Castlefield sustainable fund shortlisted for ESG award

One of Castlefield’s sustainable funds is up for an award by industry title ESG Clarity.

The CFP Castlefield B.E.S.T Sustainable Income fund has been shortlisted in the 'UK ESG Equity – Active' category, at the awards dedicated to recognising excellence in ESG (environmental, social and governance) fund management.

News of the shortlisting has been well received and comes as Castlefield is celebrating its 20th year of being at the forefront of sustainable investing.

Mark Elliott, fund manager for the CFP Castlefield B.E.S.T Sustainable Income fund, said: "We’ve been investing sustainably for over two decades and our B.E.S.T. investment selection framework is the culmination of years of dedication. We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for this award, as it recognises the genuinely rigorous and authentic ESG approach we adopt across all of our sustainable funds.”

The proprietary Screening policy called B.E.S.T. applies across all of the sustainable funds that we manage, to identify investments not only based on traditional financial criteria, but also on a range of other critical success factors. At Castlefield, issues like environmental and social impact, good standards of corporate governance and overall transparency are not just ‘nice to have’; they’re key to generating sound returns, linked to a proper appreciation of risk, defined in its widest sense.

Shortlists for the categories were determined using exclusive ESG data supplied by MSCI ESG Research, alongside a set of strict criteria being met. A panel of experts will now analyse the shortlisted firms, based on their own research and review of the data, with winners to be announced at the inaugural ESG Clarity Awards in June at a London venue.

For funds to be considered for an ESG Clarity award, the following criteria needed to be met:

  • Funds must have 12 months of performance history as of the end of March 2022
  • Funds must be domiciled in UK, Ireland or Luxembourg, listed in sterling and be available to UK retail investors
  • Funds must fall into standard universe coverage for MSCI ESG fund ratings, whereby at least 65% of the fund’s gross weight must come from covered securities

Further details on the award research and methodology provided by MSCI can be found here.