Impact investment strategy enables investors to combine social and
financial goals
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) has launched the BlackRock Impact U.S. Equity
Fund (‘the Fund’), a mutual fund for investors that aims to invest in
measurable social and environmental outcomes while seeking to generate
competitive financial returns. The Fund will trade under the ticker
BIRAX.
The Fund arrives at a time when sustainable and impact investing
strategies are attracting a significant amount of interest as well as
assets from investors. According to the Global Sustainable Investment
Alliance (GSIA), sustainable investment assets have expanded 61% between
2012 and 2014. Within this, impact investing is the fastest growing
segment, and the U.S. is the fastest growing area for impact investing,
with 33% compound annual growth rate between 2012 and 2014. GSIA defines
impact investing as targeted investments aimed at solving social or
environmental problems.
“Demographic shifts, stakeholder advocacy, and government regulation are
combining to create unprecedented demand for sustainable and impact
investment solutions,” said Deborah Winshel, Managing Director and
Global Head of Impact Investing at BlackRock. “Impact investing enables
investors to do more with their money than simply achieving a financial
return. Through transparent measurement and outcome reporting, impact
investing allows investors to better understand how their money is being
put to work.”
The Fund
The Fund aims to deliver a portfolio of equity securities of companies
targeting competitive market returns and aggregate societal impact
outcomes, as determined by BlackRock, relative to its benchmark. The
Fund is run by BlackRock’s Scientific Active Equity (SAE) team, which
has more than 30 years of experience leveraging systematic and
quantitative techniques to build differentiated equity portfolios. For
the Fund, SAE employs its research process to score more than 8,000
companies daily across three societal impact outcome areas: health, the
environment, and corporate citizenship. In addition, the fund screens
out certain companies or industries, including alcohol, tobacco, and
weapons manufacturers.
“This new investment strategy will help move impact investing from a
niche to a core allocation,” said Jeff Shen, Managing Director and
Co-head of BlackRock’s SAE Investment Group. “We have designed a
portfolio that combines innovative investing capabilities with a
transparent and tangible set of social and environmental impact
outcomes.”
BlackRock Impact
In February 2015, BlackRock appointed Deborah Winshel to help unify its
approach to impact investing through the launch of BlackRock Impact, the
Firm’s global platform catering to investors with social or
environmental objectives. The development of the Fund further highlights
BlackRock’s commitment within this space. BlackRock currently manages
more than $200 billion of assets across impact investing, environmental,
social and governance (ESG) portfolios, and impact investments. For more
information about BlackRock Impact, please visit blackrockimpact.com.
In addition to the BlackRock Impact U.S. Equity Fund, BlackRock recently
launched other impact funds in Europe and Japan.
Research from GSIA highlights the significant role institutional
investors play in the sustainable investment space, currently accounting
for 86.9% of global sustainable assets under management. However,
increasingly women and millennial investors are placing greater emphasis
on sustainability and social impact within their investment decision
making as they take control of greater assets. According to US Trust,
67% of millennials state that their investment decisions express
their social, political or environmental values. In addition, Morgan
Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing shows that 76% of
female investors believe environmental or social factors are
important considerations in making investment decisions.
About BlackRock
BlackRock is a global leader in investment management, risk management
and advisory services for institutional and retail clients. At June 30,
2015, BlackRock’s AUM was $4.721 trillion. BlackRock helps clients
around the world meet their goals and overcome challenges with a range
of products that include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares®
(exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock
also offers risk management, advisory and enterprise investment system
services to a broad base of institutional investors through BlackRock
Solutions®. As of June 30, 2015, the firm had
approximately 12,400 employees in more than 30 countries and a major
presence in key global markets, including North and South America,
Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East and Africa. For additional
information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com
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Prepared by BlackRock Investments, LLC, member FINRA. ©2015 BlackRock,
Inc. All Rights Reserved. BLACKROCK is a registered trademark of
BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere.
All other trademarks are those of their respective owners.
Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors,
and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information
can be found in the Funds' prospectuses or, if available, the summary
prospectuses which may be obtained by visiting www.iShares.com
or www.blackrock.com.
Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
GMC-0115
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151013006790/en/
For BlackRock, Inc.
Ed Sweeney, 646-231-0268
Ed.Sweeney@blackrock.com
Source: BlackRock, Inc.