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Ecofin Expands Climate Action Offerings With Launch of Ecofin Global Energy Transition Fund (EETIX)

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ecofin, a sustainable investment manager, announced the launch of an open-end fund, Ecofin Global Energy Transition Fund (“EETIX” or the “fund”), designed to attempt to benefit from the flow of capital into corporations who are disrupting the way energy is produced and consumed globally.


EETIX invests in companies that are exposed to structural growth opportunities related to the energy transition associated with decarbonization. The fund brings to launch a strong performance track record of more than two years,1 has an A MSCI ESG rating (as of October 15, 2021) and is available to U.S. retail and institutional investors through its institutional and A class shares.

The fund’s portfolio will invest in companies that derive at least 50% of their revenues, profit or assets, or invest a significant portion of their capital expenditures, to activities related to the following major investment themes: electrification, clean transportation, industrial and building efficiency, environment or other activities related to decarbonization and which represent a global portfolio across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America.

“The companies in our investment universe are advancing solutions which we believe positively contribute to the energy transition and are well aligned with global climate mitigation goals. Our investment team’s longstanding sustainable investing experience, coupled with proprietary viewpoints on climate change and decarbonization policy framework and laws, seek to drive alpha for our investors,” said Max Slee, Portfolio Manager. “Since inception of the fund’s track record, we have delivered attractive risk-adjusted returns and alpha with a similar beta and lower volatility relative to the broad global equity market by investing in companies that have structurally positive exposure to long-term major energy transition trends.1,2 Please click here for the fund’s standardized performance.

Performance data quoted represents past performance; past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance of the fund may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance data current to the most recent month end may be obtained by calling 855-822-3863.

Senior Portfolio Manager Matt Breidert added, “Companies at the sharp end of innovation and developing strategies that enable sustainability goals to be accomplished are growing and we expect their shares to be rewarding for investors. Our investment universe is comprised of six of the eleven GICS® sectors providing broad exposure and upside potential. Additionally, sustainability objectives and environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are used as a means for identifying structural growth opportunities in the universe.”

“The impact of addressing sustainable issues, such as climate change, has become a compelling investment case and, just as important, not factoring these issues represents an investment risk. We are thrilled to offer U.S. investors open-end funds focused on climate action as we believe investors are materially underweight in their sustainable allocations,” said Brent Newcomb, President of Ecofin.

To learn more about EETIX and key reasons to invest, click here for a short video or visit ecofininvest.com/eetix.

About Ecofin

Ecofin is a sustainable investment firm dedicated to uniting ecology and finance. Our mission is to generate strong risk-adjusted returns while optimizing investors’ impact on society. We are socially-minded, ESG-attentive investors, harnessing years of expertise investing in sustainable infrastructure, energy transition, clean water & environment and social impact. Our strategies are accessible through a variety of investment solutions and seek to achieve positive impacts that align with UN Sustainable Development Goals by addressing pressing global issues surrounding climate action, clean energy, water, education, healthcare and sustainable communities. Ecofin Investments, LLC is the parent of registered investment advisers Ecofin Advisors, LLC and Ecofin Advisors Limited (collectively “Ecofin”). For additional information, please visit ecofininvest.com.

1The Ecofin Global Energy Transition Fund (the Fund) is a newly registered mutual fund. As of the date of this Prospectus the Fund does not have a full calendar year of performance as a mutual fund. Prior performance shown for the period prior to the Fund’s registration as a mutual fund is for a series of the Long Only sub-fund of the Ecofin Vista Master Fund Limited, established in May 2019 (the “Predecessor Fund”), an unregistered Cayman Islands limited liability company. The Predecessor Fund was reorganized into the Fund by transferring substantially all of the Predecessor Fund’s assets to the Fund in exchange for Institutional Class shares of the Fund on October 15, 2021, the date that the Fund commenced operations (the “Reorganization”). The Predecessor Fund was managed in a materially equivalent manner as the Fund. The Sub-Adviser served as the investment adviser to the Predecessor Fund for the entire performance period shown and is responsible for the portfolio management and trading for the Fund. Each of the Fund’s portfolio managers was a portfolio manager of the Predecessor Fund at the time of the Reorganization. The Fund’s investment objective, policies, guidelines and restrictions are, in all materially equivalent respects, the same as those of the Predecessor Fund.

2The MSCI ACWI Index captures large and mid cap representation across 23 Developed Markets and 27 Emerging Markets countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set. MSCI Net Total Return (Net TR) indices reinvest dividends after the deduction of withholding taxes, using (for international indexes) a tax rate applicable to non-resident institutional investors who do not benefit from double taxation treaties.

Before investing in the fund, investors should consider their investment goals, time horizons and risk tolerance. The fund’s investment objective, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The summary and statutory prospectus contains this and other important information about the fund and may be obtained by calling 855-822-3863 or visiting www.ecofininvest.com. Read it carefully before investing.

Investing involves risks. Principal loss is possible. The fund is non-diversified, meaning it may concentrate its assets in fewer individual holdings than a diversified fund. Therefore, the fund is more exposed to individual stock volatility than a diversified fund. Investing in specific sectors such as energy infrastructure and renewable energy infrastructure may involve greater risk and volatility than less concentrated investments. If for any taxable year the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC, the Fund’s taxable income will be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates. The resulting increase to the Fund’s expenses will reduce its performance and its income available for distribution to shareholders. Investments in foreign companies involve risk not ordinarily associated with investments in securities and instruments of U.S. issuers, including risks related to political, social and economic developments abroad, differences between U.S. and foreign regulatory and accounting requirements, tax risk and market practices, as well as fluctuations in foreign currencies. These risks are greater for investments in emerging markets. The fund invests in small and mid-cap companies, which involve additional risks such as limited liquidity and greater volatility than larger companies. Investments in debt securities typically decrease in value when interest rates rise. This risk is usually greater for longer-term debt securities. The fund may also invest in derivatives including options, futures and swap agreements, which can be highly volatile, illiquid and difficult to value, and changes in the value of a derivative held by the fund may not correlate with the underlying instrument or the fund’s other investments and can include additional risks such as liquidity risk, leverage risk and counterparty risk that are possibly greater than risks associated with investing directly in the underlying investments.

The fund applies ESG criteria to the investment process and may exclude securities of certain issuers for non-investment reasons and therefore the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use ESG criteria.

TCA Advisors is the adviser to the Fund and Ecofin Advisors Limited is the sub-adviser. Primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio is the joint responsibility of Matthew Breidert and Max Slee, both of the Sub-Adviser. Mr. Breidert is a Senior Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of the Sub- Adviser. Mr. Slee is a Portfolio Manager and Director of the Sub-Adviser. Each portfolio manager has managed the Fund since its inception in October 2021. Mr. Breidert and Mr. Slee were portfolio managers of the Predecessor Fund since its inception in May 2019.

Alpha is a measurement of excess return relative to the return of a benchmark. Beta is a measure of a stock’s volatility in relation to the overall market. Volatility is the annualized standard deviation of the monthly NAV returns since inception. Standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is calculated as the square root of variance and is used by investors as a gauge for the amount of expected volatility. Sharpe ratio measures risk-adjusted performance. It is calculated by subtracting the risk-free rate from the rate of return for a portfolio and dividing the result by the standard deviation of the portfolio returns.

The MSCI ESG rating represents the aggregate ranking of the Fund’s holdings as of 10/15/2021. Certain information ©2021 MSCI ESG Research LLC. Reproduced by permission; no further distribution.

MSCI ESG Research LLC’s (“MSCI ESG”) Fund Metrics and Ratings (the “Information”) provide environmental, social and governance data with respect to underlying securities within more than 31,000 multi-asset class Mutual Funds and ETFs globally. MSCI ESG is a Registered Investment Adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. MSCI ESG materials have not been submitted to, nor received approval from, the US SEC or any other regulatory body. None of the Information constitutes an offer to buy or sell, or a promotion or recommendation of, any security, financial instrument or product or trading strategy, nor should it be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance, analysis, forecast or prediction. None of the Information can be used to determine which securities to buy or sell or when to buy or sell them. The Information is provided “as is” and the user of the Information assumes the entire risk of any use it may make or permit to be made of the Information. The MSCI ESG Fund Ratings is designed to assess the resilience of a fund’s aggregate holdings to long term ESG risks. Highly rated funds consist of issuers with leading or improving management of key ESG risks.

  • AAA, AA: Leader- The companies that the fund invests in tend to show strong and/or improving management of financially relevant environmental, social and governance issues. These companies may be more resilient to disruptions arising from ESG events.
  • A, BB, BB: Average- The fund invests in companies that tend to show average management of ESG issues, or in a mix of companies with both above-average and below-average ESG risk management.
  • B, CCC: Laggard- The fund is exposed to companies that do not demonstrate adequate management of the ESG risks that they face or show worsening management of these issues. These companies may be more vulnerable to disruptions arising from ESG events.

The Fund ESG Rating is calculated as a direct mapping of “Fund ESG Quality Score” to letter rating categories.

  • 8.6- 10: AAA
  • 7.1- 8.6: AA
  • 5.7- 7.1: A
  • 4.3- 5.7: BBB
  • 2.9- 4.3: BB
  • 1.4- 2.9: B
  • 0.0- 1.4: CCC

The “Fund ESG Quality Score” assesses the resilience of a fund’s aggregate holdings to long term ESG risks. Highly rated funds consist of issuers with leading or improving management of key ESG risks, based on a granular breakdown of each issuer’s business: its core product or business segments, the locations of its assets or revenues, and other relevant measures such as outsourced production. The “Fund ESG Quality Score” is provided on a 0-10 score, with 0 and 10 being the respective lowest and highest possible fund scores.

The “Fund ESG Quality Score” is assessed using the underlying holding’s “Overall ESG Scores”, “Overall ESG Ratings”, and “Overall ESG Rating Trends”. It is calculated in a series of 3 steps.

Step 1: Calculate the “Fund Weighted Average ESG Score” of the underlying holding’s “Overall ESG Scores”. The Overall ESG Scores represent either the ESG Ratings Final Industry-Adjusted Score or Government Adjusted ESG Score of the issuer. Methodology for the issuer level scores are available in the MSCI ESG Ratings Methodology document.

Step 2: Calculate adjustment % based on fund exposure to “Fund ESG Laggards (%)”, “Fund ESG Trend Negative (%)”, and “Fund ESG Trend Positive (%)”.

Step 3: Multiply the “Fund Weighted Average ESG Score” by (1 + Adjustment %).

For more information please visit https://www.msci.com/esg-fund-ratings.

Quasar Distributors, LLC, distributor

Safe harbor statement

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that may include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are “forward-looking statements.” Although the fund and its adviser and sub-adviser believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the fund’s reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Other than as required by law, the funds and is adviser and sub-adviser do not assume a duty to update this forward-looking statement.

Contacts

Maggie Zastrow

(913) 981-1020

[email protected]

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