LV= strengthens ESG strategy for smoothed managed funds

The smoothed managed funds are designed to help deliver low-volatility returns for risk-sensitive clients

LV= is adapting the investment strategy of its smoothed managed funds to include greater emphasis on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.

It has developed a responsible investment framework to ensure that the asset allocation across smoothed fund portfolios is in line with UN sustainable development goals.

The smoothed managed funds are designed to help deliver low-volatility returns for risk-sensitive clients. They were designed for cautious investors with a “low” to “low-medium” risk profile who are near or in retirement. There are three fund options available: cautious, balanced and growth.

Defaqto & Dynamic Planner risk rated them as 3, 4 and 5 respectively.

LV= retirement director David Stevens said: The popularity of LV=’s Smoothed Managed Funds are firmly on the rise, with advisers increasingly turning to funds that can demonstrably show they can smooth out the volatility of investments markets whilst returning attractive growth for their more cautious investors.

Investors are increasingly passionate about ESG and we feel they should not need to compromise on this to achieve strong returns, he said. LV= corporate values align strongly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and since 2011, ESG has always been well integrated across LV= portfolios.

By strengthening the framework through which we apply our ESG principles, advisers and their customers can now have even greater peace of mind about both where their pensions and savings are invested coupled with a strong track record of low volatility investment performance that our SMF range represents, he said.

LV=’s wealth and wellbeing monitor, a survey of 4,000 people, found that 26% of mass affluent savers plan to be more environmentally conscious over the next year.

They were also twice as likely (10%) to be worried about how unexpected drops in the stock market can affect the value of their pension compared to the general public (5%).