Friday Funds: Fund raises by Bain Capital, Gresham House and Aon

Bain Capital Double Impact has raised $800m for its second impact investing fund – more than double its debut fund in 2017, which secured $390m. 

Gresham House’s Energy Storage Fund has raised £120m in its latest round of fundraising, as part of the asset manager’s plans to issue £260m over the next 12 months.

Finnish asset manager Evli has launched a forestry-focused fund of funds, with a target of €100m. The fund’s performance fee is dependent upon achieving its carbon sequestration target of removing 21,000 tonnes of atmospheric CO2 for every million euros it invests. The Evli Impact Forest Fund I will invest in between six and eight unlisted forest funds across low-risk strategies and countries, with the US receiving 65% of capital, followed by Australia and New Zealand. 

Mirova has become a major shareholder in electric vehicle charging specialist DRIVECO by injecting “several million euros” into the firm via its Mirova-Eurofideme 4 fund, which is dedicated to renewables and the energy transition. 

Baillie Gifford and Federated Hermes have won a mandate to manage the Mediolanum Best Brands Global Impact Fund, which covers social inclusion & education, environment & resources, healthcare & quality of life, and addressing poverty. 

Aon has raised £100m for its SDG-focused active equities fund, launched in September.

Robeco, Baillie Gifford, Wellington, Spiltan Aktiefond Stabil, SEB Hållbarhetsfond Sverige and Cliens Sverige Fokus have all won contracts to run sustainability strategies for Swedish insurance group Länsförsäkringar. RobecoSAM’s Smart Energy and Global Gender Equality funds will be added to the platform alongside the Baillie Gifford Positive Change fund and the Wellington Global Impact Fund. The Handelsbanken Hållbar Energi and Lannebo Sverige Hållbar funds have also become recommended offerings. 

Sun Life Asset Management has appointed Citi as trustee, custodian, fund administrator and transfer agent for its first ESG fund in Hong Kong. The Sun Life AM Hong Kong ESG Index Fund will track the Hang Seng ESG 50 Index.

Finance Earth, WWF and the Ocean Recovery Trust have collaborated to develop a UK-focused blue economy fund, focused on marine aquaculture, fisheries and seafood supply chains. The Ocean Recovery Trust will receive funding through a ‘conservation dividend’ generated by the fund, alongside additional philanthropic donations, to work on its own blue economy efforts. 

Greencoat’s Renewable Income fund will acquire a 49% stake in the UK’s Humber Gateway offshore wind farm from RWE, for an undisclosed sum. The German multinational energy company will retain the remaining 51%.

Index provider Solactive has partnered with sustainability consultancy firm, Carbon Care Asia to launch the Solactive CarbonCare Asia Pacific Green REIT Index, which identifies companies with strong sustainability performance and commitments to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Currently, the index covers 56 Asia-Pacific Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Solactive has also teamed up with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) on a Green Bond Impact Index, composed of green bonds listed on LuxSE and displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange. 

Lombard Odier will host the Allianz All China Core fund on its fund platform, PrivilEdge. The fund invests in onshore and offshore Chinese equities with sustainable growth potential and will be available to clients across Europe. 

FinecoBank will now offer its customers access to a number of Robeco’s actively-managed sustainable investment funds. The move comes as the UK-based fintech bank, which launched in 2017, expands its fleet of funds across all areas.