Liontrust ESG Trust PLC (ESGT/Trust) has published its Prospectus, outlining the expected timetable for shareholders. The full Board of Directors has also been confirmed. Further details can be found HERE and in the attached brochure.
The Trust’s portfolio which will be managed by Peter Michaelis, Simon Clements and Chris Foster, part of the 13-strong Liontrust Sustainable Investment team with a 20-year track record of managing sustainable funds, and will invest in 25 to 35 sustainable companies around the world, predominantly in developed markets. The investment trust structure will enable the portfolio managers to be unconstrained by market capitalisation when selecting investments, allowing them to construct a high conviction portfolio with less consideration of shorter-term volatility than when managing open-ended funds. The portfolio managers will include small cap stocks within ESGT’s portfolio that are not held by the open-ended funds they manage.
Since 2001, the team has used the Liontrust Sustainable Future process to identify companies which are helping to create a cleaner, safer and healthier world. The team seeks to generate attractive returns for investors by identifying the key structural growth trends (Better resource efficiency, Greater safety and resilience and Improved health), and 21 underlying themes within these, that will shape the sustainable economy of the future.
The portfolio managers aim to identify well-run companies whose products and operations benefit from these themes. Further analysis hones this list down to those companies that exhibit superior management, will deliver persistently high returns on equity and are attractively valued on a five-year view.
Expected timetable:
| OFS and Intermediaries Offer close | 29 June 2021 |
| Placing closes | 30 June 2021 |
| Results of the Initial Issue announced | 1 July 2021 |
| Admission of Ordinary Shares | 5 July 2021 |
Board of Directors
ESGT has a Chair and three other Directors who have been selected for their relevant experience and knowledge and who are independent of the AIFM and Investment Manager (full biographies of the Directors can be found in Notes to Editors and photographs by request).
Richard Laing, Chair:
Richard holds a number of non-executive appointments. He currently chairs 3i Infrastructure plc., is on the Board of Tritax Big Box REIT plc, Leeds Castle Foundation and JP Morgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust plc. Previously, Richard was a trustee of Plan International UK, the international children’s charity, and The Overseas Development Institute. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA).
Clare Brook, Non-Executive Director
Clare is CEO of the Blue Marine Foundation, an ocean conservation NGO. Prior to this, she worked for 24 years in sustainable investment, including at Jupiter, NPI and Henderson. In 2001, she established the Sustainable Investment division of Aviva where she and her team launched the Sustainable Future range of funds, now managed by Liontrust. In 2008, Clare co-founded WHEB Asset Management, a positive impact investment firm.
Sarah Ing, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
Sarah is a Chartered Accountant with 30 years’ experience in financial services including audit, corporate finance, investment banking and asset management. Sarah is currently a Non-Executive Director at CMC Markets plc and at XPS Pensions Group plc, where she is Chair of the Sustainability/ESG committee.
Kunle Olafare, Non-Executive Director
Kunle has worked in financial services for over 25 years and, since 2016, he has been the Chief Executive and Client Director of SK Financial, a London based independent financial planning firm. Prior to Joining SK Financial in 2009, he spent nine years as Head of Advice, Financial Planning at Kleinwort Benson.
