BNY Mellon Investment Management has launched a sustainable global equity income fund.
The fund will be managed by portfolio managers Nick Clay and Rob Stewart, with support from the wider equity income team that sit within the company’s wholly-owned Newton Investment Management division. The supporting investment specialists include portfolio manager Andrew Mackirdy, analyst Robert Canepa-Anson and his colleague Colin Rutter.
The new fund aims to generate income and capital growth by investing in global companies with sustainable business practices and without “unresolvable” ESG issues.
It will hold a minimum of 70 stocks, excluding companies with dubious ESG profiles, based on Newton’s sustainability criteria. The company said it may include companies with low ESG scores, if they can be improved through engagement.
“ESG integration is already a core part of our process and we are seeing increased demand from clients for funds that are more specifically sustainable in focus,” said Hilary Lopez, head of European intermediary distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management.
“The BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Equity Income Fund has been launched to meet these client demands.”
This latest sustainable fund launch follows the launch of the BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Dynamic Bond fund, the BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Equity fund, the BNY Mellon Sustainable Real Return fund and the BNY Mellon Sustainable Sterling Bond fund.
“The return of volatility in markets is creating opportunities for actively managed income strategies, and it is our belief that increased volatility is here to stay through the latter part of the investment cycle,” Nick Clay, leader of equity income at Newton Investment Management said.
“In periods such as this, it can be prudent for investors to consider a more defensive, active strategy in which ESG considerations play a key role.”
