Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches

Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund launches Aditya Birla Sun Life ESG Fund

An open-ended equity scheme investing in companies following
Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) theme

 

NFO opens on December 04, 2020 and closes on December 18, 2020

 

1.      Fund house has partnered with leading global ESG research provider Sustainalytics for ESG scores and ratings

2.      Each company will be scored on 3 pillars of ESG. Non-conforming sectors like Cluster Munitions, Anti-Personnel Mines, Chemical and Biological Weapons, Coal & Tobacco etc. to be excluded

3.      Can invest in international securities adhering to ESG practices up to 35% of the fund’s net assets

 

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (a significant non-bank financial services’ conglomerate), and investment manager to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF) announced today the launch of Aditya Birla Sun Life ESG Fund, an open-ended equity scheme investing in companies following Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) theme. The Fund endeavours to participate in ESG aligned existing and emerging opportunities, eliminate risky companies and invest in high quality & sustainable growth compounders to generate better risk adjusted returns.

 

Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund has partnered with leading global ESG research provider ‘Sustainalytics’ for ESG scores and ratings which will be the filter for defining the investment universe. Each company will be scored on 3 pillars of ESG and non-conforming sectors will be excluded. This will further be screened basis fundamental analysis and financial parameters with a combination of top-down and bottom-up approach. The fund will be market cap agnostic.

 

Commenting on the new fund, A. Balasubramanian, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited said: “Environment, Social and Governance factors, or ESG have become increasingly important parameters of investment decisions worldwide, beyond the traditional financial factors. This has gained further importance after Covid-19, an insight that also our survey across 1600 plus respondents shows. The majority of respondents felt their attitude towards ESG in investment decision making had changed after the pandemic. This is an important shift in mindset. ESG concept is at a very nascent stage in India and is widely unexplored, though it’s an established theme globally. With the Indian Government too emphasising its ESG focus recently and global flows into ESG focused sectors and companies seeing consistent increase, there is potential for this theme to play out secularly”.

 

Historically ESG compliant companies have been found to be less risky, have better operational performance and generated better returns too. The portfolio looks to benefit from rising flows into ESG compliant companies which increases the possibility of re-rating and augurs well for longer term market performance. From large institutional to individual investors, there is a growing consideration of non-financial risks in investment decisions. ESG lens enables to look beyond the traditional investment parameters to identify high quality socially responsible companies for investing. 

 

The minimum application amount for this fund is Rs.500/- and in multiples of Re. 1/- thereafter, during the New Fund Offer period. Investors can come into this fund both in the SIP or Lumpsum route.

Mahindra to plant a tree for

Mahindra to plant a tree for every service availed digitally on its With You Hamesha app

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group, announced on the occasion of World Environment Day, that for the next 30 days starting June 5, 2020 the company will plant a tree for every service that customers avail digitally. Customers can add a tree to the world when they complete their service process – from booking to payment – on Mahindra’s With You Hamesha app.

As many trees as digital services availed, will get added under Mahindra’s Project Hariyali and will be planted in the Araku Valley as soon as lockdown restrictions ease in the area.

Mahindra’s responsibility towards the environment remains one of the top priorities across all its endeavours. From the clean engines to ensuring sustainable operations at its channel partners, Mahindra is working towards making the world a greener, cleaner and a better place to live in.

Creating Positive Impact on the Environment

Mahindra has been a frontrunner in digitally transforming customers’ automobile service experience with its after-sales digital platform – With You Hamesha. The company has recently announced a completely digitized Contactless Service. Not only does this digitization bring safety and convenience for customers, it also increases the positive impact that digital service is creating on the environment. It saves 40% of paper that was earlier used for printing in service centers.

Mahindra has also been working towards saving water that gets consumed in car wash through its dry wash offering of m-EcoWash. m-EcoWash is a set of water-saving car wash options that can save up to 260L of water vis-à-vis conventional car washing methods. It uses a combination of eco-friendly cleaning compounds (dry/foam) and unique techniques (high pressure water/steam) to give the cleanest of car-washes, while reducing water use up to 100%. This environment-friendly practice has been well received by customers pan India & created a huge impact since its inception in Jul’19:

·         About 66k cars washed with water-saving washing options

·         More than 17 million liters of water has been saved

The company also offers DIY kits for customers to carry out such water-saving washed at their homes themselves.

Voltas’ Waghodia plant

Voltas’ Waghodia plant

-       To manufacture wide range of HVAC&R solutions

Voltas Limited – a Tata Group enterprise, has established its operations at the new state-of-the-art Greenfield manufacturing facility at Waghodia, Gujarat.

                                                                                                               

Spread across approx. 32.05 acres, the Waghodia plant will help the Company meet the growth aspirations of the Indian HVAC market and also address the current capacity constraints at its existing plants. The facility will manufacture a wide range of industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) solutions, catering to different needs, capacities and environments.

As a Tata Group Company, Voltas has always been committed to the development of the country and actively contributing to the economy. This facility reassures this promise as the Company expands their manufacturing capabilities and reach across the nation.

The products manufactured at Waghodia plant include Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Systems, Packaged Air Conditioners (PAC) and Ductable Split Units (DSU) and Chiller Packages (CHP) and Air Handling Units (AHU). The proposed facility involves an approximate investment of INR 65 Crores, excluding the land cost. It houses R&D and testing facilities that are critical to bring in new and advanced technologies to the market.

Situated within Siddhi Industrial Infrastructure Park, Gujarat, the Waghodia plant would provide significant location advantages to Voltas. These include better connectivity with the plant situated in 15KM of Golden Quadrilateral Road network, in addition to improving proximity to suppliers and customers. The Company plans to procure its input requirements from suppliers located within a radius of 75 KM.

                     

Gujarat is known for the industry friendly policies of the State Government, and availability of basic infrastructure facilities, electricity and skilled manpower. Waghodia’s proximity to key industrial centers of Gujarat such as Ahmedabad, Bharuch and Surat would ensure availability of skilled labour resources. Vadodara offers skilled and intellectual workforce from leading institutions that lead R&D operations for companies.