Vince Lorusso, Co-Founder & Portfolio Manager, Changebridge Capital met with Julie Cooling, Founder & CEO, RIA Channel to discuss the firm’s active approach to ESG, and newly launched sustainable equity ETF: CBSE Changebridge Capital, co-founded by Lorusso and partner Ross Klein, aims to harness the benefits of both differentiated active management and the efficiency of an ETF.
“We thought all active managers should take advantage of the ETF structure and a client-centric mindset,” says Lorusso. The firm officially launched its first two fully transparent active ETFs, CBSE and CBLS, in November 2020.
The Changebridge Capital Sustainable Equity ETF starts with more than 4,000 stocks in its investable universe. Changebridge’s rigorous “quantamental” stock selection process combines fundamental bottom up research with quantitative screens.
“As an active manager, we want to be focused on finding securities with at least the biggest potential for pricing inefficiencies,” says Lorusso.
The firm’s approach to screening for ESG is just as rigorous. Lorusso explains that often the most important factors around ESG are hard to quantify. Changebridge looks beyond standard high level ESG filters, and integrates sustainability into the portfolio much later into the process.
“We are not relying on scores, we are looking for stories and insights that are much harder to access.” ESG should be a benefit to investors and total performance, not a detriment, explains Lorusso.
CBSE is a fully transparent, active ETF with 30 – 40 equity positions. The Changebridge Capital Long/Short Equity ETF, CBLS is a fully transparent active long / short strategy designed to achieve long-term capital appreciation while minimizing volatility.
For more insights from Changebridge Capital, head here.