09-03-2020 15:25

Sustainable balanced funds attract significant inflows

Sustainable balanced funds, which were recently added to our Sustainable Selection product family are proving to meet customer’s demand for sustainability.
original_web_optimized-aerial-view-of-river-and-forest-min

At the beginning of February 2020, less than three months after their launch, the funds reached net sales of EUR 100 mio. And by end-February, they have gained EUR 148 mio in net flows already.

“Significant inflows into our sustainable balanced funds show that they have been awaited and are an essential part of our Sustainable Selection family that we launched end-2018,” says Snorre Storset, Head of Asset & Wealth Management.

Sustainable balanced funds are designed to serve as a simple and easy solution for all our customers who rank sustainability high in their priorities. With these funds customers get a combination of different ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) approaches, full diversification, and professional portfolio management in a single investment that fits their risk profile.

The revolution of sustainable investing is here to stay

Sustainable investing is rapidly shifting from a mega trend to an integral part of investing. Investors worldwide are demanding socially and environmentally conscious options across asset classes. The latest news on investment trends in Europe suggest that 2020 will be “a pivotal year for ESG investing.”

At Nordea, we’ve been asking our customers about their interest in sustainable savings and investments at every investment advisory meeting for all customer segments in Norway, Sweden and Finland and at Private Banking meetings in Denmark since early 2019. So far, we’ve had more than 370,000 dialogues in the Nordic countries. Based on these dialogues, 25 per cent of Personal Banking customers and 50 per cent of Private Banking customers have expressed willingness to have strong focus on sustainability in their investments.

Not only the sustainable balanced funds are attracting inflows; the share of gross inflows in all Sustainable Selection funds doubled in Personal Banking during 2019 and this pace of growth is expected to continue throughout 2020. Also, a large portion of ESG investments in Norway and Finland is made into Nordea Life & Pensions products in the Sustainable Selection. Since their launch in May and July 2019, the net flows are over EUR 300 mio.

Sustainable balanced funds & Sustainable Selection

With Sustainable balanced funds customers can put their investments in various asset types, such as equities, fixed-income assets and markets. The funds have clearly differing risk and return profiles, and the portfolio manager makes sure that the expected return and the suitable risk level are maintained. The funds are available in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Danish customers will be introduced to a simple solution later this year.

Sustainable Selection is a product family, which includes the most sustainable products, such as the Nordea Star funds and Climate & Environment fund. In order to be selected for the Sustainable Selection family, an investment product undergoes an in-depth ESG, i.e. sustainability, analysis. The Sustainable Selection family was launched in end-2018, and had EUR 9.95 billion in assets under management (AuM) by the end of 2019. Read more about our Sustainable Selection

Markets and investment