Product Launches: Credit Suisse Adds Sustainable Food Strategy

Credit Suisse has teamed up with JP Morgan Asset & Wealth Management to launch an investment fund specializing in sustainable nutrition.

In a statement today, Credit Suisse said the new fund would “address the ties between nutrition, health, biodiversity and climate, with a particular focus on nutrition’s societal and environmental aspects”. The fund is available globally.

Michael Strobaek, global chief investment officer at Credit Suisse, said: “As we co-develop and innovate solutions and products, we look to help wealth management clients invest and make a positive contribution to addressing the double burden of malnutrition – feeding people and protecting the planet.”

The strategy aligns with several of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – an increasingly important metric for investors. These include the aims to achieve zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), responsible consumption and production (SDG 12) and biodiversity (SDG 14 and 15).

Almost 700 million people around the world are undernourished, according to Bloomberg, while 1.8 billion people are overweight or obese. In addition, food supply systems are responsible for approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and account for more than 90% of freshwater consumption.

Elsewhere, Canadian investment group CIBC Asset Management has launched a new investment service to provide products aligned with socially responsible investors. CIBC Sustainable Investment Solutions will include actively managed investment portfolios with “a lower carbon and energy sector exposure than broad market indices”, according to an announcement from the company.

The strategies will be offered as mutual funds and “all-in-one balanced solutions”, CIBC Asset Management said, and utilize the company’s proprietary ESG screening tools alongside input from ESG data and analysis firm Sustainalytics.

In addition, a portion of revenues from the new offerings will be donated to “climate transition activities”.