Axa U.S. fund arm to launch thematic fund in Europe

By Raji Menon

LONDON (Reuters) - Axa's majority-owned U.S. fund manager AllianceBernstein is to launch a new global thematic fund for European investors seeking to invest in technological, social, environmental and demographic trends.

Cathie Wood, chief investment officer of Thematic Portfolios at AllianceBernstein, said the Luxembourg-domiciled fund was being set up for European investors on the back of demand from institutions such as pension funds, and retail clients.

"We have seen growing demand from clients wanting to invest thematically, as a way of breaking away from the constraints of conventional asset allocation structures," Wood said.

An existing Global Thematic fund launched for U.S.-domiciled investors last November has returned 39.9 percent net of fees to date, versus 24.6 percent for the MSCI AC World benchmark, according to data from Thomson Reuters research firm Lipper.

A U.S. thematic fund which has been up and running since 2001 has garnered $1.4 billion (850 million pounds) in assets.

Wood said initial themes represented in the global fund included abating climate change and genomic medicine.

With support growing globally for action to combat climate change, she said investment implications would be "profound" for industries ranging from electric utilities and power equipment makers to pipeline operators, oil-field services firms, construction and engineering firms and power-semiconductor makers.

At end-August, Alliance Bernstein had $482 billion in assets under management. French insurer Axa holds a 64.2 percent stake in the firm.

(Editing by Dan Lalor)