Scottish Widows selects BlackRock/abrdn to manage new equities funds tracking decarbonising benchmarks

Written by Adam Cadle

31/03/2023

Scottish Widows has selected BlackRock and abrdn to manage its new range of regional equities funds which track decarbonising benchmarks.

These funds look to invest in companies at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon economy, aiding Scottish Widows’ targets to halve the carbon footprint of all its investments by 2030 on its path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The funds are aligned with the decarbonisation objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement and will be used as building block components for over 80 Scottish Widows multi-asset funds. Two of the funds track Paris-aligned indices which facilitate an immediate 50% reduction in carbon intensity, followed by an ongoing 7% reduction year-on-year. The UK fund tracks a Climate Transition index which also facilitates a 7% a year ongoing decrease, from an initial 30% reduction.

The new fund range is as follows:
- Scottish Widows Emerging Markets Paris-aligned Index Equity Tracker Fund tracks the FTSE Emerging Markets Paris-aligned Index as a benchmark;

- Scottish Widows Developed World Paris-aligned Index Equity Tracker Fund tracks the FTSE Developed World Paris-aligned Index as a benchmark;

- Scottish Widows UK Climate Transition Index Equity Tracker Fund tracks the FTSE All Share Climate Transition Index as a benchmark.

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