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Funds Group: Zeo Funds
Management Company: Zeo Capital Advisors, LLC
Funds Affected: Zeo Sustainable Credit
Principal Sustainable Investment Management Strategy: ESG integration
Summary:
The adviser further manages default risk by considering whether an issuer’s management is making deliberate business decisions around the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors most relevant to its operations. By considering these risk factors, the adviser aims to evaluate if a business is operating in a sustainable and responsible way to preserve its competitive advantage and maintain its staying power. In seeking to invest in companies who are leaders in their sectors in key areas of sustainable business practices or who are making visible progress toward appropriate sustainable practices. Specific key areas will vary by industry, and the weight of consideration can vary by company.

The adviser believes that both credit risk factors and sustainability factors contribute to an issuer’s creditworthiness and the combination of fundamental credit research and sustainable and responsible business practices result in a risk profile that is more likely to preserve capital and deliver attractive risk-adjusted total returns.

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Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments