Friday Funds: Credit Suisse readies ‘ocean engagement fund’ with Rockefeller

Credit Suisse is gearing up to launch an ‘ocean engagement fund’ in partnership with Rockefeller Asset Management. The fund will focus on the 14th Sustainable Development Goal, dedicated to conserving life below water, and supporting the blue economy. A three-week subscription period began on 7 September and the strategy will be launched on 30 September.

Arisaig Partners, the $3.8bn investment boutique focused on long-term public equities, has launched its Next Generation Fund for emerging and frontier markets. The fund invests in listed companies that support health, financial inclusion, education, employment, gender equality or the environment. There are 150 firms in the investment universe, and stock selection is based on expected financial returns over a 20-year time horizon, as well as social and environmental impacts, resulting in a portfolio of around 25 stocks. 

BNP Paribas Asset Management has introduced targets to reduce the carbon footprints of two of its fixed-income funds by 50%. The BNP Paribas Euro Multi-Factor Corporate Bond and the BNP Paribas US Multi-Factor Corporate Bond now apply additional targets to halve their Scope 1 and 2 footprints relative to their benchmark indices, based on CO₂ emissions, although the timeframe wasn’t specified. Both funds already have SRI certification in France. 

BlackRock has launched what it claims to be Europe’s first tradable, multi-asset ESG portfolios built with exchange traded funds. The three funds are made up of iShares ETFs, with varying levels of stock and bond exposure depending on risk appetite. Rafael Iborra and John Wang are the managers. 

Solactive is working with Truvalue Labs on ESG indices for large and mip-cap equities. The first in the family is an ESG United States Index, based on Solactive’s existing GBS United States Large & Mid Cap USD Index, which covers more than 500 companies. Oil & Gas, Tobacco and Coal Mining are excluded, using SASB’s assessment, with remaining stocks ranked using Truvalue’s ESG data.  

Nikko Asset Management has launched the first ETF in Japan focused on ESG in the real estate investment trust market. The Listed Index Fund Nikkei ESG REIT has debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and comes with a management fee of 0.15%. It is based on the recently-launched Nikkei index.  

Alpha has reported strong inflows into its renewables business, closing 15 transactions in the space in the past 12 months and deploying £160m of equity. The portfolio’s assets have a weighted average remaining lifespan of 20+ years and generate a combined annual turnover of more than £50m, Alpha claims. 

Foresight Solar Fund has acquired its first subsidy-free project in continental Europe, buying a 26.1MW solar project in Spain for €20m. The site has a long-term Power Purchase Agreement in place with Shell. Construction will start immediately and is expected to be fully commissioned by Q2 of 2021.

Environmental and energy specialist Turquoise has invested £160,000  in Spark EV Technology via its Low Carbon Innovation Fund II. The firm uses live data and machine learning to produce predictions for electric vehicles.