AMP Capital's Diversified Infrastructure Trust (ADIT) has, for the second year in a row, topped GRESB Infrastructure's rankings as the best infrastructure fund globally for its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

AMP Capital's Global Infrastructure Fund and Irish Infrastructure Fund (which it manages alongside Irish Life Investment Managers) were also ranked third and second, respectively, when compared to their peer group.

It comes as institutional investors increasingly want to invest in infrastructure funds and assets that have strong ESG credentials as they provide a positive correlation with comprehensive risk management policies and sustainable financial performance.

GRESB assesses the ESG performance of real assets around the world. GRESB's 2017 infrastructure report included submissions from 64 funds and 160 infrastructure assets worldwide. The scores are a combination of fund and underlying asset ESG performance.

ADIT, which is one of the longest-running infrastructure funds in the world, topped its peer group and was named the best infrastructure fund overall for ESG performance.

AMP Capital Head of Australia and New Zealand Infrastructure Equity Funds Michael Cummings said: "I'm thrilled that ADIT has again been named the best infrastructure fund globally for its ESG performance. Investors increasingly tell us this is an important consideration for them when determining where to invest their funds. This is because of the strong links between ESG and sustainable financial performance and a preference from their underlying investors for investments that ‘do the right thing'.

ADIT is also the number one performing unlisted Australian infrastructure fund over a three and five-year period, according to the Mercer Investment Performance Survey."

AMP Capital Global Head of Infrastructure Equity Boe Pahari added: "AMP Capital's philosophy is to integrate ESG research into all its investment decisions. We firmly believe good ESG performance leads to stronger returns, which is proven by our funds all delivering on their stated client objectives. The investor interest we have seen in our Global Infrastructure Fund as well as ADIT is a further proof point."

About GRESB

GRESB is an investor-driven organisation that is transforming the way the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets are assessed globally including real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets. More than 250 members, of which about 60 are pension funds and their fiduciaries, use the GRESB data in their investment management and engagement process, with a clear goal to optimise the risk/return profile.

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