The asset manager said impact-oriented investment in public equities, in addition to private markets, is needed to tackle global social and environmental challenges.
LGT Capital Partners, an alternative investing asset manager owned by Liechtenstein’s royal family, said it is launching its first impact fund dedicated to investing in public equities.
The LGT CP Impact Equity Global Fund will focus on themes including industrials, healthcare and information technology with a brief to target measurable positive social and environmental outcomes, while achieving “attractive” risk-adjusted returns, the asset manager said. It will be benchmarked against the MSCI AC World Index. The fund’s target size was not disclosed.
“We believe that public equities can help to unlock untapped impact potential, as the major transitions required within an economic, social and environmental context cannot be realised by private markets alone,” Marc Gonzales, principal at LGT Capital Partners, said.
The fund is using the same impact framework deployed by LGT Capital Partners for its existing private equity impact strategies.
To qualify for investment through the fund, a company needs to show a net positive impact in reaching one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It must also contribute to one of three themes: climate action, including the energy transition, resource management or the circular economy; sustainable industries and communities, through enabling decarbonisation, inclusive growth, or smart buildings and infrastructure; or, finally, health and well-being.
The fund will invest in a diversified equity portfolio of 25-40 single positions around the world, the asset manager said.
Swiss based LGT Capital Partners has created in 1998 by the Lichtenstein royal family with a strategy of investing in all asset classes and with a portfolio consisting of at least 50% alternative investments. It typically taking minority stakes in investee companies.
The firm now has more than $110bn (€95bn) in assets under management and over 700 institutional clients in 50 countries.
