BMO Investments has added two mutual funds to its lineup: one invests in companies that have women in management positions, and the other avoids firms in the fossil fuel industry.

On April 38, BMO announced the launch of its BMO Women in Leadership Fund and BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund.

The BMO Women in Leadership Fund invests North American companies that have a female CEO or a board of directors with at least 25% female representation. The fund tracks the Barclays Women in Leadership Index and will hold approximately 90% of its assets in U.S. companies and 10% in Canadian companies. The fund has a management fee of 1.40%, a minimum initial investment of $500, and a minimum subsequent investment of $50.

Leadership diversity

"Research has shown that diverse leadership in companies translates into better results," comments BMO Global Asset Management's chief investment officer and senior vice-president Kevin Gopaul. "Companies with gender-diverse boards tend to outperform those with no women on their boards and indices of companies with mixed-gender boards have outperformed benchmark indices."

As for the BMO Fossil Fuel Free Fund, it excludes companies primarily involved in the fossil fuel development and infrastructure. BMO says the fund managers will invest in companies worldwide that have significant growth potential are trading below their intrinsic value. The fund has a management fee of 1.60%, a minimum initial investment of $500, and a minimum subsequent investment of $50.