Neuberger Berman has launched a new space economy fund in Europe, aiming to invest in equities related to space infrastructure.

Neuberger Berman Next Generation Space Economy is a UCITS fund that will invest primarily in firms that "are involved in or derive benefit from the next generation space economy".

The fund is run by portfolio managers Michael Barr and Hari Ramanan (pictured), who are based in New York and have a three-year track record in the sector.

It will have a maximum management fee and TER on the Institutional (I) share class of 0.85% and 1.05% respectively

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Barr said: "The range of current and potential future opportunities presented by the space economy is considerable and we foresee this evolving at a similar pace and magnitude as smartphone technology, offering significant and long-term prospects to investors."

Ramanan added: "The space economy is more than rockets and satellites. We can already see the importance of space in end markets such as banking, air traffic control, ride sharing and precision agriculture. Equally as exciting are future opportunities related to global connectivity, the insights derived from improving earth observation capabilities, and the accurate monitoring of the factors driving climate change."