French pension scheme Ircantec has allocated €250m to a green fund run by Nomura Asset Management.
The €17bn asset owner, which manages pensions for public-sector employees, is the sole investor in the new strategy, which is based on Nomura’s existing Global Sustainability Equity (GSE) fund.
The GSE holds between 30 and 40 positions in developed and emerging markets companies, with a focus on achieving impacts that support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
It classifies itself as an ‘Article 9’ fund under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation.
The latest version of the GSE strategy has been tailored to accommodate Ircantec’s commitment to reduce the carbon emissions of its corporate portfolio by 7% annually until 2050, in line with the EU’s Paris-Aligned Benchmark (PAB) regulation.
Ircantec also has a ban on most unconventional energy projects, such as tar sands and shale gas, and on thermal coal and the expansion of oil and gas, in line with the PAB requirements.
Ircantec’s fiduciary manager is Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), the French state long-term investment and economic development institution, which outsources investment management to third parties in many instances.
A spokesperson for CDC told IPE the size of Ircantec’s allocation to the new sustainability fund was “roughly €250m”.
In a statement, Nomura said the Global Sustainable Equity franchise would have nearly $1.8bn in assets under management once fully funded. This includes the core strategy and its variants, such as environmentally-enhanced and Sharia-compliant versions.
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