Ethos and Vontobel Asset Management received the "Swiss Equity Award" for the Vontobel Fund (CH) - Ethos Equities Swiss Mid & Small Cap fund, at the GFSI Swiss Sustainable Funds Awards ceremony held on Wednesday 12th June in Geneva. This award recognises the best Swiss equity fund in relation to both financial performance and commitment to socially responsible investment (SRI).
For Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of the Ethos Foundation, this prize is the result of 15 years of partnership between Ethos and Vontobel. "A partnership that combines Ethos' expertise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis and active shareholding with Vontobel Asset Management's expertise in the financial management of small and mid-cap Swiss portfolios," he explains.
Launched in 2004, the Vontobel Fund (CH) - Ethos Equities Swiss Mid & Small Cap invests in small and medium-sized Swiss companies that manage their environmental, social and governance issues with strong convictions. With a total assets of CHF 600 million, the fund has outperformed its benchmark index (SPI Extra - Total Return) by nearly 1% per year since its launch. "This performance demonstrates that the integration of Ethos' ESG ratings into the investment process and stock selection perfectly complements our financial analyses," said Nils Wimmersberger, fund manager since 2011.
The research conducted by Ethos and Vontobel tends to show that the outperformance was due to the combination of ESG and financial criteria.
About the GFSI Swiss Sustainable Funds Awards
For the first time in Switzerland, the GFSI Swiss Sustainable Funds Awards were awarded to the best performing and most committed asset managers and funds in the field of socially responsible investment. The funds selected were selected by an independent jury composed of well-known personalities from the Swiss financial landscape and chaired by Mr Serge Ledermann.
