Daishin eyes climate change commodity plays

By Leonora Walet

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Daishin Investment Trust Management, which runs a climate change fund that invests in companies engaged in disaster relief, plans a new commodities fund this year to capitalize on the effects of global warming.

Yong-Jin Kim, who manages Daishin's $20 million Global Climate Change fund, likes makers of fire trucks, rescue gadgets and satellite systems as governments tighten disaster relief procedures amid a changing global climate.

He cited Smit International, which provides coastal emergency response services, and Oshkosh Corp, a maker of specialty trucks, as examples of disaster relief companies that could become an attractive investment theme due to climate change.

"We have to be realistic about the issue of global climate change," Kim said in a phone interview on Thursday.

"Some of the effects of global warming may be irreversible and disasters can happen and we will need companies that can help us adapt and respond to the changes."

Daishin Investment, which manages $2 billion worth of assets, plans to launch a commodity-focused fund this year that will focus on grains, metals and oil whose prices could rise amid depleting resources.

"Commodities, agriculture are emerging themes tied to climate change as droughts impact food supply and resources are limited," he said.

In the existing $20 million Global Climate Change fund, Kim also likes companies that help mitigate the impact of global warming, like renewable energy companies and green technology firms that enable the efficient use of energy.

Since its launch in July 2007, the U.S. dollar-version of the fund fell 27 percent, outperforming the MSCI World Index which was down 38 percent during the same period.

The fund has invested in Dutch dredging company Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, German railway equipment maker Vossloh and Aracruz Celulose, which makes eucalyptus pulp and manages forests in Brazil.

Kim would not confirm whether the fund still holds stakes in those companies.

The fund has also held shares in wind farm developer Renewable Energy and Canadian digital mapping company Intermap Technologies.

Daishin Investment is a unit of Daishin Group and is partly-owned by Japan's Sumitomo Life Insurance.

(Editing by Ken Wills)