Janus Henderson VIT Global Sustainable Equity Portfolio Institutional Shares JHISX

A solid approach to sustainable global equities. Janus Henderson Global Sustainable Equity benefits from a well-credentialed and experienced portfolio manager in Hamish Chamberlayne, who has run the portfolio since the start of 2014. Team stability over the years could be better, and this tempers conviction. However, we see strength from an established and well-articulated process. Despite the constraints imposed by the ethical criteria, consistent implementation has generated steady value-add over the years, while also steering the fund into some less widely held positions, which differentiates. This earns People and Process Pillar ratings of Average and Above Average, respectively. Chamberlayne heads up the global sustainable equities team and has managed this sustainable equity strategy since January 2014. He is supported by Aaron Scully, who joined the team following the Janus Henderson merger in 2017 and became a comanager in 2019. Decision-making between the duo is collaborative. The years following the merger saw a few team changes in London and Denver. We hope these have settled down now and draw some reassurance from recent additions to the team. That includes experienced analyst hire Suney Hindocha, who joined in late 2023. Senior investment manager Tal Lomnitzer joined the global sustainable equities team in the first quarter of 2024 after a restructuring of the natural-resources team. He brings experience, but his input will be limited here, given his focus on global natural resources. The team makes good use of the broader resources on offer at Janus Henderson, including from the large Denver-based analyst bank and the centralized environmental, social, and governance resource. However, the large, approximately 35-member, strong Denver-based analyst bank has seen substantial turnover since 2017 from a combination of departures and portfolio manager promotions. This has a bearing. We do like that there is also some fruitful discussion with other investment teams, including the European and Japanese equities desks, which we view positively. Given the wider resources, we think the global sustainable equities team is at an adequate size currently.