Bestinvest says
The concept of combining four funds is distinctive and means that investors receive the benefit of the individual manager specialisation in area. Most of the funds are well established, have good track records and benefit from the sustainability and ethical overlay of Pictet. Sector specific funds in sustainable industries are more common on the continent and options for UK investors are limited. Nevertheless investors should be aware that this is essentially a passive product tracking these funds, however, this fund is not suitable for a tactical allocation but for a long term buy and hold.
Stocks are initially given a 6% weight and then have scores subtracted on the basis of the underlying purity of the stock to the theme, valuation, liquidity, volatility and quality of the company. Each manager has a certain degree of latitude when implementing the process but this is the basic framework.
The underlying macro economic drivers for these funds are, at the risk of oversimplification, broadly similar; the rise of the Asian middle classes especially China. Theoretically at least, Timber and Water should be relatively stable whereas Agriculture and Clean Energy will be more volatile. The combination of these funds should help reduce the overall volatility.
Another unusual feature of Pictet range is the use of academics to advise the fund managers, which they believes helps provide perspective to the fund managers and their partnership with the Ethos Foundation, a Swiss based group that seeks to help fund managers invest in a sustainable and ethical manner.