Suppose you work for a large investment management firm which is about to launch an ESG fund aimed at retail investors in Ireland. In particular, your firm wishes to launch a new Article 9 fund based on the EU's SFDR. As per Robeco below, an Article 9 fund covers products targeting bespoke sustainable investments and applies where a financial product has sustainable investment as its objective. [^1^]
Design an appropriate Article 9 ESG fund which you believe would be an attractive prospect. Explain briefly the key characteristics of the fund, but also critically discuss any limitations of ESG investing. Note: You can benchmark this fund against those offered by firms such as Fidelity [^2^], Blackrock [^3^], Amundi [^4^], Vanguard [^5^], and ILIM [^6^].
References:
[^1^] Robeco. (n.d.). Article 6, 8 and 9 funds. Retrieved from https://www.robeco.com/en-au/glossary/sustainable-investing/article-6-8-and-9-funds
[^2^] Fidelity. (n.d.). Sustainable investing. Retrieved from https://www.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/investing-ideas/sustainable-investing
[^3^] Blackrock. (n.d.). Sustainable investing. Retrieved from https://www.blackrock.com/ch/individual/en/themes/sustainable-investing
[^4^] Amundi. (n.d.). Our ESG approach. Retrieved from https://about.amundi.com/our-esg-approach
[^5^] Vanguard. (n.d.). ESG funds. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/ESG-funds
[^6^] ILIM. (n.d.). Responsible investing. Retrieved from https://www.ilim.com/responsible-investing/