This article appears courtesy of Institutional Investor
Source: Fund Action
Light Green Advisors, a Seattle-based investment advisor to several socially responsible managed accounts portfolios, is planning a registered fund that follows the firm's environmentally sensitive perspective. The Eco Performance Fund will invest 90% of its assets in 75 to 85 securities using environmental performance factors and corporate management programs to choose securities. Each security's weighting will match its weight in the S&P 500 Index.
The fund will be no-load with annual expenses of 1.34% and the minimum investment $1,000. Light Green will distribute the fund on its Web site, but Jon Naimon, president, said the firm is looking for distribution partners. The firm is likely to launch a load fund with the same investment strategy once a distributor is signed.
The firm has also received interest in its methodology from public pension funds in Maine and California, which require a mutual fund, Naimon said. Light Green's methodology links environmental responsibility to corporate performance. "The efficiency with which you convert fuel into dollars, that's part of a firm's profitability. By approaching it that way... we are finding firms that are better managed," he said.