THE ATRAM Sustainable Development and Growth Fund (SDGF) has outperformed the local stock market benchmark since its inception in 2021, recording double-digit returns despite prolonged market volatility and a global downturn in sustainability-themed investments.
Since its mid-2021 launch, the SDGF has posted a 23.1% return, while the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) saw an 8.6% decline over the same period.
By the end of 2025, a year in which the PSEi dropped 7.3%, the fund delivered a steady 3.0% return, surpassing the benchmark by 10.3%.
“So, it started in 2021, and the portfolio’s performance has been very robust since the start. If I’m not mistaken, we’re up about 23.1% since the launch of the fund, versus an about 9% decline in the PSEi,” Jose Mari Lacson, ATR Asset Management, Inc. (ATRAM) head of macroeconomics and impact investing, told BusinessWorld in a phone interview on Friday last week.
The fund, the Philippines’ first domestic sustainability-themed equity fund, integrates United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its selection process.
Mr. Lacson noted that this approach allows the fund to maintain performance during market turbulence by evaluating more than just traditional financial figures.
“We do not just measure returns but also sustainability-related data such as Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and waste generation. On returns and these SDG-based metrics, the fund’s portfolio has performed better than the market and our proxy-benchmark,” he said.
The SDGF currently ranks among the top five Philippine unit investment trust funds (UITFs) and is noted as one of the best-performing funds on the GCash platform. A key driver of this performance is the fund’s active engagement with invested companies, where ATRAM provides feedback on sustainability strengths and weaknesses.
“We give them feedback on their scores so that they know that they can make changes in terms of their sustainability strategy if they need to,” he said.
The fund’s top portfolio sectors include banks, property, and consumer food.
Mr. Lacson attributed the heavy weighting in banking to regulatory shifts driven by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which mandates that banks integrate environmental and social risks into their operations.
“So, banks actually are our top sector in the portfolio, and this is because the sustainable finance framework of the BSP has encouraged — not just encouraged — but pushed banks to disclose more and start monitoring their impacts on these SDGs,” Mr. Lacson said.
The property sector has also seen increased representation in the portfolio as companies move toward renewable energy to meet net-zero targets.
“What the property companies have done to help contribute to net zero — they’ve set some targets — is increasing their switch to renewables or renewable energy. And that’s the reason why they’ve actually increased their contribution to our portfolio, because it has started to make an impact,” he added.
As of early 2026, ATRAM Group managed approximately P498 billion in assets. Mr. Lacson said that the fund caters to a growing segment of investors looking to align personal values with financial goals.
“It’s not all about profit,” he said. “Profit plays a huge role, but to be sustainable for the long term, you have to consider the other set of data that’s coming out on sustainability. We believe investors are out there that have such values and they can align their values with how they invest through this fund.” — Alexandria Grace C. Magno
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