Guinness Global Investors has launched an environmental resources fund that invests in companies benefitting from rising demand for food, water, climate, waste, and land.

With a concentrated portfolio of 30 equally weighted positions, the Guinness Global Environment uses the quality-focused equity investing approach that Guinness applies across its fund range.

Managers Jordan Patel and Jamie Melrose plan to focus on mature companies offering above-average returns on capital, repeatable business models, and long-term thematic growth.

Patel joined Guinness from Federated Hermes in 2024, where he served as deputy fund manager on the Biodiversity Equity strategy and as a senior equity analyst on the Impact Opportunities fund.

Melrose, who joined Guinness in 2019, was most recently senior investment analyst for the firm’s Sustainable Energy strategy.

Portfolio managers Will Riley and Jonathan Waghorn will serve as advisers to the fund.

Patel said: “Environment is an attractive growth theme, with many mature, high-quality businesses helping address rising demand for environmental resources.

“This is a well-established phenomenon and has led to outsized growth for companies providing ecological solutions over the past decade.”

Melrose added: “We feel well placed to invest in the environment theme, leveraging our combined 23 years of experience covering sustainable industrials and the energy transition.”

Edward Guinness, CEO of Guinness Global Investors, described environmental resources as “an undervalued thematic asset class that has a strong case for long-term growth”.

“We believe that it is a great time to launch our Global Environment fund,” he said. “Valuations are low, and we have applied what we have learnt from the cycles in the environment sector to build a robust strategy that can identify companies benefiting from the long-term trend towards more efficient use of resources.

“Despite wavering government support for environmental initiatives in the short term, this is a long-term investible theme for the next twenty years and beyond."