Pictet Funds, the fund distribution arm of Swiss private bank Pictet & Cie, has raised €30 million (about $42 million) for its new PF(LUX)-Agriculture fund.

The fund, managed by Gertjan van der Geer, is the most recent addition to Pictet’s range of thematic products, which includes water, timber, clean energy, security and biotech.

The fund provides access to quoted companies that are expected to play a vital role in helping to supply food for a global population that is predicted to grow by nearly 40 per cent between 2005 and 2050, according to a December 2007 World Bank estimate.

It has a high exposure to pure agriculture, while also integrating basic aspects of resource efficiency, for example by favouring companies that produce more food with lower resource input. It will not invest in agricultural commodities. Companies deriving more than 10 per cent of their turnover from genetically modified organisms are excluded.

The fund is available to institutional, private banking and retail investors in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France Germany, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Holland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.