Ludovic Theau
A leading ethical fund manager, Australian Ethical, has announced the expansion of its private markets offering with the launch of its Australian Ethical Growth Opportunities Fund providing institutional grade ethical private markets investment to wholesale investors.
Australian Ethical’s Growth Opportunities Fund has received Australian Government backing via the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) with a cornerstone commitment up to $125 million, alongside a $500 million seed investment from Australian Ethical.
The Fund provides wholesale investors access to an institutional grade, scalable, diversified portfolio of private markets investments designed to deliver both market rate returns and measurable impact. It is an open-ended fund that blends investments alongside like-minded institutional capital, delivering purposeful, long-term exposure to unlisted real assets.
It follows five key thematics: decarbonisation, digitalisation, urbanisation, circular economy and changing demographics, and employs impact measurement to assess the net benefit of each investment. Initial investments include recycling infrastructure, renewable energy and battery storage, renewable data centres, and aged care facilities.
In addition, every investment is aligned to Australian Ethical’s Ethical Charter, which guides how capital is allocated to create positive outcomes while avoiding unnecessary harm to people, planet and animals.
Australian Ethical Chief Investment Officer Ludovic Theau said: “The biggest opportunity to capitalise on and support Australia’s net zero transition is in private markets. We’re leveraging our expertise, capability and networks to partner with some of the best specialists and managers to democratise access to these opportunities for wholesale channels, and we’re co-investing capital to take advantage of and support these opportunities together.
“We’re pleased to receive the support of the Australian Government through the partnership with the CEFC on this Fund. With the road to net-zero before us, this Fund allows investors to capitalise on the long-term growth opportunity this presents and feel good about where their money is invested.”
According to a McKinsey report for the Business Council of Australia, a 2035 climate target north of 60 per cent will require more than $400 billion in new capital investment from government and industry.
CEFC Executive Director, Heechung Sung said: “This investment demonstrates how the CEFC can use its existing assets to help catalyse new market offerings and support the next phase of growth for sustainable finance.
“By backing a new institutional vehicle with CEFC investments, we are helping to establish a scalable platform for climate-focused assets, crowding in capital and expanding the reach of sustainable finance to a broader audience to accelerate Australia’s decarbonisation.”
Australian Ethical’s Head of Private Markets Adam Roberts said: “Australian Ethical’s Growth Opportunities Fund gives wholesale investors access to a wide range of impactful private investments providing immediate diversity without having to commit and tie-up large amounts of capital in a single private equity or venture capital investment.
“Drawing on two decades of impact investing experience, we apply institutional rigour and active industry engagement to identify solutions to global challenges. We invest where we see enduring tailwinds and the potential for attractive long-term, risk adjusted returns.”
The Fund has an Impact Advisory Forum that is separate to the Fund’s investment team, who review and monitor the impact reporting across the portfolio. It aims to deliver 11-13% per annum (after fees and expenses) over 7-year periods whilst providing quarterly liquidity.