The UK Equity Impact–Employment Opportunities fund will be the first equity fund for Big Issue’s social investment arm, Big Issue Invest.
The partnership with Aberdeen Standard Investments will invest in publicly listed companies that create jobs that pay above minimum wage, are boosting employment in underserved areas and where a majority of staff are in the UK.
The fund’s goal is to produce competitive returns while supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goal of “full and productive employment,” Aberdeen’s Lesley Duncan says. The fund is Aberdeen’s second SDG-focused equity vehicle.
Big Issue Invest, for its part, has supported more than 350 social enterprises and charities as a lender. It also has a £100 million ($139 million) bond fund with Columbia Threadneedle.
