AXA Group's investment branch is offering investors exposure to the global green bonds market.

AXA Investment Managers has launched a green bond fund with the aim of helping clients transition to a low carbon economy.

The AXA WF Planet Bonds fund invests in both pure green bonds and bond issuers with a high environmental impact, while ensuring sufficient diversification and liquidity. It is run by AXA IM’s global rates team in collaboration with its responsible investment team, which includes six Paris-based portfolio managers and analysts.

The Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV fund targets an attractive yield and risk versus return profile. It is unconstrained from a benchmark to avoid any bias from following an index. Its investment selection process will be based on AXA IM’s internal environment, social and governance assessment, which will identify issuers with high environmental conviction and a solid case for green investment. 

The fund has both retail and institutional share classes and is available to investors in France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

“We believe that being a responsible asset manager is fundamental for sustainable, long-term investment success. As an official COP 21 sponsor, the AXA Group has made strong commitments to help mitigate climate change, for instance by tripling its green investments by 2020. AXA IM is fully supportive of these initiatives and is working closely with the AXA Group to achieve these goals,” said Andrea Rossi, chief executive of AXA Investment Managers.

AXA IM, which had around €669 billion ($720 billion) in assets under management as of end-September, set up its responsible investment unit back in 2001 and established a global RI team in 2006.