• With this investment decision, Protección strengthens its commitment to the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance investment criteria in favor of sustainability.
• The Transition Readiness Fund is designed to identify companies that are best preparing to deal with transition risks arising from climate change.
• Energy change, environmental regulation, technological innovation, and physical risks are some of the main pillars of this investment made by Protección through its Compulsory Pension Fund.
• The transformation towards sustainable investments that Protección has been implementing for several years, benefits its clients and future generations.

Leveraged on its vision of sustainability and with the purpose of efficiently moving towards sustainable investment, Protección announces its participation in Black Rock's Low Carbon Transition Readiness Fund, which aims to decarbonize portfolios and invest in companies that are working to reduce their carbon footprint, which will contribute to global progress on climate change.

Through this investment made by Protección from the Compulsory Pension Fund, the Company materializes its commitment to sustainable investment, which proposes to apply environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria seriously and rigorously in the evaluation processes of potential and current investments.  Specifically, this Low Carbon Transition Readiness Fund seeks the decarbonization of portfolios and invests in companies that work to have low carbon, at a time when the global community makes new calls to work in an articulated way to quickly reduce the impacts in terms of CO₂._.

 “At Protección we seek to contribute to the sustainability of the planet and manage the risks associated with climate change, while generating value for our clients. We are aware of the responsibility we have as investment managers, that is why our participation in the Low Carbon Transition Readiness Fund is so important, as it is a cross-cutting element and of great strategic importance for the construction of possible futures”, stated Juan David Correa, President of Protección.

Energy transition is essential for the growth of all companies, it is there where they demonstrate their ability to adapt, innovate and drive their strategies towards a low-carbon economy. Precisely, based on research, data and analytics on fossil fuels, clean technology, energy management, waste management and water management; BlackRock, as managers of this investment, has designed this fund specialized in identifying the companies that are best preparing to face the transition risks derived from climate change. Under this premise, the Low Carbon Transition Readiness Fund invests in companies focused on mitigating these risks and that are prepared to have a better long-term impact.

"Sustainability is our action framework, to the extent that we consider within each of our decisions the environmental, social and economic impacts for the current well-being and of future generations and we make investments that enable the fulfillment of the projects of the clients that They have entrusted us with their resources,” Correa pointed out.

During the last years, Protección has taken important steps towards its transformation towards sustainable investment. At the end of 2019 it adhered to the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) and in 2020 began a process of recomposing its voluntary portfolios ‘United States Shares’ and ‘International Shares’, in which the quality of environmental, social and governance aspects improved with a significant reduction in the carbon footprint associated with them.