The fund, managed by Sarah Norris and Dominic Byrne, was the first impact product launched by the global asset manager.

With €21.1 million assets under management, the Fund aims to generate growth over the long term, by investing in companies aiming to create positive measurable environmental and/or social impacts.

Sarah Norris said: “We believe in active investing and see engagement as an essential component of successful impact investing.  Engagement with management teams is a necessary part of how we monitor and support companies’ impact agendas and work to improve disclosure. Over the last three years, it’s been encouraging to see more companies actively reporting on the positive good their products can have for people and planet.”

Dominic Byrne added: “In the last three years, it’s been fantastic to see more companies embrace social and environmental goals and actively work to support the increasing global efforts around the UN’s Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2020 alone we’ve seen China announce net zero targets and the launch of the EU Green Deal. It’s, therefore, no surprise that companies delivering solutions to help meet these targets like NextEra and Ørsted, now have market capitalisations that exceed Exxon and BP.”

Since the fund’s launch in October 2017, impact investing has grown from a fledgling discipline into a mainstream one. Many issues are prompting investors to invest for positive change, as well as a positive return. These include the current global pandemic, extreme weather incidents and wildfires, more inequality and increasingly populist politics.

Now that the field has expanded so much, a wider range of products are available, with a variety of different approaches to impact investing. The ethos at ASI however, remains unchanged from three years ago. 

Using the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ASI has created eight ‘pillars’ of impact. When investing in a company, the pillars are used to assess and accurately measure its ability to make positive changes.

By doing so, ASI has created a portfolio of around 46 stocks. It has high conviction in each of them, believing in its ability to deliver a positive financial return for investors, as well as having a meaningful and measurable societal or environmental impact.