M&G Investments has received approval to label its M&G Positive Impact fund as a ‘Sustainability Impact’ product in early 2025, the firm has said.
The £209m fund is part of M&G’s sustainability and impact equity investment team with over £4bn of assets under management and follows the team’s ‘Triple I’ framework to identify high-quality, high-impact investments for inclusion in the portfolio. These businesses need to demonstrate strong ‘investment’ characteristics with quality business models able to deliver long-term growth, and clear ‘intention’ to tackle major societal problems, aiming for meaningful and measurable ‘impact’ on pressing social or environmental challenges.
The fund is diversified across six main impact areas: climate action, pollution reduction, circular economy, health and wellbeing, education and innovation and working conditions. According to M&G, investing across these areas, as well as across a range of business model types, helps to balance portfolio risk while also diversifying the drivers of impact.
Launched in 2018 under the dual leadership of John William Olsen and the firm’s head of impact strategy, Ben Constable-Maxwell, the fund will adopt the ‘Sustainability Impact’ label under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime, with M&G scheduled to write to clients in December.
Alex Matcham, head of UK wholesale distribution, said: “Our adoption of this label marks an exciting milestone for the M&G Positive Impact fund and reflects our commitment to sustainable and impact investing, enabling clients to easily compare funds with similar objectives for the first time. Over the long term, we expect to see growing demand from clients seeking a viable option for model portfolios with a focus on ‘Sustainable’ or ‘Impact’ and, more broadly, those who are looking for exposure to companies making a measurable positive difference, either to society or to the environment, while aiming to achieve strong investment returns.”
Ben Constable Maxwell (pictured), impact lead for the M&G Positive Impact fund, added: “The Sustainability Impact label is built on exacting principles and helps to define the norms for what impact investing in public markets means. We now have a standard for the industry to aim for. By investing in companies that aim to provide solutions to the biggest sustainability challenges, our impact strategy seeks to drive positive outcomes for people and the planet, unlocking exciting investment opportunities across sectors such as clean energy, circular economy, and healthcare.
“The label also emphasises the active role of investors, not just in allocating capital on behalf of our clients, but also in driving impact through our engagement activities. Together, the impact generated can support societal goals and create meaningful change, demonstrating that investors can invest to generate financial returns alongside measurable impact for a sustainable future.”
