Stella, the investment entity of the Heinz Hermann Thiele Family Foundation and Julia Thiele-Schürhoff, announced the appointment of M&G’s impact investing unit responsibility to manage a €200 million (USD$239 million) private equity impact fund, targeting UN SDG-aligned investments in emerging markets.
According to Stella, the mandate will invest over the long term in growth-focused companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The fund aims to improve living standards, provide employment and support environmentally sustainable business models, while providing attractive returns on investment.
The firms said that capital from the fund will be deployed in regions where the opportunity to create impact is greatest and where private sector capital can help close critical funding gaps, targeting a “triple bottom line” of profit, people and planet.
Stephanie Bilo, Chief Client & Investment Solutions Officer at responsAbility said:
“We are proud to have been entrusted with this mandate from Stella. It reflects our belief that dedicated emerging market investments can generate strong financial returns while delivering meaningful impact for people and the planet. This is a significant milestone for responsAbility as we continue to mobilize private sector capital at scale for sustainable development in emerging markets.”
A substantial portion of Stella’s private market allocation is dedicated to growth equity impact investments, with the majority invested in emerging markets where it said that the impact per Euro invested is deemed higher than in developed markets and the financial return can be attractive if investments are sourced and evaluated carefully.
According to Christoph Schlegel, Managing Director at Stella, the selection of responsAbility to manage the fund was based on factors including M&G’s acting as a commercial parent entity to support future growth, the firm’s “truly global investment team,” and responsAbility’s exclusive mandate from SIFEM, the Swiss development finance institution, to manage a global portfolio of private equity and private capital funds in emerging markets.
Schlegel added:
“I am deeply convinced we will achieve our goals of deep social impact in emerging markets as well as investment return in line with our mainstream investment portfolio.”
