Fiduciary Advice

When it comes to complex assets, supervision is a must. As a director you want to maintain control, while still having the space and time to be able to fully focus on your own mission. So it’s crucial to have independent and substantive advice about the assets.

We help in a broad framework

Our task is to professionalise the asset policy further. Not only in terms of investments, but also in governance and accountability.

Sound complicated? As far as we’re concerned, it comes down to peeling away all the elements, getting to the core and then rebuilding everything. That is why we start our collaboration with you by establishing a professional asset policy that includes a clear governance structure. That complies with regulations and your own principles. We do this together and record this in a statement of investment principles.

We start at the beginning

First thing’s first: we start by finding out exactly what your principles and beliefs regarding the assets are. The desired return and the risk appetite are leading factors here. Sometimes we consult with an external party, who, based on the principles and market conditions, can determine the best distribution.

We have a special fund database for our fiduciary clients, which we can draw from. And in-house we also offer alternative investments through our subsidiary IBS Fund Management BV. Whatever the circumstances, we can take any direction we want.

Flexible with our own fund database

Our own database consists of external managers and funds. Both listed and unlisted. There are multiple solutions in each investment category. From light green to dark green funds, and from active to passive. There is always a suitable investment. And if not, then we carry out an extensive search. We make the proposals; you make the decisions.

Sustainability embedded in our selection proces

We follow a strict selection process in which sustainability plays an important role. A fund manager must be a signatory to the UN PRI. In addition, a fund must exclude companies that operate in violation of the UN Global Compact Principles or produce tobacco and controversial weapons. These are our minimum requirements.

We mainly select funds with a light or dark green sustainability rating. These funds work with an extensive list of exclusions, possibly combined with positive screening (best-in-class policy). We also select funds that focus purely on making a positive impact. Finally, we also present sustainable initiatives to which we contribute ourselves, such as Stichting WoonVermogen.

We monitor the funds for sustainability and map out the sustainability scores and risks. In addition to the personal discussions with the fund managers, we use external sources. Our main resource is MSCI ESG Research’s very extensive database.

At the moment there are also funds in the database with a gray classification. We enter into an active dialogue (engagement) with these funds. If they fail to improve their sustainability policy, we will reconsider their place in the database. Our ambition is to have only light green and dark green classified funds in the database in the long term. For some (sub) asset classes, this will still depend on the availability of light green / dark green funds.

We take the transition out of your hands

Once the target portfolio has been established, it’s time for the transition to begin. We put together a transition strategy that ensures a cost-efficient transition and preservation of market exposure. We take a large part of the process out of your hands, and the frequency of our reports and form of communication is determined together with you.

We continue to proactively monitor and improve

We use FactSet, which gives us complete insight into the assets. This system provides comprehensive market data and enables us to see at a glance which investments are doing well. We have a clear picture of risks and where the returns come from. And thanks to the link with the MCSI ESG Research database, we can continuously monitor sustainability.

We prepare a consolidated report in accordance with Guideline 640/650, and the frequency of this is determined together with you. We also monitor whether the fund managers adhere to the agreements made and we supervise any selection procedure for a new manager.

No situation is the same

If you’d like to discuss things further, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our institutes team. We’d love to have a conversation with you to see what best suits your institution.