Thematic funds to invest in megatrends

Singapore

THEMATICS Asset Management, a boutique affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, has launched a series of thematic funds to enable investors to profit from megatrends.

The five funds are available for retail investors. They are the Thematics AI & Robotics Fund; Thematics Safety; Thematics Water; Thematics Subscription Economy; and Thematics Meta Fund. The Meta Fund invests in all the thematic strategies on an equally weighted basis.

The firm's founding partner Karen Kharmandarian said the firm's co-founders - there are six in total - are driven by the desire "to bring thematic investing to the next level".

"Our strategies are not sector strategies. We're global in nature, cutting across sectors, geographies and market capitalisation. . . The idea is really to invest in long-term trends that are transforming the world." The firm has assets under management of about 2.5 billion euro.

The Singapore market has had a mixed experience with theme funds, dating back to the tech bubble around 1999, when multiple tech funds were set up and then subsequently closed or merged with other funds.

Mr Kharmandarian says the team takes pains to pick holdings that stand to post "compound excess growth out of revenues and margins, longer than the market expects". The funds are actively managed and are unconstrained - that is, they do not adhere to any benchmark.

Most of the co-founders are veteran fund managers, formerly from Pictet Asset Management.

Mr Kharmandarian himself manages the AI & Robotics Fund. He joined Pictet in 2004 and launched the Pictet Robotics Fund in 2015.

Simon Gottelier and Arnaud Bisschop, who co-manage the Water Fund, were formerly co-lead managers of Pictet's Water Fund. Frederic Dupraz, co-manager of Thematics' Safety Fund, previously co-managed Pictet's Security Fund.

To date, the funds' performance has been strong, although the track record is short, at less than a year.

Mr Kharmandarian said the funds have a "common DNA" in that they are growth oriented and tend to be small and mid-caps.