This article originally appeared in FS Sustainability.
The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has certified two fund strategies from Real Asset Management (RAM).
The RAM Australian Diversified Fixed Income Fund and RAM Diversified Fixed Income and Credit SMA have been approved under RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification, meaning that they adhere to operational and disclosures practices in line with responsible investment practices.
“Good governance, social responsibility and sustainability practices are key pillars of our company’s culture,” said RAM Australia CEO Scott Kelly. “Underpinning this is our belief that a proactive and transparent approach to ESG is linked to value creation and that we should align our investment activities with the broader interests of our stakeholders”
RAM excludes companies that operate in armaments, gaming, pornography, coal mining and tobacco industry groups, and RAM’s issuer-level research process reviews and scores issuers on a range of metrics with a number being specifically related to ESG factors, noted RAM head of fixed income Michael Frearson.
“Being a floating rate income strategy, our portfolios are well placed to continue to deliver on their investment objective with a rising income stream and relative capital stability, amid volatile investment conditions for Australian fixed income investors” Frearson said.
RIAA CEO Simon O’Connor congratulated RAM on the certification.
“RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program differentiates quality, true to label responsible investment products which meet the Responsible Investment Standard,” O’Connor said. “We congratulate RAM for meeting the high benchmark set for Certification for its RAM Australian Diversified Fixed Income Fund and RAM Diversified Fixed Income and Credit SMA.”
Sister publication Financial Standard reported earlier this year that RAM appointed Matthew Strotton as head of funds management for its real estate division. Strotton came to RAM after more than 19 years at QIC Global Real Estate where he was global director and head of funds management, with responsibility for the group’s Australian and United States portfolios.
Strotton was instrumental in increasing QIC’s real estate AUM by over $10 billion.
In the third quarter of 2021 RAM listed its first Real Estate Investment Trust on the ASX, the RAM Essential Services Property Fund. The fund consists of a geographically diversified and defensive portfolio of pure medical and essential retail-based properties, underpinned by a high-quality essential services tenant profile including hospital operators and leading national supermarkets.