AGF Global Sustainable Equity ADR Strategy
Approach
Blend of thematic and bottom up approach
Cap
All-Cap
Benchmark
MSCI World Net Index
Inception Date
December 2018
Key Reasons to Invest
1
Invest in the thematic opportunities that are arising from the ongoing shift to a sustainable economy.
2
Differentiated positioning - a concentrated global portfolio with high active share.
3
Contribute to a more sustainable economy while minimizing environmental footprint.
Overview
Strategy
The AGF Global Sustainable Equity ADR team believes in a rigorous and disciplined thematic approach, grounded in the conviction that the capital they deploy can play a constructive role in addressing the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. They focus on directing capital toward companies whose products and services aim to contribute to positive, measurable outcomes for society and the environment, while remaining mindful of long-term financial sustainability.
Philosophy
We believe that a shift to a more sustainable economy is underway and is gaining velocity. Drivers include policy and regulation, changing corporate objectives, societal pressure, and technological advances. Our view is that investing in the thematic opportunities related to this shift forms a compelling and enduring strategy to contribute to a more sustainable economy and deliver the opportunity for attractive returns.
Process
The portfolio management team’s disciplined process is designed to identify high-conviction, growth-oriented global businesses positioned to benefit or drive the transition to a more sustainable economy. Benchmarked against the MSCI World Net Index, the strategy combines top-down thematic research with bottom-up fundamental analysis to build a concentrated portfolio of companies with durable competitive advantages and attractive long-term growth potential. The strategy excludes fossil fuel producers and underweights sectors that lack meaningful exposure to its core themes.
The process begins with the identification of four investment themes—Energy Transition, Circular Economy and Pollution Abatement, Water Services and Climate Adaptation, and Food and Health—and approximately sixteen actionable sub-themes shaped by structural tailwinds across regulation, technology, consumer demand, and corporate strategy. Each sub-theme is evaluated for addressable market size, value-chain positioning, and the durability of underlying growth drivers, providing a structured framework for capital allocation across the most economically relevant segments of the transition.
From a global opportunity set, the team identifies roughly 800 companies with material and expanding exposure to these themes. Exclusionary screens are then applied to remove businesses whose activities are inconsistent with the Strategy's objectives, while value-chain analysis pinpoints where economic returns are most likely to accrue. The universe is narrowed to approximately 200 candidates through bottom-up fundamental research, which focuses on competitive advantage, financial strength and management quality. Business maturity and development stage are assessed to calibrate position sizing and manage risk-reward trade-offs, with material non-financial factors considered alongside traditional financial metrics.
The strategy does not invest in companies with material ESG risks or controversies and underweights sectors that lack a clear positive contribution. The result is a concentrated, all-cap, growth-oriented portfolio of approximately 25 to 45 holdings. Position sizes are scaled to conviction, sub-theme strength, and individual risk attributes, with higher weights reserved for companies offering durable fundamentals and clear potential earnings visibility. Ongoing risk oversight and active engagement with portfolio companies to protect value and support positive long-term outcomes.
Investment Process
- Identify themes and subthemes aligned with Strategy’s impact pillars and outcomes
- Assess structural tailwinds and risks
- Evaluate scale and economics
-
Construct Thematic Investment Universe
- Identify companies with material and expanding exposure to targeted themes and sub-themes
- Apply exclusionary screens
- Classify value-chain positions
- ~800 companies
-
Security Selection and ESG Analysis
- Conduct bottom-up fundamental analysis
- Assess business maturity and development stage
- Assess SDG alignment alongside material ESG risks and opportunities
- ~200 candidates
- Initiate positions scaled to sub-theme strength, conviction levels, and risk attributes
- Monitor company impact disclosures and external data
- Apply ongoing risk oversight and stewardship
- ~40 investments
Investment Team
Martin Grosskopf manages AGF Investments’ sustainable investing strategies and provides input on sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues across the firm’s investment teams. He is a thought leader and a frequent public speaker on ESG and Green Finance issues. He served as Vice-Chair of the CSA Group technical committee on Green and Transition Finance and is a past member of the Responsible Investment Association (RIA)’s Board of Directors.
Martin has more than 30 years of experience in financial and environmental analysis. He previously served as Director, Sustainability Research and Portfolio Manager with Acuity Investment Management Inc., which was acquired by AGF Management Limited in 2011. Before joining the financial industry, Martin worked in a diverse range of industries in the areas of environmental management, assessment and mitigation. He was a project manager with CSA International from 1997 to 2000 and, prior to that, served as an environmental scientist with Acres International Limited.
In 2023 Martin was a recipient of the Canada Clean16 Award for his work furthering sustainability in the financial sector. Martin obtained a B.A. from the University of Toronto and an MES from York University, and earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.
Vishal Bané serves as a Portfolio Manager for the AGF Global Sustainable Equity Strategy, leveraging his extensive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) analysis experience to evaluate the strategy’s ESG risks and opportunities. In May 2025, he expanded his responsibilities becoming a portfolio manager for AGF U.S. Small-Mid Cap Strategy.
Vishal joined AGF in 2017 as an Analyst. Prior to that, he worked in ESG Research at MSCI Inc. and gained additional industry experience at the National Stock Exchange of India.
Vishal is a Chartered Accountant (national merit-holder) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a Master of Science in Finance from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is also a CFA® charterholder.
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
Abhishek Ashok
M.A., MFE, CFA
Rasib Bhanji
MBA, CFA
Ling Han
M.Sc., MBA, CFA
Grace Huang
MBA, CFA
Marko Kais
CFA
Sid Kotak
CFA
John Kratochwil
MBA, P.Eng.
Henry Kwok
MBA
Renato Monzon
MBA
Aria Samarzadeh
MFin, CFA
Pulkit Sabharwal
MBA
Lillian Zhang
MBA, CFA
Erin Johnson
B.Sc.
Damola Adesoye
CFA, MBA
Dagmar Pagel
CFA
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.