InvestmentsFeb 5 2018

Aberdeen Standard Investments launches fund with Big Issue

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Aberdeen Standard Investments launches fund with Big Issue

Aberdeen Standard Investments is to launch an impact investment fund focused on backing companies that “promote and implement” good employment practices.

The fund, called the Aberdeen Standard Investments UK Equity Impact  Employment Opportunities fund, will be run by Lesley Duncan, an investment director at the firm.

The fund is a collaboration with the Big Issue Group.

Ms Duncan currently runs the £300m Standard Life UK Ethical fund, which is among the top 25 per cent of funds in the IA UK All Companies sector over the past three and five years.

The fund will typically own companies that pay above average wages, are located in deprived areas and offer training for employees. The expectation is that companies in the fund will have more than 50 per cent of their staff in the UK.

Ms Duncan said: “The strategy of the UK Equity Impact – Employment Opportunities Fund is designed to meet the dual objectives of strong financial returns, while supporting good employment opportunities and practices.

"By investing in quoted UK companies the fund seeks to harness equity-market returns while also helping to direct significant capital in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 – full and productive employment. A special job assessment framework underpins the investment process, guiding portfolio selection and helping the Fund meet its impact objectives, thereby helping to address inequalities in the UK.

Good employment is fundamental to all aspects of personal and social wellbeing, she added.

"The fund offers investors a clearly defined means of investing in companies demonstrating best practice within human capital management, while seeking to deliver a competitive financial return over the longer term.”

Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services said: “Ethical and sustainable funds are less than 2 per cent of the whole UK market. So they are not just a small part of my client base, they are a small part of everyone’s client base.

"So a fund like this is probably a niche offering, but Lindsay Duncan is probably as good as it gets as a manager of this type of fund. We rate the other fund she manages very highly.”

David.Thorpe@ft.com