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WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund has launched an open-ended equity scheme called WhiteOak Capital ESG Best-in-class Strategy Fund.
Under the Best-In-Class strategy, the scheme will invest in companies that perform better than peers on one or more performance metrics related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters.
In a press release, Aashish Somaiyaa, CEO of WhiteOak Capital, said, “In DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) models, typically more than 80% of the value comes from the terminal value. Projecting growth into the future and assigning significant exit growth rates, multiples and terminal value all assume sustainability and longevity of business, which one suspects can't come at the cost of damaging the environment, disregarding societal imperatives and short-changing minority shareholders. Poor ESG practices pose a risk to business longevity and hence reduce terminal value.”
Ramesh Mantri, CIO of WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund said, “The fund will utilize its proprietary framework to assess companies on their corporate governance practices. Under this framework, companies are prominently assessed based on their accounting practices, alignment with minority shareholders’ interests, capital allocation, board strength and compliance with the relevant laws and regulations.”
Ramesh Mantri (Equity), Trupti Agarwal (Assistant Fund Manager, Equity), Dheeresh Pathak (Assistant Fund Manager, Equity), and Piyush Baranwal (Debt) will co-manage the fund.
