The five funds newly available are the Thematics AI and Robotics Fund, Thematics Safety Fund, Thematics Water Fund, Thematics Subscription Economy Fund, and Thematics Meta Fund.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission approved the five Sicav funds in late February.
“We have seen increasing demand from investors across the region for diverse ways to achieve responsible returns so we are excited that we can now offer these five innovative and resilient long-term investment opportunities to our clients in Hong Kong,” said Madeline Ho, head of wholesale fund distribution Apac and Singapore CEO at Natixis Investment Managers.
Founded in 2019, Thematics Asset Management is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers which aims to create sustainable value for investors through global thematic strategies with a high-conviction, long-term approach and an emphasis on integrating ESG.
Thematics AI and Robotics Fund
The AI and Robotics fund was incepted in 2018 and has $516.4m of AUM by the end of March. It seeks to capitalise on the growing demand for AI-powered technology and robotics, by investing in equities of companies in the sector, especially in the developed Americas (64.4%) and Europe (19.2%).
Among its holdings, 25.6% of the AUM is invested in factory automation, 20.4% in supply chain, and 15.3% in design software, according to the fund factsheet.
The fund is co-managed by Karen Kharmandarian, and Alexandre Zilliox.
Thematics Safety Fund
The Thematics Safety Fund aims to capture the demand for greater safety and security, from data protection and secure payment to airport security and safe transport.
Managed by Frédéric Dupraz and Matthieu Rolin, the fund’s assets are amounted to $777.8m as of 31 March.
Approximately half of the AUM is invested in the “digital” sector, which consists of “connect” and “shop” sub-sector, while the other half is invested in the “real“ sector, consisting of “work”, “eat”, “live”, and “move”.
The top holding is API Group (3.2%), followed by credit reporting agency Transunion (3.0%), and energy technology company, Generac (3.0%).
Thematics Water Fund
With the increasing need to treat or transport water where it is required, and collect it when used to avoid cross contamination, the fund aims to invest in companies involved in water demand management and pollution control as well as in water infrastructure companies such as utilities.
The fund has an AUM of $313.4m and is managed by Arnaud Bisschop and Simon Gottelier.
Over 90% of the fund’s assets is invested in developed markets, with 64.1% in the Americas, 24.9% in Europe, and 4.4% in the Pacific, while the remaining 5% is in emerging Asia and Americas.
Thematics Subscription Economy Fund
The asset managers believe subscription services such as video and music streaming, fitness, video games, mobile apps, retail, are more convenient and sustainable for consumers, while vendors benefit from highly recurring revenue.
Therefore, the $191.5m Thematics Subscription Economy Fund invest its assets in both B2B and B2C companies online and offline.
The fund is incepted in 2019 and its main holdings include Costco wholesale (4.3%), Wolters Kluwer (4%) and T-mobile US (3.9%).
Thematics Meta Fund
Last but not least, the $783.7m Thematics Meta Fund is a combination of all these four strategies. The product invests directly into the equity of the companies instead of a fund of fund structure, according to the factsheet.
The top holdings include 26.9% in the information technology sector, 22.9% in industrials, 13.9% in health care. The fund is co-managed by Karen Kharmandarian and Arnaud Bisschop.
