BNY Mellon Investment Management has unveiled its theme-focused ‘Future’ investment range with the launch of three funds – Future Earth, Future Food and Future Life.
These funds are actively managed global portfolios, focused on investing in equities that are set to benefit from tailwinds associated with environmental and natural resource pressures, the revolution in food production and increased consumer demand from aging populations.
The strategies are available to institutional, intermediary and retail investors via the Irish-domiciled fund range, BNY Mellon Global Funds.
The launch complements BNY Mellon Investment Management’s existing suite of thematic products, which are managed by its US-based investment firm Mellon Investments Corporation.
All three funds will be managed by Charles French, head of equity opportunities at Newton Investment Management (Newton), and Yuko Takano, who is also co-lead manager on Newton’s Sustainable Global Equity strategy and the BNY Mellon Sustainable Global Equity Fund. They will be supported by Newton’s global research team, thematic research groups, and the equity opportunities portfolio management team.
Newton utilises a global thematic investment approach. This approach uses a framework of investment themes to identify major areas of disruption and structural change in the world, which provides context to investment analysis and security selection, and helps to identify areas of potential investment opportunity and risk.
The ‘Future’ product range uses selected segments of this framework to define the universe for each of its funds, allowing exposure to specific opportunities across traditional sectors and geographic regions.
The BNY Mellon Future Earth Fund invests in companies that proactively contribute to an overall shift towards helping protect the Earth’s environment and natural resources. The fund draws ideas from Newton’s ‘Earth Matters’ theme, and considers a wide range of environmental concerns, including natural resource exhaustion, and its impact on government policy, company strategies and consumption behaviour. Four sub-themes of focus include efficient infrastructure, resource management and recycling, clean energy, and electric vehicles.
The BNY Mellon Future Food Fund invests in companies that are set to benefit from the myriad of opportunities associated with the demand for new food and technological innovations across the global food supply chain. Aspects for consideration include population growth, reduction in crop yields and demand for healthier foods. The fund looks across three sub-themes of agriculture & production, food processing and innovation, and retail and consumption.
BNY Mellon Future Life Fund invests in companies worldwide that are set to benefit from opportunities associated with an ageing global population and the changes this will drive in consumer demand for products and services. The strategy is underpinned by the belief that changing population dynamics and growth in health-related industries are key drivers of the investment backdrop. The fund focuses on four sub-themes: care and support, financial security, health innovation, and ‘living better’. It also assesses healthcare, leisure, financial services, housing and travel.
Curt Custard, chief investment officer of Newton Investment Management, said: “Thematic investing has always been core to Newton’s investment philosophy since its inception over 40 years ago. Disruptive change is happening at a record pace across all elements of our lives. We believe that by identifying those changes early and investing in them over the long-term we can capitalise on these structural drivers of growth for our clients.”
