• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feed

Investment News

  • Home
  • News
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Investment News / NZ-first impact fund makes $8m debut

NZ-first impact fund makes $8m debut

February 11, 2018

Roy Thompson: New Ground Capital co-founder

The country’s first NZ-centric ‘impact’ investment fund has falling just shy of target in the opening round of capital-raising which closed off last week with $8 million committed from 35 investors.

However, the Impact Enterprise Fund (IEF) – a collaborative venture between the Ākina Foundation, New Ground Capital and Impact Ventures – could still hit the original $10-15 million goal in the final round of investor marketing expected to end some time late in April.

Roy Thompson, New Ground Capital managing director, said the group had targeted at least $10 million by the February 8 deadline “but we’re happy to be where we are”.

“Some of the bigger private equity funds in NZ launched at similar levels in their first rounds,” Thompson said. “It’s challenging raising private equity money in NZ but we hope to get to the $10-15 million in the next round.”

He said the 35 foundation investors cover a wide range of groups including philanthropic trusts, private equity investors, high net worth individuals, and even “some from Australia”.

In a release last week, the IEF name-checked St John’s College Trust Board and The Tindall Foundation as “cornerstone investors”. The $430 million plus St John’s College Trust (advised by Trust Investments Limited) funds Anglican Church-linked education in NZ and Polynesia.

Thompson said while the IEF would continue dialogue with potential investors until the final close in April, the fund was already in the process of placing the first tranche.

“We’re doing due diligence on a number of investments – including three environmental projects,” he said. “There’s a good pipeline but we probably won’t have invested before the final close.”

Impact investing – which targets specific non-financial factors in addition to monetary returns – has been on an upward trend offshore. According to the recent Global Impact Investing Network (GINN) 2017 industry report, the 200 plus entities it surveys collectively manage about US$114 billion in impact investment projects.

The IEF statement says impact investments are often at the “cutting edge of disruptive social and environmental innovations and can be expected to outperform their traditional predecessors”.

“[IEF}Investments will focus on expansion opportunities in fast growing sectors such as sustainable food production, agriculture technology, healthcare, clean energy, and education,” the release says.

Thompson said impact investing covered a broad spectrum from concessionary – where investors may give up financial returns in exchange for achieving other goals – to non-concessionary.

“We’re a non-concessionary fund,” he said.

According to the IEF information memorandum, the fund is targeting a 15 per cent internal rate of return from an actively-managed portfolio of between eight to 15 businesses accessed via debt or equity.

“The management fee is 2.0% p.a. of the committed capital during the Commitment Period, and 2.0% p.a. of invested capital thereafter,” the IEF memo says.

“The Founding Members [Ākina Foundation, New Ground Capital and Impact Ventures] will earn Carried Interest of 10.0% over a hurdle of 8.0% p.a. return to investors, and 20.0% of returns in excess of 15.0% p.a. return to investors.”

Twitter0
LinkedIn0
Google+0
Facebook0

Read More » Investment News

Done reading? Why Not Subscribe? To receive a weekly email with the latest investment news, enter your email address here.

Reader Interactions

Related Articles:

  • Aussie runs ruler over Kiwi Wealth admin
  • Mercer loses a Russell
  • NAB soldiers on in bizarre $25b Suncorp deal
  • Firetrail douses IPO, ETFs hit ASX milestone
  • For quants the race is getting shorter and the world more complex

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Learn More »

More Recent Investment News

EY examines the trend with the ‘new’ alternatives

December 9, 2019

MMC reshuffles management as new CEO climbs aboard

December 2, 2019

NZ-linked private equity pair hover over AMP

December 2, 2019

Transition ignition as 20 plus advice firms file for licence

December 2, 2019

Investment News

  • Fair cop: government sneaks in conduct bill before year-end
  • MMC begins Aegis era with front-end refurbish plans…
  • … as Consilium showcases new-look FNZ wrap
  • Booster mulls master trust option
  • Portfolio manager re-titled at Pie; Mercer fills risk vacancy; BNZ bolsters governance; Sharesies director goes
  • Institutional investors squeeze NZ firms on carbon risk
  • Optimism, jobs on the up in Australasian wealth market
  • Bennelong confirms Janus Henderson EM defectors
  • Study finds lumps in global passive popularity
  • EY examines the trend with the ‘new’ alternatives

Secondary Sidebar

Recent News

  • Fair cop: government sneaks in conduct bill before year-end
  • MMC begins Aegis era with front-end refurbish plans…
  • … as Consilium showcases new-look FNZ wrap
  • Booster mulls master trust option
  • Portfolio manager re-titled at Pie; Mercer fills risk vacancy; BNZ bolsters governance; Sharesies director goes
  • Institutional investors squeeze NZ firms on carbon risk
  • Optimism, jobs on the up in Australasian wealth market
  • Bennelong confirms Janus Henderson EM defectors
  • Study finds lumps in global passive popularity
  • EY examines the trend with the ‘new’ alternatives

Copyright ©2019 InvestmentNews.co.nz — All Rights Reserved ·— Terms & Conditions