Stockholm (NordSIP) – The climate crisis, geo-political instability, greater inequality, and the COVID-19 pandemic have given rise to serious concerns about the future of our children. These worries are also reflected in a worrying decline in adolescent mental wellbeing. Global impact investor Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM) is aiming to help address this issue with the launch of a new thematic impact fund aimed at improving the wellbeing and development of children worldwide.
Triodos SICAV I – Triodos Future Generations Fund, an open-ended fund for professional and retail investors was launched on 31 March, 2022 and will consist of a fairly concentrated, high-conviction portfolio of 30-40 companies that have a demonstrable positive impact on the younger generations. Triodos IM’s process seeks to identify global listed small to mid-cap firms within the strategy’s five impact themes: health and wellbeing, education, equal opportunity, access to basic services, and safety.
Triodos Investment Management have assigned Sjoerd Rozing to the management of the new fund. Rozing joined Triodos IM in 2017 and as Senior Investment Analyst he was previously responsible for the selection and analysis of the Impact Equities & Bonds portfolio companies. Rozing believes that “we have always wished for our children and grandchildren to fare better than us: to become more prosperous, healthier, and better educated. What we see today is that the future of the current young generation is being put at risk. That’s why Triodos Future Generations Fund invests in global equities that contribute to child prosperity.”
An added bonus for UNICEF
Beyond the positive impact of the fund’s five themes, Triodos IM has also pledged to donate 0.1% of the fund’s Net Asset Value (NAV) to UNICEF programmes each year. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund is active in more than 190 countries, with projects aimed at the world’s most disadvantaged children. Sandra Visscher, the organisation’s Executive Director in Luxembourg commented: “investors’ human rights policies seldom reflect the special considerations businesses need to make to respect children’s rights. We hope that this collaboration will help to put children’s rights more clearly on the investor agenda and encourage integration of children’s rights into ESG decision-making processes across the investor world.”
Triodos IM will also co-operate more broadly with UNICEF with the aim of amplifying the voice of children and furthering their rights within the assets management world, in line with UNICEF’s Tool for Investors on Integrating Children’s Rights into ESG Assessment.
The urgency and scale of the climate crisis have rightly seen an emphasis on the “E” of ESG in recent years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also led to an increase in demand for socially themed impact investments. Triodos IM’s new fund, with its two-pronged strategy involving both internally identified themes and support for the established programmes of UNICEF will help give the “S” the boost it needs.
