|
The Rise Fund, which counts Irish rock star Bono among its
co-founders, aims to achieve "measurable, positive social and
environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns",
UBS said in a statement on Monday.
Impact investing -- a term coined in 2007 -- grew out of the
desire by socially conscious individuals to extend philanthropy
to their financial holdings.
The fund, whose total size is around $2 billion, is managed by
Bill McGlashan, founder and managing partner of TPG Growth, the
growth-capital fund of U.S. private equity firm TPG.
The fundraising represents a relatively minor amount for UBS,
which has more than 2 trillion Swiss francs ($2.1 trillion) in
invested assets.
But clients want to move more of their money into these kind of
investments, according to Simon Smiles, UBS Wealth Management's
chief investment officer for ultra high net worth clients.
"The interest in impact investing and these kind of
opportunities among the clients we speak to actually far exceeds
the supply of the available opportunities," Smiles said.
Interest is especially high among millennials and in Asia,
Smiles said.
One-third of the funds raised by UBS came from its North America
wealth management division, with the rest coming from its
international division, especially Asia.
Investments, UBS said, will focus on seven sectors: education,
energy, food and agriculture, financial services, growth
infrastructure, healthcare, and technology, media and
telecommunications.
UBS plans to offer more impact investments to clients, said
Christian Wiesendanger, UBS's global head of investment
platforms and solutions in wealth management.
"This Rise Fund," Wiesendanger said, "is one of many to come."
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin. Editing by Jane Merriman)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
