Evidential global share fund blasts off in $420m flurry

In response to increasing demand for tax efficient sustainable investments, Consilium has launched an innovative new fund called the Evidential Sustainable Targeted Factor Fund (ESTFF), structured under the popular Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE) tax regime. 

Consilium’s ESTFF offers investors access to a unique strategy targeting international small and medium capitalisation companies, which has previously been unavailable within a PIE tax structure. The fund will allow investors to unite their financial ambitions with their sustainability goals, without sacrificing investment returns. 

Damon O’Brien, Head of Investment Services at Consilium commented:

“While investors are increasingly interested in supporting more sustainable investment strategies, many sustainable funds only take an exposure to large-cap companies. While that’s an important part of the market, it’s in the small and medium capitalisation segments that higher expected returns can generally be found. Our new fund bridges this gap by offering investors the best of all worlds – sustainable investment growth, targeting sources of higher expected return, within a tax-efficient structure.”

Consilium’s first PIE fund, a sustainable global bond strategy, launched in 2022 and has already amassed $400 million under management. The new sustainability-focused global equity fund will debut with $420 million in assets. The investment manager for both funds is Dimensional Fund Advisors Australia.

“It’s not often you see an ESG PIE fund launch with anything like $420m in it, so we know there’s built up demand for this product. When making any investment, one important consideration is always tax. With an increased focus on tax regulation in recent years - most recently, changes to trust tax - investors are steadily migrating towards attractive investment strategies, delivered with the additional benefits and lower tax rates of the PIE tax structure,” said O’Brien.

The PIE fund structure also enables retail investors to reduce some of the fees and taxes associated with other international investment options.

O’Brien explained, "A retail investor with $50,000 in a digital share trading account might want to buy a sustainable global equity ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, this investment will generally incur higher brokerage fees, foreign exchange fees, and suffer from more foreign withholding tax inefficiencies than if that investment was directed into ESTFF through an adviser." 

The fund is available through licensed financial advisers.