Responsible Funds, June 21: Institutions back Creation’s new Social Ventures Fund

US-based impact investment firm Creation Investments’ new Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund II, a global private equity fund focused on financial services and microfinance, has had a final closing at $75m (€57m) – oversubscribed from its $60m target. Creation’s client base includes over 100 US and European institutional and family office investors alongside several high net worth individuals.

Mistral Windfarm 1, a wind energy fund launched in 2005 by €500m London-based renewable energy investor Platina Partners, has had its remaining 69MW of assets sold to an unnamed investor. The fund had owned a total of 105MW of operational wind sites in the UK and France. “We believe this is the first time that any European GP (general partner) has successfully completed a full cycle on a renewable energy fund, having delivered an outstanding return for our investors,” Managing Partner Thomas Rottner said.

The six-fund Ave Maria Mutual Funds – the largest range of Catholic mutual funds in the US – has grown to more than $1bn in assets. It comes as the Ave Maria Growth Fund and the Ave Maria Bond Fund marked their tenth anniversaries on May 1. Announcement

Drinks giant Diageo has launched a women’s development fund in China. The Diageo Plan W Fund has been launched with partner the China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF). The company will donate RMB1m (€123,000) a year to the fund over the next five years. The Fund is part of Diageo Asia Pacific’s $10m regional initiative, Plan W, which aims to empower 2m women by 2017.

Dutch asset manager Robeco has transferred its €1.5bn credit and sovereign debt strategy, Rorento, to its Luxembourg SICAV range from its original Curaçao domicile. Kommer van Trigt, who has run the fund since 2011, will remain lead manager, while investment policy will remain largely the same, according to a report in Citywire.Canadian pension investment giant, the C$176.2bn (€128bn) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has created a $250m natural resources fund with a strong sustainability component. The new Sodémex Développement vehicle, which will have a “credible and well-established social acceptability and sustainable development process”, will make investments of $5m-$20m in development stage companies in Québec. Link

Fund firm Ashburton – now part of the South Africa’s FirstRand Group – has launched a global energy fund that will in part target renewables. The Luxembourg-domiciled Ashburton Global Energy fund will be lead managed by Richard Robinson and benchmarked against the MSCI Energy Index. It follows the new Ashburton Africa Equity Opportunities fund in May.

NEI Investments, the Canadian mutual fund company, has merged its Ethical Select Global Balanced Portfolio and Ethical Select Global Growth Portfolio funds into two other funds. They will be discontinued and continue in the Ethical Select Canadian Balanced Portfolio and Ethical Select Canadian Growth Portfolio respectively.

Indices

Index company FTSE is introducing a new sector to its Environmental Markets indices, to be called ‘Food, Agriculture and Forestry’. It brings the total number of sectors to seven and subsectors to 29. The new sector and subsectors will be included as of the index rebalance on Monday 24 June. Link

Exchange operator NASDAQ will add eight companies to its Global Water Index. They are: Beijing Enterprises Water Group; China Water Industry Group; Ebara Jitsugyo; HanKore Environment; Cia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais-COPASA; Lindsay Corporation; Roper Industries; and Aqua America. Three companies will be removed: GLV; Toro Co.; and Watts Water Technologies. Link