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French (Canada) - Italian private sector pension fund
- 2023
- European equity, Europe
- EUR 150 million
- Europe
- Manager research
Our specialist says:
Leveraging our extensive manager database, bfinance was able to conduct a comprehensive search of the European equity manager landscape to identify high calibre managers that displayed a focus on ‘quality’. Whilst the ‘quality’ investment style could translate to favourable ESG metrics, it was important to go beyond the headline and assess the credibility and depth of ESG integration within each of the proposed strategies in order to find the best fit for the client.
- 32Long List
- 15Second Stage
- 5Shortlisted
- 1Selected
Client-specific concerns
The client, a prominent Italian private sector pension investor, was seeking at least one pan-European equity manager to complement their existing European equity allocation. The client was open to all management styles who could propose a pooled fund with a minimum five-year track record that held at least EUR 500 million in assets. A key consideration was for strategies to have an emphasis on ‘quality companies’ and be able to demonstrate this in their investment process. Similarly, ESG was also another key priority for the client with potential managers required to display ESG integration at a strategy level.
Outcome
- Assessing 'quality': The client was seeking to identify managers that demonstrated some ‘quality’ characteristics. There are very different approaches to ‘quality’ so through this search, bfinance assessed portfolio style characteristics to provide insight on the degree and type of ‘quality’ within each manager’s proposal to filter through a diversified mix of managers.
- Integrating ESG: The requirement for ESG integration at a strategy level was taken into consideration with the scoring being influenced by the degree of incorporation and understanding of ESG risks and opportunities alongside active engagement.
- Enhanced reporting and communication: Throughout the search process, reporting and communication was tailored to fit the client’s preference, demonstrating bfinance’s flexibility to meet the investor’s bespoke needs. This ranged from formatting data to align with the investor’s internal documentation to translating materials into the local language.
