F&C launches new fund for US based socially responsible investors

F&C Investments, a pioneer of socially responsible investment in Europe, is to launch an ethically-screened international equity fund for US based institutional and high net worth investors.

London listed F&C, which has a Boston presence in its eight country office network, will be launching the International Heritage Fund via a private placement.

Although socially responsible investment (SRI) is well established in the United States, with the first such mutual fund, the Pax World Fund, dating back to 1971, existing products are focused primarily on domestic US equities. F&C point out that the International Heritage Fund will be one of only a handful of sustainable investment funds in the US that will focus exclusively on non-US companies.

F&C boasts an impeccable pedigree in the field of sustainable investment having launched the first retail ethical fund outside of North America, the Stewardship Growth Fund, in 1984. Today the Stewardship suite of funds has combined assets in excess of £3 billion, making the company the largest manager of ethically-screened funds in the UK and a recognised leader in the field across Europe.

Additionally, F&C's ethical funds are supported by a 15-strong Governance and Sustainable Investment (GSI) team who conduct detailed research and shareholder engagement activities on environmental, governance and sustainability issues. The company also offers a freestanding global shareholder engagement product, reo© (responsible engagement overlay) to institutional investors including leading pension schemes, insurance companies and public authorities.

The International Heritage Fund will closely replicate the non-US component of F&C's existing £201 million Stewardship International Fund managed by London-based Sophie Horsfall. The new fund will enable US ethical investors to complement locally managed domestic equity portfolios with exposure to UK, Continental European, Japanese, Asia and emerging market companies. Stocks will be screened out of the fund's universe if they do not meet key governance, sustainability and ethical criteria. The fund will also actively target companies that are assessed to have positive characteristics on a range of ethical criteria.

Commenting on the development, Patrick Johns, Head of Institutional Business at F&C, said: "This is an important development for our US business which has traditionally focused primarily on emerging equities mandates. This new fund will enable our US clients to access F&C's world-class capabilities in SRI, a fast growing segment of the investment industry, as a bolt-on to their locally managed domestic equity SRI portfolios."