Pathfinder prepares to launch second fund with a focus on water

The Global Water Fund, which will launch at the end of June, is Pathfinder's second outing after it launched its Commodity Plus Fund last year. The water fund is expected to invest in 64 companies across 17 countries, with its heaviest weighting in American firms.

The fund will use the Dow Jones Global Developed Markets Index (DJGDMI) as its benchmark, and will initially track three indexes with a focus on water infrastructure companies. Over the past six years, five water indexes have returned between 7.8% and 11.3% per annum compared to the DJGDMI's 4.8%.

Executive directors Paul Brownsey and John Berry say only 1% of the world's water is freshwater that can be used to service the population. Developing countries are continuing to grow at a rapid pace, and alongside a greater urbanisation, demands on water are growing, Berry said.

Brownsey and Berry are proud of the transparency of their fund, and they say their own significant investment in the fund aligns their interests with those of investors. The fund has a management fee of 1.3% per annum of the fund's net asset value, with no performance fee.