ESG concerns pushing Cerno's Spence away from FAANGs

Sustainability a priority

Tech companies beyond the FAANGs are gaining popularity among managers as ESG concerns and valuations push investors away from the big names, according to James Spence, co-founder of Cerno Capital and portfolio manager for the TM Cerno Global Leaders fund.

Spence explained that his reluctance to invest in Facebook was due to ongoing "issues with the governance and corporate culture". He went on to describe Google as "wilfully opaque", adding that "we are not keen on businesses where the customer is the product". He added Amazon's strategy of aiming to "evaporate competition… such that everyone becomes so reliant on them" was also a concern.  The fund recently invested in Adobe, citing its importance to the growing digital ‘creator economy', and emphasised that Microsoft was the portfolio's sole investment that had pledged to go beyond n...