Neuberger Berman is adding to its thematic Ucits range with the launch of a fund investing in global equities that are involved in or expected to benefit from the “next generation space economy”.
The new Neuberger Berman Next Generation Space Economy strategy, available to investors throughout Europe, will be run by New York-based portfolio managers Michael Barr and Hari Ramanan.
The managers will seek long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in a portfolio of global equity holdings related to the build-out of space infrastructure, technology solutions that “unlock the potential” of these assets, and applications created by these capabilities.
Barr and Ramanan are supported by Neuberger Berman’s 46-strong global equity research team, as well as its data science and ESG teams.
Ramanan called the space economy “more than rockets and satellites”.
“We can already see the importance of space in end markets such as banking, air traffic control, ride sharing and precision agriculture,” he said.
“Equally as exciting are future opportunities related to global connectivity, the insights derived from improving earth observation capabilities, and the accurate monitoring of the factors driving climate change.”
Barr added: “The range of current and potential future opportunities presented by the space economy is considerable and we foresee this evolving at a similar pace and magnitude as smartphone technology, offering significant and long-term prospects to investors.”
The team behind the new strategy will evaluate ESG characteristics as part of their bottom-up fundamental research investment approach.
Jose Cosio, head of global intermediary ex US at Neuberger Berman, said that investor interest in thematic funds has increased in recent years, as clients look for growth opportunities “from markets that defy traditional investment classifications”.
“This launch originates from the success of our thematic business which offers our clients access to diversified themes, like next generation mobility,” Cosio added.
A maximum management fee and total expense ratio of 0.85% and 1.05%, respectively, will apply to the I share class.
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