Chosen from a competitive field of 129 applications from every state and territory, the nine organisations selected are: Common Ground, Ember Connect, Global Sisters, Prison Network, Protea Place, SisterWorks, Stepping Stone Social Enterprise, The Social Outfit and WomenCAN Australia.

These partners all support women most impacted by economic inequality – including rural and regional women, incarcerated women, First Nations women, migrant and refugee women, single mothers and women with disability – to access meaningful and sustainable work.

Caroline Gurney, CEO of Future Generation, said: “Gender inequality is holding our country back. Our new partners are doing vital work to help some of Australia’s most vulnerable women build the foundations for economic independence and security. We are delighted to welcome them into the Future Generation family.”

FGW has also announced three new members to its Advisory Committee – Georgina Byron AM, CEO of the Snow Foundation, Carol Schwartz AO, one of Australia’s leading business and community leaders, and Serena Grant, Director of Business and Human Rights at Minderoo Foundation. They bring deep expertise in gender equity, investing in women entrepreneurship, and social impact. They will be joining existing Advisory members, Elana Rubin AM, Natasha Stott Despoja AO, Marianne Perkovic and Elizabeth Lewin.

Geoff Wilson AO, Founder of Future Generation, said: “Securing advisers of Georgina, Carol, and Serena’s calibre is a significant milestone for Future Generation Women. It underscores the strength of the Future Generation model, which allows investors to access leading fund managers and earn solid investment returns, while simultaneously supporting good causes.”

Backed by Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, FGW is managed entirely by women portfolio managers, who waive all management and performance fees so that 1% of the fund’s assets can be donated to charity each year. The unlisted trust builds on the proven Future Generation model, which has to date donated $100 million to social causes while still delivering investment returns to its 15,000 shareholders.

Emily Fuller, Future Generation’s Social Impact Director, said: “Supporting women to access work – especially those women facing the toughest structural barriers – is one of the critical drivers of closing the economic gap between genders. In future funding rounds, FGW will focus on the other levers, which are building financial capability among women and girls and dismantling the harmful gender norms that are known to underpin the persisting gender gaps in Australia.”

FGW will work with its new partners on a shared measurement framework to track both individual outcomes and collective progress across the portfolio.

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Annabelle Miller

ECP Asset Management’s Global Growth Fund has been selected as the latest partner of Future Generation Women.

Annabelle Miller, principal at ECP Asset Management, will provide pro bono investment support for global equities, joining the select group of female investment managers.

Future Generation Women’s investment objectives are to provide investors with a combination of income and capital growth over the medium-to-long term. The fund invests in Australian and global equities, and consists of a balanced mixture of various Australian and global equity strategies, now including the ECP Global Growth Fund.

The ECP Global Growth Fund is a high-conviction, global equity fund focused on investing in high-quality growth businesses. The ECP Global Growth Fund’s portfolio is constructed of high-quality franchises, excluding those companies who do not have a sustainable competitive advantage.

Ms Miller said: “Future Generation Women’s mission to drive eclose the gender gap in Australia and support not-for-profits that are driving economic equality, resonates well with ECP’s values”.

“Becoming a partner to Future Generation, gives us the opportunity to contribute to a fund that not only seeks strong returns but also actively works to improve the lives of women and their children. We are looking forward to making a meaningful impact to the fund and its purpose, and ensuring the investment objectives of the fund continue to excel.”

Caroline Gurney, Future Generation chief executive officer said: “Future Generation Women represents the next frontier in investing for impact, bringing a gender lens into investment decisions. We welcome Annabelle Miller and the ECP Global Growth Fund as our newest partner to our fund. The addition of the ECP Global Growth Fund strengthens our investment portfolio and allows Future Generation Women to further our mission of driving gender equality through investments and philanthropy.”

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Lee Hopperton

Future Generation, the $1.4 billion philanthropic investment group, has appointed Lee Hopperton as its inaugural Chief Investment Officer (CIO).

Caroline Gurney, CEO of Future Generation said, “Lee’s appointment adds significant investment and distribution muscle to our operations and will elevate our growth strategy to the next level. We are thrilled to have someone of Lee’s calibre join the team. His understanding of listed equities, extensive industry knowledge and relationships will help boost Future Generation’s reach, as well as our ability to provide both strong shareholder returns and funding to vital social causes.”

Mr Hopperton will work across the three Future Generation funds: the listed investment companies Future Generation Australia (ASX: FGX) and Future Generation Global (ASX: FGG), as well as the newly-launched unlisted trust Future Generation Women. The group has $1.4 billion under management and has donated more than $87 million to Australian non-profits since launching ten years ago.

Mr Hopperton has more than 25 years’ experience in the investment industry, having held senior roles at JP Morgan Chase, Macquarie and Auscap Asset Management. He has worked in Australia, Asia and the United Kingdom. Most recently, Lee was Head of Private Wealth at Perpetual Asset Management.

Lee Hopperton, CIO of Future Generation said, “Future Generation is an incredible model which makes a significant social impact without compromising investment returns. This is a rare and exciting opportunity in financial services as the model has generated solid returns with lower volatility. I am looking forward to ensuring that more people understand just how powerful Future Generation is,” said Mr Hopperton.

The Future Generation funds are managed by leading Australian and global fund managers, who waive all management and performance fees so that 1% of the group’s assets can be donated to non-profits that support youth at risk, youth mental health and economic equality for women.

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