Petercam set to launch responsible EMD fund

Petercam Asset Management is seeking regulatory approval for a Luxembourg-domiciled socially responsible emerging market debt fund.

A spokesperson for the Belgium-based asset management firm confirmed to Citywire Global it has submitted plans to the Commission de Surveillance de Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg for the new strategy, named the Petercam L EMD SRI fund.

Once launched, the fund is set to be run by Thierry Larose, who oversees the emerging debt portion of the existing Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield fund which he co-manages with Johnny Debuysscher and Bernard Laliere.

The new fund is set to be founded on a strong SRI screening basis, which will dictate the fund's investible universe. This will then be combined with macro analysis and geographical considerations.

It will mainly invest in local currency issued sovereign debt, with around one-third in hard currency paper. Petercam also said some of the fund will be exposed to supranational bonds.

Petercam is awaiting a response from the regulatory body, the CSSF, but it does not have a fixed date at which it expects to receive a response.

Over the past three years, the Petercam L Bonds Higher Yield fund has returned 33.85%. This compares to the BofA Merrill Lynch Global High Yield TR, its Citywire benchmark, which rose 51.77% over the same period.