RISING levels of carbon in the atmosphere have been one of the leading contributors to global warming.
Thus, the Paris Agreement – a landmark international accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impact – has issued a global framework to limit global warming to below 2.0°C while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C as well as aims to achieve a carbon-neutral world by 2050.
Therefore, investing in carbon-efficient companies will help reduce or eliminate the risks associated with climate-related regulatory changes, given the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
In fact, many leading global companies have invested in renewable energy infrastructure, clean technology and resource efficiency tools, as they recognise that environmental responsibility will not only create a good corporate image, but also offer competitive advantages in areas such as improved efficiency, greater innovation and better alignment with stakeholder values.
Understanding the importance of this, Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary Public Mutual is launching a new fund named Public e-Carbon Efficient Fund (PeCEF) today.
PeCEF aims to invest primarily in companies with efficient carbon footprints which are component stocks of a global environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) index.
“The fund may target to invest in sectors including technology, healthcare and consumer sectors that are well-positioned for earnings growth while registering low carbon emissions or demonstrating a clear carbon reduction strategy,” Public Mutual said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the fund will invest 75% to 98% of its net asset value (NAV) in equities globally with the balance invested in liquid assets to achieve long-term capital growth.
In addition, PeCEF provides environmentally-conscious investors the opportunity to align their investments with their values by reallocating their investment portfolios away from carbon-intensive companies towards more environmentally-efficient firms.
The fund is available exclusively online via Public Mutual Online (PMO) platform with a minimum initial and additional investment amount of only RM100 and the sales charge is as low as 3.75%.
During the first 21-day initial offer period – from Feb 9 to March 1– the initial issue price for PeCEF is RM0.2500 per unit.
“The first 100 new investors to enrol via digital on-boarding and invest at least RM3,000 per transaction into PeCEF through online investment during the campaign period will receive an additional 300 units of PeCEF,” the unit trust company added. – Feb 9, 2021
