Specialist asset management boutique, Amati Global Investors, announced today that it has selected ‘Digbee’, an ESG disclosure platform dedicated to the mining sector, as a preferred ESG accreditation solution for the £90m TB Amati Strategic Metals Fund. The pioneering Amati fund, which celebrated its second anniversary just last week (15th March), offers investors exposure both to precious metals as a store of value, and to the metals powering global efforts around decarbonization.
The Fund’s managers – Georges Lequime and Mark Smith – boast a rare combination of technical expertise in global mining practice, and investment, this informing their portfolio construction and the way in which they have managed asset allocation through this period of energy transition.
“Decarbonising the global energy supply and transportation network will be highly metal intensive”, says Smith. “To achieve net zero by 2050 could require as much as US$10 trillion of metal for renewable energy systems, battery storage and electrification. This is the ‘green paradox’ and investment opportunity – you simply can’t have decarbonization without mining. Metal demand annuity will be long lived, and resource investing should become a mainstream sector. ESG, together with a common standard to assess companies, will be of paramount importance in the investment analysis process going forward.
“The mining community has been adopting various ESG parameters for decades in the form of Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’). Without a social license to operate, there will be no business. We need the mining community to have a louder voice if they are to showcase their achievements. Digbee provides the integrity and analysis needed to start a conversation – that mining is needed for ESG and to deliver net zero. Digbee provides a measure whereby mining companies can be ranked according to their ESG efforts, and investors can assess the merits of those achievements.”
Jamie Strauss, CEO at Digbee is delighted with the Amati partnership. He said, “Digbee is honoured to have been chosen as a preferred ESG accreditation solution for Amati’s Strategic Metals Fund. With ESG becoming an ever more important part of investment managers’ due diligence and valuation assessment, there is an increasing need to be able to access regular, transparent, trusted data – presented in a manner that is efficient and easy to monitor. The collaboration with Amati will further support Digbee’s mission of “#makeminingbetter”, encourage further positive impact throughout the sector, and contribute significantly in improving the quality and efficiency of ESG analysis.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Digbee
Digbee is a UK-based technology firm, building solutions for the mining industry, with a focus on providing trusted ESG data on mining companies to the investment community, and to other stakeholders. The Company’s goal is to mitigate risk, improve transparency, and to foster a stronger and better global mining community for all. Digbee’s overarching mission is to make mining better.
Founded by Jamie Strauss, who has spent more than 30 years in the mining and finance sectors, Digbee is committed to transforming one of the most important, yet misconceived industries on the planet. The company achieves this through a sector specific, right sized, and future looking set of ESG frameworks – aligned to more than 30 global standards. Annual independent assessments on mining companies and their projects result in transparent communication of an ESG footprint, which can be used by management and Boards, capital markets, communities and other stakeholders to assess, engage and encourage positive action.
About Amati Global Investors (‘Amati’)
Founded following the management buyout of Noble Fund Managers from Noble Group in 2010, Amati is a specialist asset management boutique, with a predominant focus on UK small and mid-cap companies and AUM of £994m (28th February 2023).
The Edinburgh-based firm manages five investment vehicles. The TB Amati Listed UK Smaller Companies Fund (OEIC), Amati AIM VCT plc and the Amati AIM IHT Portfolio Service have an investment universe ranging from fully listed constituents of the FTSE Mid 250 and FTSE Small Cap indices to stocks quoted on AIM. The fund managers consider their investment decisions with a global mindset, with many of the 1,500 or so smaller companies listed in London boasting operations in almost every part of the world. Amati sees the international outlook typical of many UK businesses as a core strength.
The TB Amati Strategic Metals Fund (OEIC) was launched in 2021 and invests in mining companies listed across developed markets worldwide – whilst the TB Amati Strategic Innovation Fund, which launched in May last year, invests in companies which create value from innovative products, services and business models that address key challenges facing businesses, consumers, and societies, where the impact of such innovation is not fully priced by the market.
Amati’s clients include investment advisers, wealth managers and private banks, with a growing band of retail investors accessing its funds via leading investment platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown, interactive investor, and AJ Bell Youinvest.
The Amati investment team constitutes Dr Paul Jourdan, David Stevenson, Anna Macdonald, Scott McKenzie, Dr Gareth Blades, Georges Lequime, Mark Smith, Mikhail Zverev and Graeme Bencke.
Dr Paul Jourdan was a professional violinist before embarking on a career in fund management, so it was no surprise when he decided to name the firm after the great violin maker Nicolo Amati, reputed to have been the teacher of Antonio Stradivari. The name reflects the craft and experience the team have applied in constructing and managing its suite of products, which like any great instrument, have been built to move with the times and remain fit for purpose.
Amati became a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment, the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment, on 3rd December 2018 and is a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code.
The firm adopted a policy of giving 10% of its profits to UK registered charities at inception, these donations directed by the owners of the business in proportion to their equity holdings.
An independent company – 51% owned by Amati Global Investors and 49% by Mattioli Woods (one of the UK’s leading and fastest growing providers of specialist pension, wealth management and employee benefit services) – the firm is headed by Dr Paul Jourdan.
Issued and approved by Amati Global Investors Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reference number 198024) and registered in Scotland (company number SC199908). Registered address: 8 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh, EH3 7AL.
