A New York investment firm owned by Legg Mason announced Tuesday it had established a new fund based around environmental, social and responsible governance principles.
ClearBridge Investments, a global investment manager owned by Baltimore-based money management firm Legg Mason, launched the ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Fund in April. The multi-cap fund seeks financially attractive companies that have a commitment to an approach known as Environmental, Social and Governance, or "ESG." Companies designed ESG have a commitment to environmentalism or a human-rights based approach to their workforce.
The fund's co-managers, Mary Jane McQuillen and Derek Deutsch, have 35 years of combined experience in ESG investing. ClearBridge Investments has been using the ESG approach since 1987 and has $2.8 billion of its $117 billion assets under management designated ESG.