Thematic Allocation - White Paper
Over the past ten years, CPR Asset Management has developed a unique range of thematic investment solutions. This is a strategic choice that perfectly meets the challenges of our times.
What could be more logical than associating long-term investments with major economic, societal, technological and environmental trends?
Thematic investing meets fundamental investor expectations : it brings meaning to their investments, can potentially generate a positive impact and seeks to return sustainable performance while providing diversification. CPR AM is one of the pioneers of thematic investing. In 2009, we launched CPR Silver Age, a European equity fund that is focused on
senior citizens’ purchasing habits. Twelve years later, we have established ourselves as a global leader in thematic investments, with over €19bn under management, 24 open-ended funds and 16 dedicated funds by the end of June 2021.Every day our 17 portfolio managers and product specialists within our thematic equity team interact with a broad network
of investment professionals (strategists, ESG analysts, financial engineers, thematic experts, etc.).
At CPR AM, we are convinced that there can be no performance without sustainability taken into consideration. Today, we are seeing congruence between thematic and sustainable investment managements.
Since 2017, we have chosen to steer our thematic investment approach towards meeting the major sustainability challenges identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). New thematic strategies have been launched focusing on the food challenge, education, reduction of inequalities and action in favour of the climate. In addition to a pure definition of the thematic universe, we integrate extra-financial criteria and impact indicators that we measure and monitor every month. Results are presented in the funds’ annual impact reports.
Our experience today enables us to draw a number of conclusions on thematic funds’ behaviour and to establish some principles to extend their use in the future. The challenge is no longer to employ thematic investments as satellites or diversifying assets. The challenge is to build a thematic allocation that can become part of the core portfolio allocation - both for retail and institutional clients. The increasing diversity in thematic investing, in terms of sectors, regions, market capitalisations and risk profiles makes this shift towards thematic allocation possible. Integrated into the core portfolio, thematic investment is of greater interest to investors.