T Rowe Price launches first impact fund

T. Rowe Price has launched its first impact fund for US investors.

The T. Rowe Price Global Impact Equity Fund will be benchmarked to the MSCI All-Country World index and will focus on three pillars: climate and resource impact, social equity and quality of life, and sustainable innovation and productivity. It will exclude certain industries and companies that the manager believes do not conform to the fund’s impact mandate, such as fossil fuels, tobacco, gaming, and for-profit prison companies. The fund will be managed by Hari Balkrishnaio.

The fund will invest in between 55 and 85 securities and apply the T Rowe Price proprietary Responsible Investing Indicator Model (RIIM), a database detailing how more than 15,000 securities measure up against established environmental and social parameters.