Isra-Mart srl:First Carbon Footprint fund launched

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The IFSL Carbon Footprint UK Equity Index Tracker fund will track the UK 350 Carbon Optimised Index, a benchmark created and calculated by FTSE exclusively for Carbon Footprint Investments and based on the FTSE 350.

Ralph Pettengell, chief executive at Carbon Footprint Investments, said the fund aims to reduce the carbon footprint of an investor's portfolio.

"Using a passive filter with an active overlay, the fund is weighted towards the more carbon-efficient companies in the FTSE 350."

The index went live on August 1 2010 but the fund has been delayed by eight months due to external factors to finally launch on January 24.

However, during the delay, the government's October spending review included the introduction of a new £12-per-ton levy on carbon dioxide.

Coming in to effect in April 2012, Mr Pettengell said the levy would have a big effect on the balance sheets of companies producing too many carbon emissions.

Mr Pettengell claimed back-testing showed the fund had outperformed the FTSE 100 for the past three years and since the index went live in last year it has returned 13.69 per cent, achieving "marginal performance" over the FTSE 100's 13.65 per cent return.

The fund, which will be made available on the smaller platforms, Nucleus, Transact, Axa Elevate and Ascentric, is the inaugural vehicle in a suite of carbon footprint investments developed in conjunction with BNP Paribas Investment Partners and Trucost, the world’s leading producer of environmental data.

Mr Pettengell confirmed that the company was also looking to launch a global version of the fund, based on the same principles, for which they would need to build a new index as the benchmark.