Sep 7, 2020

(EET/EEST) Evli Fund Management Company Ltd has signed a co-operation agreement with The Cardinal Partners Global for the selling of Evli funds to institutional investors in the Netherlands. The Cardinal Partners Global company offers its strategic advisory services to asset managers for the planning and implementation of their international growth strategies, in addition to the selling and marketing of investment products as a third-party distribution channel with decades of experience. “We’ve been mapping the Dutch market for professional, institutional investors for a long time, and we are delighted to work with an experienced and capable partner in this new market. As a long-standing boutique asset manager in the Nordic region, we want to offer Dutch investors new, successful solutions that go beyond the mainstream and add value and genuine diversification to the portfolio,” says Kim Pessala, Evli's Head of Institutional Clients. “Dutch investors demand that responsibility (ESG) factors are taken into account in their investments, and we at Evli have put a heavy emphasis in ESG over the last decade. This applies to all investment activities as well as our innovation in responsible investment products. I am therefore very pleased that we are now able to offer Dutch institutional investors our new spearhead product, the Evli Green Corporate Bond fund,” Pessala adds. The corporate bond focus of the Evli Green Corporate Bond fund is rare. Very few European green bond funds are dedicated solely to the corporate bond segment, many also invest in government risk. Investing in the green bond market via corporate bonds offers investors several advantages. Asset allocation is more efficient with more specified products. Moreover, the corporate sector plays a key role in developing a greener economy. Therefore, it is of high importance for the investor community to directly support the transformation of these companies when they are investing in projects advancing transition to low-carbon economy and social projects financed with green and sustainability bonds. Also, Evli's crossover approach enables it to seize interesting investment opportunities which are also responsible. “We are delighted with our new partnership with Evli. It’s great to be able to offer Dutch investors interested in responsibility both Evli’s strong ESG capabilities and its unique corporate bond expertise. This adds value while also diversifying the portfolios of Dutch professional investors,” The Cardinal Partners Global’s Managing Director John Birch states. Evli's corporate bond funds are managed by a fixed-income team with a successful history of more than 20 years in the European fixed income market and long, local expertise in the Nordic corporate bond market, which includes unrated corporate bonds. In addition to the Evli Green Corporate Bond Fund, responsibility is integrated into the portfolio management investment process in all of Evli’s funds. Evli signed the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) already in 2010 and has since then actively invested in the development of responsible investment. In 2019, Evli published its climate principles and raised responsibility to one of its strategic focus areas. For more information: Kim Pessala, Head of Institutional Clients, Evli Fund Management Company Ltd, tel. +358 9 4766 9141,  kim.pessala@evli.com Evli Bank Plc Evli is a bank specialized in investments that helps institutions, corporations and private persons increase their wealth. The product and service offering includes mutual funds, asset management and capital markets services, alternative investment products, equity research, the administration of incentive programs and Corporate Finance services. The company also offers banking services that support clients' investment operations. Evli is the highest ranked and most used institutional asset manager in Finland*. Evli has a total of EUR 12.9 billion in client assets under management (net 6/2020). Evli Group's equity capital totals EUR 71.8 million and its BIS capital adequacy ratio is 15.3 percent (June 30, 2020). The company has around 250 employees. Evli Bank Plc's B shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. *KANTAR SIFO Prospera External Asset Management Finland 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and SFR Scandinavian Financial Research Institutional Investment Services, Finland 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Distribution: main media, www.evli.com