AXA Investment Mangers has launched a new 'green' bonds fund to provide its investors with access to the growing global green bonds market.

The AXA WF Planet Bonds fund aims to support the transition to a low carbon economy.

It invests in both pure green bonds and bond issuers with a high environmental impact.

The selection process, AXA says, is "highly robust" and ranked according to its own environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessment.

The ESG process determines which issuers present the most solid case for green investment – while also making sure the Fund is diverse, offering an attractive yield.

The Fund is in line with AXA's commitment to responsible investing, something the company says it has been interested in for two decades.

AXA IM CEO Andrew Rossi said: "We have been a pioneer of responsible investing for almost 20 years and meeting our clients' needs requires continued efforts to understand and anticipate changing factors that impact financial markets – that includes climate change."

The company won its first responsible investment mandate in 1997 and set up a dedicated RI business unit specifically for it.

Since then, the team has become well-established and in 2006 a global team was set up.

In 2010, the strategy for including RI principles as part of a wider range of investment strategies was formalised leading to large, dedicated mandates in this area by 2014.

"As long term investors, we recognise the threat of climate change and the need to mitigate the potential impact on the global economy," said Rossi.

"Global companies, as influential stakeholders, have a key role to play, and climate change is just one of the criteria by which we monitor and engage with companies."

As an official sponsor of the forthcoming COP 21 climate change conference in Paris, the AXA Group has made "strong commitments" to help mitigate climate change and has pledged to triple its green investments by 2020.

"AXA IM is fully supportive of these initiatives and we're working closely with the Group to achieve these goals."

First published 12.11.2015

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com