Two high-profile mandate wins from the UK saw our assets under management surpass USD 17 billion this month. This showcases an impressive rise of over 100% in AUM since the end of 2022, and is, I believe, a testament to our philosophy that positive environmental impact can be achieved without a cost to portfolio performance.
Hertfordshire Pension Fund and The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 were the latest clients to allocate to our Resource Efficient Core Equity Strategy. The Hertfordshire assets take our Local Government Pension Fund AUM to over £1 billion.
Organic firm growth has also been boosted by positive market performance. The MSCI World rose 6.4% over the third quarter, extending the 11.8% return achieved YTD. We are conscious that markets continue to ignore the wider macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility we are facing and more acutely, the US election’s potential impact on the health of the economy and the global environmental agenda.
In a month where Hurricane Milton left a path of destruction across Florida, and Europe suffered extreme wildfires and floods across the continent, I believe EU crisis management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič summed up the current state of affairs in an address to the European Parliament, “These extreme weather events that used to be once in a lifetime are now an almost annual occurrence. The global reality of climate breakdown has moved into the everyday lives of Europeans…Make no mistake – this tragedy is not an anomaly. This is fast becoming the norm for our shared future”.
At Osmosis, we stand steadfast in our belief that our innovative approach to sustainable investing is well positioned against such a backdrop. Our research continues to demonstrate that identifying sustainability in an objective and evidence-based approach delivers strong fundamental characteristics regardless of the macro environment. Resource-efficient companies showcase greater profitability, generate more cash, are under-levered, and re-invest more in R&D compared to their inefficient peers. Read More here.
In other firm news this month, Osmosis colleagues will contribute their thoughts and expertise at various industry events and conferences. Lennart Hermans will discuss what constitutes useful data at the Sustainability Data Conference organised by Environmental Finance this week while I will explore ways to overcome the ESG backlash in the US at this year’s TSESG conference. We would also like to welcome Ryosuke Ikuta and Kento Takeda to our quantitative research team this month, who join on secondment from our Japanese shareholders Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.
I’ll be meeting up with many of you in the coming weeks as we commence our Autumn roadshows, but please do reach out to me or the wider team if you would like to organise a visit or a call to explore our research and solutions.
Best wishes,
Ben