T. Rowe Price Launches Blue Bond Fund Backed by Walmart Heir

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. has secured financing from Walmart Inc. heir Lukas Walton’s impact platform for a new corporate bond fund, which will support investments in themes including water security and marine protection in emerging markets.

The goal is to bring in as much as $500 million for the new strategy, according to Samy Muaddi, head of emerging markets fixed income at the Baltimore, Maryland-based asset manager. Builders Vision, an impact platform founded by Walton, and water technology firm Xylem Inc. are among early investors who have contributed a combined $200 million, T. Rowe said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.