Olivier Pleasant : "With Ecofi Enjeux Futurs, we want to invest in growth over the next decades"

4 questions to Olivier Pleasant, director of portfolio management at Ecofi Investments and fund manager of Ecofi Enjeux Futurs.

What is the fund philosophy?

Olivier Pleasant: With Ecofi Enjeux Futurs, we want to invest in growth over the next decades.
The great challenges of the XXI century are linked to the relationships between Man and his environment. Demographic changes and their consequences on the development of our human societies, the implications to preserve earth resources are big challenges. These challenges are generating visible and structural growth.

What are the growth drivers?

"Meeting the actual needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" is the challenge of sustainable development and the philosophy that we wanted to use when we set up this product.

Therefore, it was obvious that we were talking about growth. A growth generated by demographic dynamics - different in North and South - a growth from demand in terms of development and education, and finally a growth generated by the need to preserve the earth resources and make our industrial process sober and robust.

What are the major themes for the fund?

We have chosen an international fund and our investment universe is split into two categories:

"Industrial" growth vehicules with related equities:

• energy efficiency, through rail lines, eco-construction, home insulation, energy efficient lighting and the smart grid;
• water treatment and waste management;
• renewable energy: solar, wind and hydropower.
• 
  Growth "defensive" vehicles with related equities:
• health, such as pharmaceutical companies, drug distributors, companies related to the health and welfare insurance sectors;
• ageing population and education, with retirement homes, to human services, private schools, publishing houses and software;
• testing and compliance, by investing in companies active in the management and health control, compliance and audit.

And for risk management?

Geographic allocation and thematic allocation manage the risk. In times of risk appetite, we encourage industrial profile values as a performance leverage. In times of risk aversion we promote performance stabilizers with defensive equities. The geographical cursor is also used, the US markets being preferred in cautious times, European markets allowing to increase the beta of the portfolio.

With an ongoing growth environment, investments related to development drivers in the coming decades are still a good way to capture a visible growth.

3 reasons to invest

• Investing in growth companies which effectively act for tomorrow ...
• A dynamic portfolio management with conviction
• A recognized and rewarded portfolio management

3 things to remember

• An international equity fund
• 6 themes related to the relationships between Man and his environment
• Active portfolio management with a cyclical and/or defensive, depending on market conditions