PRESS RELEASE

eQ Asset Management and Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) have launched a cooperation enabling Baltic Sea protection combined with fund investing. eQ will directly channel 85% of the management fee from investments in the BSAG series of Mutual Fund eQ Blue Planet to fund the Baltic Sea protection activities of BSAG.

An investor can choose BSAG series with an annual management fee of 1.75% p.a. upon subscription in eQ Blue Planet fund. A BSAG series investor pays 0.25% more in annual management fees compared with the standard fee of 1.5%. This additional annual management fee expense goes directly to BSAG. Furthermore, eQ will pay 1.25% of its management fee to BSAG, which multiplies the donation given by the investor in this series by six times. By investing 10,000 euros in the eQ Blue Planet BSAG series, the investor pays an extra 25 euros annually in management fees, but BSAG will get 150 euros in total directly to support the future of the Baltic Sea and our planet.

BSAG and eQ believe in innovative solutions in combating environmental challenges and aim for leadership in protecting our vital environment. The financial model created in cooperation with eQ is an example of such an open-minded initiative – a fund investment simultaneously becomes an investment in a good cause benefiting all. For BSAG, this opens two alternatives for supporters of BSAG - invest or donate.

Why the Baltic Sea needs protection?

Baltic Sea needs protection because our sea is suffering from eutrophication caused by nutrient loads. There are vast areas in the bottom of the Baltic Sea lacking oxygen with scant life forms. Climate change is an additional threat to the unique and already sensitive ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Protecting the Baltic Sea and combating climate change go hand in hand. Enhancing the ability of agricultural land to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and focusing on efficiently circulating nutrients are examples of such initiatives.

While the Baltic Sea ecosystem is unique, the challenges it is facing are global. Eutrophication and lack of oxygen cause problems in seas globally and climate change is a planetary threat. Concrete actions in circulation nutrients efficiently and increasing the carbon dioxide absorption in agricultural land can be adopted globally. Supporting Baltic Sea protection may at best provide solutions and innovations exported even outside the Baltic Sea area.

What is Baltic Sea Action Group?

Baltic Sea Action Group is an independent, non-profit foundation aiming for the improvement of the state of the Baltic Sea and climate change mitigation. BSAG aims to identify and provide matchmaking support for all relevant actors to protect the Baltic Sea and acts as a catalyst for beneficial cooperation. BSAG believes that saving the Baltic Sea requires urgent action from all levels of society.

What are eQ and eQ Blue Planet?

eQ Group is a Finnish group of companies specialising in responsible asset management and corporate finance business. eQ Asset Management offers a wide range of asset management services (including private equity funds and real estate asset management) for institutions and individuals. The assets managed by the Group total approximately EUR 9.0 billion. Advium Corporate Finance offers services related to mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and equity capital markets.

Out of the wide range of eQ’s mutual funds, eQ Blue Planet fits thematically very well with the cooperation between eQ and BSAG – eQ Blue Planet is a sustainable technology fund. eQ Blue Planet invests globally in stocks of companies strategically positioned to improve the sustainability of the usage of critical natural resources. The fund suits environmentally minded investors aiming to participate in the development of data usage, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) by investing in the leaders of technological transformations making our planet smarter in combating climate change. eQ Blue Planet has one of the lowest carbon dioxide intensities available in the fund markets. Similar to all equity mutual funds, the recommended investment horizon is long.

Helsinki 12 December 2018

eQ Asset Management Ltd

For additional information:

Mikko Koskimies, Managing Director, eQ Asset Management Ltd, +358 (9) 6817 8799

mikko.koskimies(at)eQ.fi