The Ethos Foundation and Pictet Asset Management, the institutional-asset-management arm of Pictet & Cie Bank, have decided to embark on a new partnership for socially responsible investments by pooling their specific skills in this area. As a result of this link-up, the two partners will be managing more than CHF 1.5 billion with a joint approach based on the concept of sustainable development.
In view of this move, the Ethos Foundation has opened an institutional investment fund that is administered by Pictet Funds SA, thereby allowing Ethos to transfer its different portfolios to this fund. The functions of Global Custodian for the Ethos Foundation have also been transferred to Pictet & Cie. At the same time, the Ethos Foundation is being converted from a 2nd-pillar investment foundation into a classic-type foundation. The foundation currently comprises 75 Swiss pension funds and remains the sole owner of the company Ethos Services, which will henceforth carry out all consulting activities, in particular with regard to socially responsible investments and to the active exercising of shareholders’ voting rights.
The investment process that has been jointly developed by the Ethos Foundation and Pictet Asset Management will apply to different segments of the Ethos Institutional Investment Fund (Indexed Equities Switzerland, Corporate Governance; Europe Equities ex-Switzerland; North-American Equities; World Equities ex-Switzerland), as well as to the investment fund registered under Swiss law, “Pictet - Ethos (CH) Swiss Sustainable Equities". The process includes non-financial assessments of the companies, an analysis of the environmental and social impact of their activities, as well as in-depth financial analysis.
As a result of this new partnership, Ethos and Pictet Asset Management are positioning themselves among the leading players in Europe in the field of socially responsible investments. The pooling of their skills and experience will enable them to offer a particularly attractive range of funds to both institutional and private investors.
