The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relative to wealth advisors and their clients.

BlackRock
BlackRock has launched the BlackRock Global Funds [BGF] Brown to Green Materials Fund.

The fund will invest at least 80 per cent of its total assets in the equity securities of global companies that produce materials required to build lower carbon technologies and/or materials companies which are reducing their own emissions intensity, the firm said in a statement.

The team believes that investing in carbon-intensive companies that have credible transition plans and/or that supply the materials needed for such a transition could offer some of the biggest investment opportunities.

The newly-launched fund will be classified as Article 8 under SFDR and will be a concentrated portfolio of 30 to 60 global companies, spanning the market cap spectrum. The fund will invest in companies in the following three categories, which are supported by a robust qualifying criteria framework:

-- Emissions reducers – materials companies with plans to reduce emissions intensity over a planned period;

-- Enablers – materials companies supplying materials required for lower-carbon technologies along with companies that enable materials companies to reduce their emissions; and

-- Green leaders – materials companies that are leading in their field in terms of emissions intensity.

“As transition materials companies prepare for significant growth, many are also focusing on reducing their own emission intensities. We expect to see a re-rating for materials companies that best navigate a transition. We’ve created the BGF Brown to Green Materials Fund to provide clients with exposure to this significant investment opportunity,” Evy Hambro, global head of thematic and sector investing at BlackRock, said.

The fund will be managed by Hambro, Olivia Markham and Hannah Johnson in BlackRock’s Thematics and Sectors team, who have been managing natural resources portfolios since their formation in 1991 and thematic portfolios since 2001.

Luma Financial Technologies
Luma Financial Technologies, the multi-issuer structured products and annuities platform, said yesterday that it had added BNP Paribas to its roster of issuers.

As part of the agreement Luma will be connected to the BNP Smart Derivatives API, allowing users to access automated pricing from BNP Paribas. Luma users can view BNP Paribas’ indicative and final term sheets as well as regulatory documentation, fed automatically from the Smart Derivatives API.

Trades can be confirmed automatically by BNP Paribas via Luma’s online trade workflow.

“BNP Paribas is one of the leading market makers globally employing a technology-first approach in creating and issuing structured products,” David Wood, managing director of Luma’s International Business, said. 

Launched in 2011, US-based Luma is used by broker/dealer firms, RIA offices and private banks. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Luma also has offices in New York and Zurich, Switzerland.