Triodos Bank UK has introduced the Triodos Future Generations fund, a thematic vehicle aimed at improving the wellbeing and development of children worldwide.
The fund is managed by Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM) and has been open to European and UK institutional investors since March 2022, and currently has assets under management of €38m (£33m). This is the first time UK retail investors will have access to the fund.
Triodos IM donates the equivalent of 0.1% of the fund’s net asset value (NAV) per year to support UNICEF programmes. This will support programmes such as the Building bricks for the future project that educates children about waste management, and builds on UNICEF’s Tool for Investors on Integrating Children’s Rights into ESG Assessment.
The fund will be added to Triodos Bank UK’s existing portfolio of impact investment funds – the Triodos Global Equities Impact, Triodos Pioneer Impact and Triodos Sterling Bond funds. They are all classified as Article 9 products by the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Portfolio companies include US education services provider Stride, OrthoPediatrics, which produces orthopaedic devices for children, and Sobi, a Swedish company delivering treatments for rare diseases.
Fund manager of the Triodos Future Generations fund, Sjoerd Rozing, said: “An increasing number of companies are no longer just looking at shareholder value, but at the interests of all stakeholders. Future generations belong on that list of stakeholders, and this is why the fund has been set up to support that long-term vision.”
Executive director at UNICEF Sandra Visscher, added: “While children account for nearly one third of the world’s population, investors’ human rights policies seldom reflect the special considerations businesses need to make to respect children’s rights.
“This collaboration helps to put children’s rights more clearly on the investor agenda and encourage integration of children’s rights into ESG decision-making processes across the investor world.”
