Sustainability

Allianz Global Investors is to close its EcoTrends fund in October, while in a separate move it will add the label 'multi asset' to its RiskMaster range.

Below are five companies the Sustainable Future team at Alliance Trust Investments has identified which demonstrate their investment philosophy in practice.

The opportunities to make big returns in clean energy are growing but the routes to investment remain limited, explains Martina Turner, manager of the VAM Accessible Clean Energy fund

Alliance Trust's head of equities, Peter Michaelis, said an increased focus on sustainability has driven a number of significant changes to the group's £2.5bn flagship global trust over recent months.

Niall O'Shea, head of responsible investment, Royal London Asset Management

Rapid water consumption caused by population growth in emerging markets is creating opportunities to invest in water-based companies.

Now in their sixth year, Investment Week's Sustainable Investment Awards 2014, held at Le Méridien Piccadilly, London on 26 November, are aimed at fund managers and organisations at the forefront of sustainability investing.

Sustainable investment is a growing trend in the UK market, which has the second-largest sustainable investment industry in the world, according to the UKSIF.