BlackRockilta ensimmäinen YK:n kestävän kehityksen tavoitteita edistävä vaikuttavuusrahasto

BlackRock tuo markkinoille BlackRock Global Impact -osakerahaston, joka noudattaa sijoituksissaan aktiivista vahvan näkemyksen vaikuttavuusstrategiaa. Uuden rahaston avulla sijoittajat voivat ohjata sijoituksiaan yrityksiin, jotka auttavat ratkaisemaan maailman suurimpia haasteita. Uusi vaikuttavuusstrategia on osa BlackRockin vastuullisen sijoittamisen alustan laajentamista, kun se pyrkii tekemään vastuullisuudesta normin sijoittamisessa.

Rahaston vaikuttaa sijoittamalla yrityksiin, jotka omalta osaltaan edistävät Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien kestävän kehityksen tavoitteiden (SDG) saavuttamista. Rahasto sijoittaa yhtiöihin, joiden toiminta vastaa BlackRockin omia vaikuttavuusteemoja. Näitä ovat muun muassa laadukkaan koulutuksen ja edullisten asuntojen tuominen yhä useampien saataville, terveydenhuoltoalan innovaatioiden edistäminen COVID-19-pandemian kaltaisten yhteiskunnallisten ongelmien ratkaisemiseksi, taloudellisen ja digitaalisen osallisuuden lisääminen, ilmastonmuutoksen estäminen, ympäristön tilan heikkenemisen estäminen ja veden käytön ja hyödyntämisen tehostaminen.

Rahastoa hoitaa hiljattain perustettu BlackRockin aktiivisten osakesijoitusten vaikuttavuussijoitustiimi. Tiimiä johtaa Eric Rice, joka aloitti BlackRockissa lokakuussa 2019. Ericillä on yli 30 vuoden kokemus alalta. Viime aikoina hän on keskittynyt vaikuttavuusstrategioiden luomiseen ja ylläpitoon. Aiemmin hän on työskennellyt muun muassa Maailmanpankissa kehitysekonomistina sekä Yhdysvaltojen diplomaattina Ruandassa.

Rachel Lord, BlackRockin Euroopan, Lähi-Idän ja Afrikan liiketoiminnoista vastaava johtaja, sanoo: “Ericillä on vankka kokemus vaikuttavuussijoittamisen alfa-strategioiden kehittämisestä. Hänen vaikuttavuussijoittamisen asiantuntemuksensa avulla selviämme näistä haastavista ajoista ja edelleen tulevaisuudessa. Global Impact -rahaston tuominen markkinoille kesken globaalia pandemiaa on sattuma, mutta samalla se korostaa sitä, että hyvän tekemiseen sitoutuneisiin yrityksiin sijoittamisen mahdollisuudet ovat pysyviä ja niiden merkitys maailmassa kasvaa edelleen.”

Vaikuttavuustavoitteiden lisäksi rahasto pyrkii maksimoimaan pitkän aikavälin kokonaistuoton ja saamaan MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) -indeksiä parempaa tuottoa. Rahaston tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi salkunhoitotiimi on asettanut tiukat vaikuttavuuskriteerit yhtiöille, joihin rahasto sijoittaa:

-         olennaisuus – suurin osa yrityksen liikevaihdosta tai liiketoiminnasta edistää yhtä tai useampaa kestävän kehityksen tavoitetta;

-         täydentävyys – uuden teknologian tai innovaation tuominen markkinoille, palvelujen tuottaminen alueille, joilla niiden saatavuus on heikko tai olematon

-         mitattavuus – vaikuttavuuden on oltava mitattavissa.

“Vaikuttavuussijoittamisesta tulee yhä houkuttelevampaa, kun sijoittajat haluavat sijoitustavoitteidensa edistävän heidän vastuullisuustavoitteitaan”, sanoo Eric Rice, BlackRock Global Impact -rahaston salkunhoitaja ja aktiivisten osakesijoitusten vaikuttavuussijoittamisesta vastaava johtaja.

“Rahaston tuominen markkinoille koronaviruspandemian aikana korostaa entisestään yritysten tärkeää roolia yhteiskunnassa. Koronaviruspandemia on tällä hetkellä yksi suurimmista yhteiskunnallisista haasteista maailmassa, ja vaikuttavuussijoittamisella on mielestämme merkittävä rooli siitä selviytymisessä. Alfan saavuttamiseksi rahaston pääomia sijoitetaan yrityksiin, jotka tuottavat kriisin selättämiseksi muun muassa diagnostisia välineitä ja rokotteita sekä kriiseissä käytettäviä tiedotusjärjestelmiä ja mikrolainoja.”

Tiimi pyrkii noudattamaan pitkän aikavälin keskitettyä osta ja pidä -strategiaa, jonka mukaan se pyrkii pitämään salkun sisällön vaihtuvuuden pienenä. Tiimi kumppanoituu ja käy aktiivisesta vuoropuhelua salkkuyhtiöidensä kanssa vaikuttavuuden lisäämiseksi ja arvon luomiseksi pitkällä aikavälillä. Dollarimääräinen rahastoon voi sijoittaa koko Euroopassa.

Vaikuttavuussijoitusten tavoitteena on taloudellisen tuoton lisäksi aikaansaada positiivisia ja mitattavia vaikutuksia. Rahasto käyttää Maailmanpankkiryhmään kuuluvan IFC:n periaatteita varmistaakseen sen, että vaikuttavuusnäkökulmat otetaan huomioon sijoituksen koko elinkaaren aikana. Raportoinnilla on keskeinen asema sijoitustarjoomassa. Sijoittajat saavat säännöllisesti päivityksiä ja raportteja rahastoon kuuluvien yhtiöiden aikaansaamista positiivisista ympäristö- ja sosiaalisista vaikutuksista.

BlackRockin aktiivinen vaikuttavuusosakerahasto on osa vaikuttavuussijoittamisen tuotevalikoimaa, johon kuuluu myös korko- ja vaihtoehtoisia sijoitustuotteita. Aktiivisten osakesijoitusten ryhmä hallinnoi asiakkaidensa puolesta 316 miljardin dollarin varoja* ja on hallinnoinut ympäristön, yhteiskunnan ja hallintotavan (ESG) huomioivia sijoitusstrategioita jo yli neljän vuoden ajan.

Rahasto kuuluu BlackRockin vastuullisen sijoittamisen alustaan, joka hallinnoi 107 miljardin dollarin varoja* erikoistuneissa vastuullisen sijoittamisen strategioissa, joita ovat ESG-strategiat, vastuullisen sijoittamisen temaattiset rahastot ja vaikuttavuusrahastot. Vastuullisen sijoittamisen vaihtoehdot voivat tarjota asiakkaille tavallista parempaa tuottoa, ja ne ovat kiinteä osa BlackRockin tapaa hallita riskejä, rakentaa sijoitussalkkuja, suunnitella tuotteita ja tehdä yhteistyötä yritysten kanssa.

*Lähde: BlackRock 31.12.2020.

 

BlackRock
BlackRockin tarkoituksena on auttaa yhä useampia ihmisiä saavuttamaan taloudellista hyvinvointia. Sijoittajien varainhoitajana ja johtavana teknisten ratkaisujen tarjoajana asiakkaamme kääntyvät puoleemme tehdessään suunnitelmia tärkeimpien tavoitteidensa saavuttamiseksi. BlackRock hallinnoi asiakkaidensa puolesta maailmanlaajuisesti 6 467 miljardin dollarin varoja (31.3.2020). Lisätietoja: www.blackrock.com/corporate  | Twitter: @blackrock | Blogi: www.blackrockblog.com | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock.

Alkuperäinen lehdistötiedote kokonaisuudessaan alla. Mikäli käännöksessä on eroja alkuperäiseen tiedotteeseen, alkuperäinen tiedote pätee.

 

BlackRock Launches its First Impact Mutual Fund Advancing the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Fund Developed Under New Impact Investing Team Expands Sustainability Investment Platform

London, 15 April: BlackRock announces the launch of a high-conviction active equity impact strategy with its BlackRock Global Impact Fund (“the Fund”). The new Fund gives investors the opportunity to direct their investments toward companies helping to address major world challenges. The addition of the impact strategy forms part of BlackRock’s continued efforts to expand its sustainable investment platform as it delivers against its commitment to make sustainability its standard for investing.

The Fund’s impact is achieved by investing in companies which contribute to the advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. The portfolio is comprised of companies that map back to the firm’s proprietary impact themes including increasing access to quality education and affordable housing, advancing healthcare innovation to help with societal challenges such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, expanding financial and digital inclusion, preventing climate change, reversing environmental degradation, and increasing efficiencies in water usage and deployment.

The Fund is managed through BlackRock’s Active Equities Impact Investing team which recently formed under the leadership of Eric Rice, who joined the firm in October 2019. Eric will draw upon his 30 years of industry experience, most recently exclusively developing and managing impact strategies, and including his prior experience working for the World Bank as a development economist and as a U.S. diplomat in Rwanda. 

Rachel Lord, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for BlackRock commented, “Eric joined BlackRock with a strong track record in developing alpha-seeking impact strategies and his expertise will lead our impact investing efforts during this challenging time and beyond. While launching the Global Impact Fund during a global pandemic is coincidental, it does highlight that the opportunity inherent in investing in companies committed to doing good is enduring, and is of increasing relevance to the world today.”

Alongside the impact goals, the Fund seeks to maximise long-term total return and to outperform the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI). To achieve the Fund’s objectives, the team has set stringent impact criteria for the portfolio companies including:

-         materiality – whereby a majority of revenues or business activity advances one or more of the SDGs or targets;

-         additionality – defined as delivering a new technology or innovation to market, serving an underserved population, or operating in an unaddressed market; and

-         measurability – in that the impact must be quantifiable.

“Impact investing is becoming more and more attractive as investors increasingly require their investment targets to advance their sustainability objectives,” said Eric Rice, Portfolio Manager of the BlackRock Global Impact Fund and Head of Active Equities Impact Investing at BlackRock. “Launching the Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the important role companies play in society.  COVID-19 is one of the greatest societal challenges the world faces right now, and we see impact investing playing a meaningful role in how we overcome it. Capital from the Fund will be put toward the search for alpha by investing in companies focused on medical diagnostic tools and vaccines to combat the crisis, as well as crisis mass notification systems and microloans, amongst others.”

The team intends to run a low-turnover, long-term buy and hold concentrated portfolio strategy and use active dialogue and partnership with companies to drive improvement towards impact outcomes, alongside long-term value creation. The Fund is USD-denominated and available for investors located across Europe. 

Impact investments are designed to generate positive, measurable impact alongside a financial return. The Fund uses the World Bank’s IFC Operating Principles to ensure impact considerations are integrated throughout the investment lifecycle. Reporting plays an integral role of the investment offering where clients will receive regular updates and reports on the positive environmental or social impact that Fund companies are achieving.

BlackRock’s active equities impact offering will sit alongside existing impact strategies in the fixed income and alternatives business areas. The Active Equities group manages USD $316bn* of assets on behalf of its clients and has managed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment strategies for over four years.

The Fund forms a part of BlackRock’s Sustainable Investing platform which manages USD $107bn* in dedicated sustainable strategies, comprising of ESG outcome oriented, sustainable thematic and impact funds. Sustainable investment options may have the potential to offer clients better outcomes and is integral to the way BlackRock manages risk, constructs portfolios, designs products and engages with companies.

*Source: BlackRock 31 December 2020.

 

-ENDS-

Press contacts:

Lola Adekaiyaoja

lola.adekaiyaoja@blackrock.com

+44 207 743 4680

Tracy Truelove

tracy.truelove@blackrock.com

+44 (20) 77434496

 

About BlackRock
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The BlackRock Global Impact Fund is a sub fund of the BlackRock Funds I ICAV (the ‘Fund’). The Fund is structured as a unit trust organized under the laws of Ireland and authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland as UCITS for the purposes of UCITS Regulations. Investment in the sub-fund(s) is only open to 'Qualified Holders', as defined in the relevant Fund Prospectus. Any decision to invest must be based solely on the information contained in the Company’s Prospectus, Key Investor Information Document (KIID) and the latest half-yearly report and unaudited accounts and/or annual report and audited accounts. Prospectuses, Key Investor Information Documents and application forms may not be available to investors in certain jurisdictions where the Fund in question has not been authorised.

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