Gurtin Launches Sustainable Municipal Investment Strategy

SAN DIEGO, June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gurtin Municipal Bond Management (Gurtin), a $13 billion asset manager specializing in high grade municipal bond portfolios for high net worth individuals, has announced the launch of the Municipal Social Advancement strategy. Adding to Gurtin's existing suite of sustainable municipal bond strategies, this strategy enables customization of separately managed municipal bond portfolios that align investors' values with their investments.

The Municipal Social Advancement strategy is designed as a solution for investors who wish to pursue competitive financial returns while supporting positive social and environmental outcomes. These separately managed portfolios can be tailored to focus municipal investments in one, or a combination of all three, of the following areas:

• Education
• Environment
• U.S. Infrastructure 

Additionally, investors can choose to have their Municipal Social Advancement portfolios structured as California-specific or National, with a short-, limited-, or intermediate-term duration.

"With the vast majority of municipal bonds being issued to finance projects for the public good, the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market is a natural for socially responsible investment. Even so, very few municipal asset managers offer a socially responsible strategy," said Bill Gurtin, CEO and CIO. "Given our singular expertise in municipal bond management and our investment in independent municipal research capabilities, we are thrilled to offer this unique new strategy to a clearly underserved market."

Gurtin's fundamental analysis weighs credit metrics across various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) categories, with bonds considered for purchase for Municipal Social Advancement portfolios additionally undergoing negative and positive screenings to focus investment in municipal bonds that are high quality, sustainable, and issued for a purpose that supports targeted social and economic goals.

"We debated for some time how best to manage a socially responsible municipal strategy, and ultimately determined that in order to feel comfortable that our clients were advancing positive social and environmental goals, it wasn't enough for us to analyze obligors' ESG risks and their ability to mitigate them, or simply target certain municipal bond sectors," said Michael Johnson, Co-CEO and CRO. "We needed to take the fundamental credit analysis performed in the management of all of our municipal strategies one step further, and also take a close look at the projects that our clients' investments were supporting."

About Gurtin:

As an industry leader in municipal bond portfolio management, with $13.4 billion in discretionary assets under management as of May 31, 2017, Gurtin is committed to investors' complete comfort in their municipal bond investments. Gurtin strives to deliver peace of mind to investors and their advisors through first-class client service, deep analysis, and expertise, and creative strategies uncovering often overlooked value—and avoiding often concealed threats—in the municipal market.

For more information about Gurtin, please visit:
www.gurtin.com/about

For more information about Gurtin's Municipal Social Advancement Strategy, please visit: www.gurtin.com/strategies#Overview 

Contact:
[email protected] 
1-866-606-2221

SOURCE Gurtin Municipal Bond Management

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