AMP : Capital Diversified Infrastructure Trust ranked best in the world for ESG

AMP Capital's Diversified Infrastructure Trust (ADIT) has been ranked by GRESB Infrastructure as the number one infrastructure fund globally for its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

GRESB is an organisation that assesses the ESG performance of real assets around the world. AMPCapital is a co-founding member of GRESB Infrastructure and has worked collaboratively with other leading institutions to develop the global standard, which was launched in 2015 to look at infrastructure entities.

GRESB's inaugural 2016 infrastructure report included submissions from 51 funds and 134 infrastructure assets from across 53 countries. ADIT was rated number one in the world with an overall average GRESB score of 55 and was the only infrastructure fund to receive a score above 50. This score is a combined ranking of the fund and its underlying assets, which include Melbourne Airport, Interlink (Sydney's M5 motorway) and Powerco in New Zealand.

AMP Capital Head of Australia and New Zealand Infrastructure Equity Funds Michael Cummings said: 'AMP Capital has been a pioneer in the ESG space and ESG is a key consideration within our investment processes across the organisation. Subsequently, ADIT and its assets have had strong and well established ESG policies in place for many years now and I'm delighted this commitment to ESG has been recognised by GRESB. The result also indicates the strong correlation between positive ESG performance and strong financial performance as ADIT is also the number one performing unlisted Australian infrastructure fund over a three and five-year period, according to the Mercer Investment Performance Survey.

'Institutional investors increasingly want to invest in infrastructure funds and assets that have strong ESG credentials as they provide a positive correlation with comprehensive risk management policies and sustainable financial performance. A recent Preqin report indicated that more than 50 per cent of global investors now consider ESG as a key component of investing in infrastructure, which is a higher percentage than any other asset class. We believe ADIT's world-beating ESG performance will make it acompelling prospect for infrastructure investors in Australia and also Asia where the fund is attracting interest from pension funds and other institutional investors.'

ADIT is one of the longest-running infrastructure funds in the world. Established in 1995, it holds a diversified portfolio of quality, mature infrastructure assets in Australia and New Zealand and aims to generate stable, long-term returns.

About GRESB
GRESB is an investor-driven organisation that is transforming the way the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets are assessed globally including real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets. More than 250 members, of which about 60 are pension funds and their fiduciaries, use the GRESB data in their investment management and engagement process, with a clear goal to optimise the risk/return profile.