Rothschild, ING join the ethical fray
Rothschild and ING have become the latest major name fund managers to join the long line of managers embracing ethical investments.
Rothschild has today launched the retail version of its ethical share fund to be called the Rothscild Five Arrows ethical share fund. The fund has a minimum investment of $3,000 and a 4 per cent entry fee.
The move follows the soft launch of two wholesale ethical offerings from ING Funds Management which will be available to retail investors through master trusts.
The ING Sustainable Investments Wholesale Global and Australian Share Trusts offer access to international and Australian equities on an SRI basis and use a positive and negative screen for selection. A positive screen requires certain criteria to be included such as employee benefits while a negative screen excludes companies invested in areas such as tobacco, firearms or gambling.
ING Funds Management assistant general manager Patrick Bennett says the international fund is not new but has been running for some time in Europe, managed from ING's home base in the Hague in the Netherlands. However the Australian share trust is a new development and this is the first time the group has offered either fund in the local market.
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