Friday Funds: Länsförsäkringar switches €7.2bn from BlackRock to in-house Paris-aligned benchmarks

Swedish insurance group Länsförsäkringar has pulled around €7.2 billion from two BlackRock-run global and Swedish passive funds to switch to in-house funds investing in line with Paris-aligned benchmarks developed by Morningstar. Peter Svalstedt, the new manager for the two funds, said the Länsförsäkringar Sverige Indexnära fund has SEK24 billion (€2.3 billion; $2.4 billion) in assets, while the Länsförsäkringar Global Indexnära fund has SEK51 billion.

Investor voting fintech Tumelo has raised $19 million from a Series A funding round, with Legal & General, Fidelity International and the former CEO of IHS Markit participating in the deal. The new investors in the company, which allows retail investors and pension scheme members to submit advisory votes on resolutions at companies in their portfolio, join Jeremy Coller, CIO of Coller Capital and founder of the FAIRR Initiative, who invested around £1 million in the firm in July last year.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched a new fixed income fund focused on sustainable Asian cities. The fund, which BNPP AM claims is the first Article 9 Asia-focused fixed income strategy, invests in sustainable-labelled bonds where the use of proceeds is aligned with “aspects of sustainable cities” such as clean transport or healthcare infrastructure, and non-labelled bonds from companies whose activities “contribute to aspects of sustainable cities”, for example, real estate developers or smart grid firms. It focuses on Asia ex-Japan.

Sustainable tech firm Arcadia has raised $200 million in a new funding round led by investment from JPMorgan Asset Management’s sustainable growth equity team, in addition to Wellington Management, Broadscale Group and Tiger Global Management.

Lombard Odier Investment Management and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste are looking to raise $500 million from a new circular plastic fund. The fund will invest in firms that directly contribute to a circular economy for plastic, including collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure and “design solutions for improved plastic durability, reuse and recyclability”. The alliance will act as both cornerstone investor and technical adviser to the fund.

Eurazeo’s sustainable maritime infrastructure fund has raised €200 million, reaching more than half its target size in the five months since launch, with a €70 million investment from the European Investment Fund. Eurazeo has also announced the fund’s first investment, the financing of a vessel used for the construction, repair and maintenance of offshore wind farms.

BlackRock has announced it has raised more than $800 million of a $1 billion target for its impact opportunities fund. The multi-alternatives strategy invests in businesses and projects owned, led by or serving Black, Latinx and Native American communities across the US. Investors in the fund, which has so far made three investments, include Lincoln Financial Group, Paypal and State Farm.