Obviam launches $60m impact fund
Basel-based Fondation Botnar has entrusted the Swiss firm Obviam with the set-up and management of a $60 million impact investing portfolio. Obviam’s objective is to achieve not only a financial return by making sustainable investments in developing and emerging markets, but also a measurable contribution to development. With this mandate from Fondation Botnar, Obviam is also launching its new umbrella fund for professional and institutional investors, bringing its assets under management to over $1 billion for the first time.
Obviam has over 20 years of experience in impact investing. On behalf of Fondation Botnar, it will make equity investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and fast-growing local businesses in developing and emerging markets. In this activity, Obviam is working closely with trusted local partners to enable long-term, broad-based and sustainable growth while mitigating the associated risks.
Obviam is using the $60 million by Fondation Botnar to launch its new umbrella fund, Obviam Impact Investing ICAV. The fund is structured as an Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle with subfunds, giving Obviam the flexibility to create new subfunds with no major administrative hurdles for professional and institutional clients wishing to engage in impact investing.
“We are very pleased that Fondation Botnar has placed its trust in us with this mandate. Thanks to the new fund we have launched in connection with this mandate, we will be able to offer a flexible option for long-term, profitable impact investing to other clients as well. With the current Covid-19 crisis, investments in SMEs in developing and emerging markets are more important than ever,” says Claude Barras, Obviam CEO.
Sushant Sharma, chief investment officer at Fondation Botnar states, “After we took the strategic decision to engage a part of our foundation’s capital in impact investing, we launched a detailed selection process. We then reached the conclusion that Obviam’s track record and its flexible investment solutions are the perfect fit for our foundation.”
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