The Altrium Sustainability Fund I (ASF I) will invest in ESG-focussed opportunities to achieve positive environmental and social outcomes alongside private equity financial returns, according to Temasek-owned Azalea.
It is a private equity (PE) fund-of-funds product available to institutional and other accredited investors, and is co-seeded by sponsor, the Azalea Group, together with financial services company Singlife with Aviva. Each party has committed $50m to start the fund.
ASF I will back funds which invest in scalable, commercial enterprises across five themes; climate, resource management, healthcare, education, and financial inclusion.
Azalea will select managers that address the global challenges encapsulated in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals for ASF I, and the fund will concentrate mainly on buyout and growth strategies to generate PE market returns.
“Private equity is uniquely positioned to be a force for good through its long-term investment horizon and innate appetite for value creation,” said Margaret Lui, CEO of Azalea, in a statement.
“Singlife is committed to creating a long-term positive impact through our sustainability agenda. As a homegrown financial services brand, we also want to contribute to Singapore’s net zero goal by 2050,” Pearlyn Phau, group CEO of Singlife with Aviva, added.
ESG credentials
In addition to ASF I, Singlife has also recently seeded two sustainable funds. In November 2021, it announced its participation in the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Greenprint, which uses real-time data in the transport and logistics sector to monitor emissions and to review if the data can enhance underwriting and reduce premiums for the sector.
The firm said it plans to announce partnerships with social service organisations this year to launch programmes to enable financial inclusion through literacy workshops, health and mental wellness coverage and environmental sustainability.
Singlife with Aviva was formed by the 2020 merger of insurer Aviva Singapore and Singlife.
Meanwhile, Azalea became a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investments in 2021, a UN-supported global investor initiative that works in partnership with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative and UN Global Compact to promote the incorporation of ESG factors in investment and ownership decisions.
