Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Första AP-fonden (AP1), one of five buffer funds in the Swedish national income pension system, has expressed its intention to invest in accordance with the UN’s 17 stated Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), according to a press release.
“The world’s environmental and social challenges emphasize the need for a sustainable and global economy where investors can play an important role by investing in these goals,” the press relase states, “Förtsa AP-fonden underlines its striving to be part of the solution to global challenges through its investments, without sacrificing lower returns.”
“We are already making investments at this date that largely live up to the United Nations’ sustainability goals,” says Johan Magnusson, Managing Director of Första AP-fonden. “However, this is an important signal from our side that we want to actively contribute to the development of a more sustainable global economy. Obviously investments always align with market returns or higher.”
An example of such a Första AP-fonden investment was made in Q2 2016, when it invested in Resonance Industrial Water Infrastructure Limited, which focuses on financing water treatment and the reuse of water for industrial use on a global scale.
“The UN SDG’s is a global framework that spans across a range of different asset classes which allow us, as institutional investors, to formulate specific priorities in our investment strategies,” says Mr. Magnusson.
The UN’s objective is to achieve its 17 sustainability goals by 2030.
Other institutional investors who have signed up at the time of writing are the second-, third- and fourth AP-funds alongside APG, PGGM, Fiduciary Management MN, Actiam and Kempen.
Första AP-fonden has around 300b (SEK) in AUM (as of 30 June 2016), diversified in a global portfolio of equities, fixed income securities, real estate, venture capital and hedge funds. Första AP-fonden makes investments with the objective of high and sustainable returns.
Picture: (c) racorn – shutterstock
