Dubai Investment Fund (DIF), one of world’s largest global independent investment funds and asset manager, that effectively manages financial resources through diversification into new asset classes, today announced the creation of ESG Investment Department.
“Investing in areas, that will bring not only profits, but also long-term benefits for the whole community is one of our main principles. Today we are taking it one step further, announcing the creation of a new department, specifically dedicated to the ESG Investment. The term ESG gained popularity during the last two years, and now represents one of the major trends in the financial and corporate world.”, said Eustace Osborn, the Head of the new ESG Investment department.4
Osborn added: “ESG is usually understood as “ethical investing strategy.” The core values, denoted in this abbreviation, are Environment, Sustainability, and Governance. In fact, this means that profit is not the most important metric anymore. There are other things to consider: environmental and social impact, work culture, accounting, and decision-making transparency. We were always using similar criteria while choosing the next investment area or building partnerships, but now we will do it on a more systematic basis. This area of investment develops rapidly. We can already see several ESG funds on the market, which focus their strategy not on a specific industry or technology, but on companies from multiple areas, that follow ESG principles. Such strategy is ethical and practical at the same time: without doubt, sustainable and transparent companies have more chance to develop steadily in a long-term timeframe, providing more value for their investors.”
The ESG Investment Department will fulfill several functions, including:
- Elaborating accurate and reliable methods of estimating ESG rating, based on existing guidelines and our own research and expertise.
- Researching related areas, such as “green investment” and “ethical investment” in general, and using the data to improve and update our strategy.
- Incorporating ESG investing principles as a part of our long-term strategy.
- Monitoring global and local ESG markets to find out promising investment opportunities and stay on top of this new trend.
- Consulting our clients on the topics of ethical investment and giving them advice tailored to their approach.
“We believe, that paying attention to the factors mentioned above is essential for any business strategy, that attempts to be sustainable and future-proof. Our new ESG Investment Department will provide us with all the data, that is necessary to implement this approach in a practical strategy that will provide stable profit for our clients,” added Eustace Osborn.
