GIVES [[{“value”:”
Our Global Value Impact strategy returned 16.4% in 2023, outperforming the MSCI ACWI Sustainable Impact Index by 1,150 bps and the MSCI World Value by 490 bps, and underperforming the MSCI World index by 740 bps.
While it was satisfying to significantly outperform our style benchmarks by so much, it was frustrating to lag the MSCI World, which benefitted from an outsized contribution from the Magnificent Seven U.S. mega-cap growth stocks. As both value and impact investors, we did not own these seven stocks that accounted for about half of the total index return in 2023. If we compare ourselves to the MSCI World excluding these seven stocks, we would have outperformed by 30 bps.
2023 was a tough year for sustainability investors with the MSCI Sustainable Impact index returning only 4.9% or 18.9 percentage points behind the MSCI World index. A slowdown in the forecasted growth of electric vehicles (“EVs”) and renewables penetration caused a sell-off in many stocks aligned with sustainability trends. Many of these stocks traded at high valuation multiples and fell significantly.
We’ve long advocated for a value-disciplined approach to impact investing. 2023 was a proof point for why. The long-term trends toward EVs and renewables promise of significant growth, caused companies obviously aligned with these trends to trade for sky-high multiples. While many of these obvious impact stocks collapsed in 2023, our value stocks held up while delivering positive change including more than 3 million tonnes of portfolio-weighted emissions avoided.”}]]
