MEDIA RELEASE

29/07/2024

U Ethical’s Australian Equities Trust – Institutional has been ‘approved’ earlier this quarter by Zenith.

Zenith noted in their final assessment report that they believe “U Ethical's investment philosophy is intuitive, providing investors with a socially responsible Australian equities exposure. Zenith believes the fund may appeal to investors seeking a more socially responsible offering.”

Equities Trust – Institutional offers investors a relatively concentrated ethically screened portfolio of Australian Equities (hold 20-40 stocks). The investment objective is to outperform the S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index (after fees) over rolling five-year periods. Over the last 12 months the strategy has delivered a return of 15.6% and an annualised return of 10.6% since inception*.

Led by portfolio manager Cam Hardie, the Australian equities strategy has won a number of awards in the past few years, gaining well-earned public recognition of the team. U Ethical’s equities investment team were recognised as Money Magazine’s Best ESG Fund Manager in back-to-back years (2023, 2024) alongside Financial Standard’s Investment Leadership Awards Best ESG Fund Manager (2023) and Best Responsible Investment Manager – Asset Management (2024) earlier this year as well as Best Core Equities Strategy. The capability has also recently been awarded RIAA’s Sustainable Plus rating- the highest in their classifications, meeting rigorous assessment criteria.

Mathew Browning, chief executive officer, said that “receiving an investment grade rating from Zenith for our Australian equities capability is testament to the quality of our team and caps a track-record going back to 1986 delivering competitive returns for our clients. As a not-for-profit ethical fund manager, we look forward to compounding good outcomes for a growing number of advisers and their clients.”

U Ethical’s first funds were established in 1985 and since then it has grown steadily to become one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit fund managers managing over $1.3 billion** of assets across more than 3,500 clients accounts for universities, superannuation funds, private health insurers and religious organisations. U Ethical is one of few investment businesses in Australia to have been certified as B Corp – which verifies meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

* Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Based on exit price with distributions reinvested, and are net of all fees

** as at 30 June 2024

Media enquiries:

Rebecca Ephraums

Marketing Manager

Rebecca.ephraums@uethical.com

Disclaimers:

The Zenith Investment Partners (ABN 27 103 132 672, AFS Licence 226872) (“Zenith”) rating (APIR UGF4955AU assigned 27/06/2024) referred to in this piece is limited to “General Advice” (s766B Corporations Act 2001) for Wholesale clients only. This advice has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any individual, including target markets of financial products, where applicable, and is subject to change at any time without prior notice. It is not a specific recommendation to purchase, sell or hold the relevant product(s). Investors should seek independent financial advice before making an investment decision and should consider the appropriateness of this advice in light of their own objectives, financial situation and needs. Investors should obtain a copy of, and consider the PDS or offer document before making any decision and refer to the full Zenith Product Assessment available on the Zenith website. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Zenith usually charges the product issuer, fund manager or related party to conduct Product Assessments. Full details regarding Zenith’s methodology, ratings definitions and regulatory compliance are available on our Product Assessments and at Fund Research Regulatory Guidelines