Mutual fund managers may be famous for flavour-of-the-month and me-too funds, but it is often forgotten that they also launch in-tune-with-the-zeitgeist funds. Among the many luxuries of living in a fat Western economy at the end of a long bull run are organic vegetables, environmental anxiety and sympathy with anti-globalisation protesters. So it is no surprise to find fund managers launching feel-good funds.
BNP Paribas Asset Management is the latest to enter the field with BNP Etheis, a new fund which the French fund manager describes as “a sustainable development fund focusing on companies’ social and shareholder policies.” The new fund will invest in shares in French and European companies selected for their socially responsible policies as well as their economic and financial profitability. It is directed at retail banking customers of BNP Paribas.