NH Amundi Asset Management's '100-Year Company Green Korea Fund' Surpasses 100 Billion KRW in Assets Under Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] NH-Amundi Asset Management's ‘100-Year Company Green Korea Fund’ surpassed 100 billion KRW in assets under management just about three months after its launch.

According to NH-Amundi Asset Management on the 14th, the assets under management of the 100-Year Company Green Korea Fund reached 100.2 billion KRW as of the 10th. During the same period, net assets amounted to 113.1 billion KRW, and the fund recorded a return of 12.95% since inception.

The 100-Year Company Green Korea Fund is a domestic equity ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) product focusing on environmental themes, primarily investing in companies expected to achieve sustainable growth. It combines domestic socially responsible investment experience with the evaluation methodology of Amundi, a leading European ESG investor.

Since its launch on September 3rd, approximately 60 billion KRW, excluding the initial 40 billion KRW investment from the NongHyup Group, was sold to individual investors through retail sales channels. Benefiting from the recent bullish stock market and expectations of gains from the global Green New Deal, about 33 billion KRW was sold in November alone. Among the eight general equity public funds launched in the asset management industry this year, it is the only one to exceed 100 billion KRW in assets under management.

As of the 10th, the 100-Year Company Green Korea Fund posted a double-digit return of 12.95% based on the master fund’s performance over approximately three months. Compared to other green-themed equity funds launched since September in the asset management industry, it has shown relatively favorable returns.

The fund invests about 30-40% of its assets in environment-related companies such as secondary batteries, the hydrogen economy, and renewable energy. It includes not only companies with high ESG ratings but also those expected to improve ESG factors. The portfolio is planned to focus on sustainable growth over the mid to long term rather than short-term performance. As of the 30th of last month, the fund held Samsung Electronics at 21.5%, LG Chem at 7.3%, Hyundai Motor at 5.5%, Hyundai Mobis at 5.3%, and SK Hynix at 4.4%, among others.

NH-Amundi Asset Management operates a dedicated ESG research team within its equity research division to strengthen its ESG investment strategy. It plans to make ESG evaluation mandatory throughout the management process soon and runs ESG study groups in addition to the dedicated team. This is to continuously monitor ESG issues and select suitable companies to reflect in the investment universe.

Baeyoung Hoon, CEO of NH-Amundi Asset Management, stated, “This year, unprecedented climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have drawn global attention to sustainable and eco-friendly growth. With Korea’s New Deal policy and carbon neutrality declarations by governments worldwide, ESG investment?especially the long-term growth potential of green themes?is expected to continue for a long time. We will do our best to make the 100-Year Company Green Korea Fund a leading domestic ESG fund that contributes to the activation of ESG investment in Korea and repays the trust of investors.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.