Climate Change fund to be launched

HSBC has spoken on the subject of its Climate Change fund, to be launched next month, which is aimed at socially responsible investors.

Assets are invested in companies which aim to reduce C02 emissions and an HSBC representative said that although the Climate Change offer was not a dedicated SRI fund it is designed to capture "a good investment opportunity".

The spokeswoman stressed that "climate change is one of the biggest investment themes for the foreseeable future".

On the subject of how many people would be interested in investing in the fund, she said: "The fund will be launched with HSBC seed capital of at least $10 million (£4.8 million), but we have already a growing book of client demand for private placement on launch, so we expect to rapidly grow the fund to a few hundred million by year end.

HSBC’s international network stretches across 82 countries.