Sustainable investing

The ever gaining interest for sustainability and Sustainable Investing has amongst others been driven by the apparent challenges the world is facing such as growing global population, increased globalization and resource consumption at a rate far surpassing long term capacity. This exploration of resources (be it human, natural or economic) will not only have far reaching consequences on our environment and society, but also on the capital markets. As the global hedge fund industry manages assets in access of USD 1.2 trillion, they can play an important role in emphasizing the importance of ESG/SRI (Environmental Social Governance / Sustainable & Responsible Investing) in the capital markets.

Following years of rigorous preparation, Harcourt made its commitment to Sustainable Investing in hedge fund context through the launch of the Belair Initiative in November 2007. Belair is a global socially responsible fund of hedge funds, conceived in close collaboration with two of the world’s largest RI asset owners, Storebrand of Norway and Folksam/KPA of Sweden.  
 
As the first hedge fund firm to become a signatory of the UN PRI, our mission is to embrace as well as to promote SRI/ESG to the hedge fund industry. Since hedge funds by nature are active owners and often employ multi-dimensional risk assessments, they are well placed to make a measurable difference if they embrace ESG issues as part of their investment practices.
 
For SRI/ESG to be more broadly embraced by the hedge fund industry, increased understanding of SRI/ESG is needed. Initiatives such as the UN PRI are important as they foster collaborative thinking and objectively show the growing importance of ESG factors.  With further visibility on the specific needs of SRI focused asset owners the hedge fund industry will be able to cater to these needs in meaningful ways going forward. At Harcourt, we hope and trust that our collaborative RI work will bring further support in these developments.
 
For further information on Harcourt’s views on SRI/ESG, please refer to:



 
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