement. “It’s pleasing to see the rest of the investment industry catching up, and we want to support that as much as we can.”
MyFiduciary has picked up several iwi clients since ramping up its consultancy business about five years ago, hiring Aaron Drew in 2016 and former Morningstar head of manager research Asia-Pacific, Chris Douglas, in 2018.
Most recently, Drew said MyFiduciary had been appointed as investment consultant for Ngāti Porou Holdings – the iwi covering the East Cape and Gisborne regions.
Ngāti Porou reported almost $164 million in fund assets under management as at the end of June this year with a diverse equities manager line-up including Milford, Devon, ANZ and BlackRock as well as Artisan, Harding Loevner and GQG Partners.
For income assets, Ngāti Porou lists Lazard, Aviva, Schroders and Fisher Funds (which replaced AMP Capital during the year) as underlying managers.
MyFiduciary has also hired Phoebe Rendle as investment analyst. Rendle was previously a consultant with Deloitte in Wellington.
Drew said MyFiduciary had already made some progress in developing the carbon emissions portfolio tools.
“We do have reasonably good coverage now of listed funds and hence the main area of focus will be on private markets/directly held investments clients have,” he said.