Friday Funds: Nordea raises €900m for Trill impact fund

Nordea Asset Management has raised €900m for the first fund from its private equity-focused venture Trill Impact. AP4, AP6 and Allianz Global Investors sit on the limited partners advisory committee of the ‘impact mid-market buyout fund’, which has already made four targeted investments in Northern Europe.

BlackRock has launched an exchange-traded fund to track the Bloomberg MSCI Global Aggregate Sustainable and Green Bond SRI Index, which covers sovereign and corporate green bonds.

BMO Global Asset Management has announced plans to float a real estate investment trust for “Responsible Housing” in the UK. The IPO will seek to raise up to £250m for a portfolio of support housing for adults and young people with learning disabilities, mental health issues, physical disabilities, addiction, support needs and those in need of temporary accommodation across the UK. It will target a minimum 5% dividend yield, with a total NAV return target of 7.5% of the medium term. 

Swedish buffer fund AP3 has acquired 300,000 acres of Timberland in Texas for $500m. The pension fund’s Head of ILS & Timberland said that the acquisition “will result in an increased sequestration and storage of carbon which will benefit the climate”. 

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has authorised two retail-focused ESG funds by Pictet. Investors will now have access to the Pictet Global Thematic Opportunities Fund, which specialises in stocks that benefit from long-term demographic, environmental and lifestyle trends, and the Pictet Human Fund, which invests in companies contributing to “human self-development” such as education, support service and career development.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched its first exchange-traded fund based on a Chinese Socially Responsible Investing index. The Easy MSCI China Select SRI S-Series 10% Capped UCITS fund will invest in around 100 best-in-class large- and mid-cap companies in China. It excludes firms in breach of the UN Global Compact or are involved in ESG controversies or controversial activities.

ETF Securities has released a Semiconductors ETF in Australia, tracking the Solactive Global Semiconductor 30 Index, a selection of 30 developed markets companies active across the semiconductor value chain.