Green funds follow equity funds market down, SRI funds buck slump

Green themed and norms-based European RI retail fund sales followed the mainstream equity market into the red without fund outflows during July, but SRI funds bucked the downturn by putting on assets, according to the latest available figures compiled for Responsible Investor by Lipper FMI, the investment data group. Green themed, or RI Extended funds as they are labelled by Lipper FMI, recorded asset losses for the sector of €272.7m in July and only six funds made it into double figures. It was the second consecutive month of asset depression after June saw losses of €209.3m, despite a relatively buoyant year of inflows before June. RI Extended includes funds with multiple ethical exclusions, those following a norms-based strategy, and themed climate change and microfinance funds. Their fortune mirrored that of the mainstream equity fund market where sales were hit during July with the sector losing €1.2bn.
The best selling RI Extended fund was Blackrock’s iShares S&P Global Water with receipts of €59.4m. Second best seller was Swedish fund manager SEB’s Ethos Global Equities which took in €54.9m.Third was Norwegian manager Storebrand’s Likviditet money market fund with inflows of €15.7m. The biggest RI Extended fund is Pictet’s Water fund with €2.3bn
Second is Blackrock’s New Energy Fund with assets of €1.7bn. RI Screened funds, however, bucked the slump with asset inflows of €656.8m, making up some of the damage inflicted during June when they were hit by €2.68bn in reduced asset value. ‘RI screened’ funds, as they are labelled by Lipper FMI, are those which have undergone an ‘extra-financial’ ESG (environment, social and governance) screen in their stock selection process. The best selling RI Screened fund was French manager Natixis’ Fonsicav money market fund with inflows of €179.8m. Second was Italian fund manager Prima’s Dublin-domiciled PRIMA Protetto 100 Energia Pulita with new assets of €170.5m. Third was US index giant, Vanguard’s SRI European Stock fund with receipts of €99.5m. The biggest RI Screened fund is Amundi’s Tréso ISR fund with €7.3bn. Second is Natixis’ Fonsicav with €4.5bn.
See downloads left hand column for top funds table