BNY Mellon launches emerging market debt ‘impact’ fund

Asset management company BNY Mellon Investment Management has launched the “Responsible Horizons EM Debt Impact Fund”, which will be managed by Insight Investment. The fund’s investment universe is expected to include issuers whose profiles align with the investment philosophy of “people, planet and prosperity”. According to BNY Mellon, each investment will be subject to a screening process focused on assessing an issuer’s impact-related reporting. The focus on impact means that the fund’s investment philosophy has a broad scope – it conders not only environmental factors but also societal outcomes. In addition, it signals an appetite for non-sovereign issuers in emerging markets. Portfolio Manager Simon Cooke, who leads the fund, said: “Investors serious about impact cannot ignore emerging markets. They face some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges globally. They also offer an increasingly diversified, rapidly growing impact universe, particularly within the corporate debt space.”