- Triodos is launching a fund that invests in companies that focus on the well-being of children
- Triodos Future Generations fund invests in 34 small and medium-sized companies
- Every year, a portion is invested in a UNICEF program
Triodos Bank UK has launched a thematic fund investing in companies it says will improve the wellbeing and development of children worldwide.
The Triodos Future Generations Fund invests in 34 small and medium-sized listed companies that fit into one of the five themes of the fund.
Each company focuses on health and well-being, education, equal opportunities, access to basic services or safety.
Triodos Bank UK is launching its Future Generations fund, which will invest in companies focused on child welfare
Nearly a quarter of the fund is held in healthcare, followed by consumer staples and consumer discretionary companies.
The fund’s primary holding company is Hologic, a US-based company that develops, manufactures and supplies diagnostic products focused on women’s well-being.
Other portfolio companies include US education services company Stride and Sobi, a Swedish company focused on treatments for rare diseases.
Fund manager Sjoerd Rozing: ‘More and more companies no longer only look at shareholder value, but at the interests of all stakeholders.
“We believe that future generations belong on that list of stakeholders, which is why the fund was created to support that long-term vision.”
The Future Generations Fund has been open to European investors and British institutional investors since March 2022.
Now it will be available to UK investors via investment platforms, or directly from Triodos Bank, where it can be included in a Stocks and Shares Isa.
Investors can put in as little as £25 per month and Triodos charges 0.4 per cent on balances up to £250,000 per year.
There is a 0.2 per cent charge on balances of £250,000.01 and over, and a rolling charge of 1.1 per cent applies.
It is the fourth Triodos fund to be made available to British private investors, joining the Global Equities Impact Fund, the Pioneer Impact Fund and the Sterling Bond Fund.
Interest in environmental, social and government (ESG) funds has waned in recent years as poor performance and claims of greenwashing prompt investors to look elsewhere.
Recent figures from Calastone show that global investors will withdraw £8 billion from ESG funds by 2023, with £940 million in the UK alone.
But unlike other ESG funds, Triodos Future Generations says it will donate 0.1 percent of the fund’s net asset value to support Unicef’s ‘building blocks for the future’ program in Ivory Coast.
This donation has no influence on the fund’s results, Triodos said.
Sandra Visscher, Executive Director of UNICEF Luxembourg, said: ‘Although children make up almost a third of the world’s population, investors’ human rights policies rarely reflect the special considerations that companies must make to respect children’s rights.
‘We believe that this collaboration will help put children’s rights more clearly on investors’ agendas and promote the integration of children’s rights into ESG decision-making processes across the investment community.
“We believe this collaboration will help put children’s rights more prominently on investors’ agendas and encourage the integration of children’s rights into ESG decision-making processes across the investment community.”