Aberdeen Standard Investments has launched an impact fund together with the social investment arm of the Big Issue magazine, Big Issue Invest.
The UK Equity Impact Employment Opportunities Fund will be managed by Lesley Duncan, investment director of Aberdeen Standard Investments.
It aims to generate long-term financial returns by investing in companies which promote and implement good employment opportunities and practices. Generally companies will have more than 50% of their employees in the UK.
The fund manager will identify companies for their potential to grow and sustain strong long-term financial returns which will be assessed for their commitment to delivering sustainable employment opportunities.
The fund will be actively managed and its impact criteria will typically include companies paying above average wage rates, being located in deprived areas, offering training opportunities and/or employing young people with the majority of those being in the UK.
Duncan said: “By investing in quoted UK companies the fund seeks to harness equity-market returns while also helping to direct significant capital in support of full and productive employment. A special job assessment framework underpins the investment process, guiding portfolio selection and helping the fund meet its impact objectives, thereby helping to address inequalities in the UK.”
The Good Economy Partnership, a social advisory and data analytics firm specialising in measuring social impacts, has been commissioned by Big Issue Invest to help develop the impact assessment framework that is being applied across the fund’s investment universe.
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