- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Related

EARTH Launched

Latest Report

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – BNP Paribas Asset Management is launching BNP Paribas Environmental Absolute Return Thematic (EARTH), a long/short equity fund that seeks to identify opportunities among companies facing or addressing significant environmental challenges. EARTH is jointly managed by Edward Lees (pictured right) and Ulrik Fugmann (pictured left), a Dane who started his career as a research analyst at Alfred Berg in Copenhagen in the late 1990s and spent most of his career in London. The duo is supported by a dedicated quantitative analyst.

BNP Paribas Environmental Absolute Return Thematic (EARTH) combines thematic, top-down macro, industry and regulatory research with fundamental company analysis, supplemented by proprietary quantitative models for portfolio construction, risk management and alpha screening. The portfolio is built based on a thematic, relative-value or catalyst-driven basis from a proprietary database maintained by Lees and Fugmann. The fund’s investment universe includes companies with a market capitalization typically above $1 billion from both developed and emerging markets, with each holding mapped to one or more of eight environment-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

EARTH’s portfolio of long positions includes the most promising and innovative companies within the energy, materials, agriculture and industrials markets that are providing solutions to environmental challenges. These challenges arise due to the increased demand for food, water and energy resulting from an estimated global population growth of two billion by 2050. The long positions are paired with short positions in companies with unsustainable or technologically inferior business models vulnerable to transition risk. The basket of shorts acts both as a hedge for long positions and as a source of alpha, aiming to increase the cost of capital for companies failing to address environmental challenges.

“We believe that companies positioned to help address the significant environmental challenges we face will outperform those that either take no action or indeed contribute to these issues.”

“We believe that companies positioned to help address the significant environmental challenges we face will outperform those that either take no action or indeed contribute to these issues,” says Edward Lees, joint manager of EARTH, in a press release. “The latter will increasingly be at risk of having stranded assets and will be forced to take write-downs,” he continues. “Meanwhile, as population growth boosts demand for food, water and energy, causing increasing CO₂ emissions, waste production and unsustainable consumption, the market for solutions to meet these needs could amount to trillions of dollars and will be increasingly encouraged by governments.”

“EARTH builds on our long-standing experience as an investment team and BNPP AM’s well-established capabilities.”

Edward Lees and Ulrik Fugmann have worked together since 2002 and joined BNP Paribas Asset Management in June 2019. The duo also manages long-only fund BNP Paribas Energy Transition. According to Fugmann, “EARTH builds on our long-standing experience as an investment team and BNPP AM’s well-established capabilities.”  Fugmann goes on to say that “EARTH offers our investors access to the sustainable investment theme within an innovative long/short framework, enabling them to benefit from positive change in both high and low carbon-intensive sectors, with the aim of delivering long-term absolute returns while reducing risk during periods of market drawdown.”

Subscribe to HedgeBrev, HedgeNordic’s weekly newsletter, and never miss the latest news!

Our newsletter is sent once a week, every Friday.

Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun serves as a data analyst responsible for maintaining and gatekeeping the Nordic Hedge Index, and as a journalist covering the Nordic hedge fund industry for HedgeNordic. Eugeniu completed his Master’s degree at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2018. Write to Eugeniu Guzun at eugene@hedgenordic.com

Latest Articles

Mapping the Finnish Hedge Fund Landscape

Beyond operating as a media platform, HedgeNordic maintains an extensive database of Nordic hedge funds and related data. Although the data is not without...

Quirky Questions for Serge Houles (Tidan Capital)

Not every conversation in the hedge fund world needs to revolve around alpha, Sharpe ratios, or fund flows. In the ongoing Quirky Questions series,...

Quirky Questions for Mette Østerbye Vejen (Caba Capital)

Not every conversation in the hedge fund world needs to revolve around alpha, Sharpe ratios, or fund flows. In the ongoing Quirky Questions series,...

Solid First-Half Finish for Nordic Hedge Funds

Nordic hedge funds wrapped up the first half of the year on a solid note, delivering an average gain of 1.4 percent in June....

Brevan Howard Winds Down Volatility Fund Managed by Ville Helske

Brevan Howard Asset Management is winding down a volatility-focused hedge fund run by high-profile Finnish portfolio manager Ville Helske. Helske, formerly Head of Allocation...

Ymer to Launch Fourth CLO Fund with Proven Strategy and Structure

Building on the track record of three previous credit funds, Swedish alternative credit specialist Ymer SC AB is preparing to roll out its fourth...

Allocator Interviews

In-Depth: High Yield

Voices

Request for Proposal

- Advertisement -
HedgeNordic
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.