A lot of attention is being paid for Liontrust Asset Management (Patrick Hosking writes). That is partly because of its mushrooming size — last month it was promoted to the FTSE 250 and now has a market value of £800 million — and partly because of its strong position in a fast-growing category of investment — stocks screened for meeting environmental, social and governance standards, or ESG for short.
Financial advisers love its “sustainable” funds, thanks to the growing desire for clients wanting to back companies that do more than merely maximise returns. Every fund manager is pushing into ESG, but Liontrust is doing better than most, thanks to superior marketing and communications with advisers.
Yesterday’s full-year results and first-quarter trading statement were all that
