Sustainable PIEs on menu

New Zealand investors seeking to align their environmental views within a robust investment framework can now access global asset manager Dimensional, which has launched two Portfolio Investment Entities (PIEs) for the New Zealand market.

New Zealanders seeking global investment solutions that target measurable sustainability goals without sacrificing broad diversification, efficient tax management and higher expected returns now have access to the systematic strategies of Dimensional Fund Adivsors.

DFA has launched for local investors two global sustainability funds through Portfolio Investment Entities (PIEs), a tax-effective NZ-domiciled investment structure. 

For more than 20 years, Dimensional has serviced New Zealand financial intermediaries via access to its Australian managed unit trusts. But offering its strategies via PIEs now enables the firm to bring its strategies locally in a wrapper that is convenient, tax-effective and designed specifically for Kiwi investors.

“Ever since we set up in this part of the world in the 1990s, some of the strongest advocates for our systematic approach have been New Zealanders,” Dimensional Australia chief executive Glenn Crane says. “Offering PIEs just brings the benefits of that approach to more people and wraps it up in a tax- effective solution that targets sustainability outcomes.”

Dimensional is launching two Dimensional Global Sustainability PIE Funds - one unhedged and one hedged to the NZ dollar. Within both, the firm will apply its sustainability approach – which targets greenhouse gas emission reductions and other environmental and social criteria – to developed market equities.

“Our message to New Zealanders is that investing well and incorporating values around sustainability need not be mutually exclusive,” Crane said. “We have effectively implemented sustainability strategies with this dual goal in mind for more than a decade.”

Total annual charges for the new funds are estimated at 41 basis points.