Swedish investment house Summa Equity has raised SEK 6.5bn (£530m) for a second dedicated fund aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The successful close of Summa Equity Fund II takes the total capital commitments at the group to SEK 11 billion and comes three years after the inception of the firm.
The latest fund will focus on investments driven by thematic trends such as resource scarcity, aging populations, climate change and technology disruption.
“We are seeing several challenges unfolding simultaneously; environmentally, socially, and with technology disrupting industries,” the company’s managing partner Reynir Indahl said in a statement.
“We believe our biggest challenges are also our most attractive investment opportunities. The fundraising for Fund II shows that the investment community is beginning to understand that to outperform, one cannot be agnostic to the challenges we are facing.”
The company said that its investments are made to enable to resolution of ‘global challenges’ which the fund group categorises into three areas – resource efficiency, changing demographics and the tech-enabling of business.
“Investors increasingly recognise that companies that incorporate solutions to environmental, social, and governance challenges, will show stronger growth and returns, while having lower risk. They are more future-proof,” Indahl added.
Summa stated that investors backing the latest fund were from a wide range of backgrounds, including top-tier endowments, foundations, pension funds, insurance firms and fund of funds based in the Nordics, Europe and North America. Pension fund AP1 is among those to invest.
Jan Rådberg, a portfolio manager for private equity at AP1 said: “AP1’s overriding goal is to deliver the best possible return on pension savers’ money. We are convinced that one way of achieving this goal is by considering sustainability aspects in our investment decision process.
“We seek investments which are characterised by sustainable value creation. We are therefore excited to invest in Summa Equity, and look forward to a close and fruitful cooperation.”
