Zurich, 21 May 2019 - UBS, the world's leading global wealth manager, today announced it has raised more than USD 93 million for Sustainable Solutions Fund III, the newly closed growth equity fund from leading sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management.

The fund aims to generate long-term returns through USD 50-150 million investments in high growth, sustainable companies, defined as providing goods and services consistent with a low-carbon, prosperous, equitable, healthy and safe society. With commitments in excess of USD 1 billion, the fund will invest in companies which make a positive net contribution to society and support growth ventures with a clear mandate to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy.

The partnership extends UBS's leading position in sustainable and impact investing solutions, which include: launching the first 100% sustainable cross-asset portfolio for private clients, which now has USD 5 billion under management; pledging to raise at least USD 5 billion in SDG-related impact investments over five years; creating the UBS Oncology Impact Fund, the largest healthcare impact investment to date; and partnering with the World Bank Group to offer development bank bond investments to wealth management clients, as well as serving on the steering committee, and being a founding signatory, of the World Bank IFC's new Operating Principles for Impact Management.

Al Gore, Co-Founder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, said: 'We believe that we are at the early stages of a technology-led sustainability revolution which has the scale of the industrial revolution, and the pace of the digital revolution.'

'Generation is a pure play sustainable investment manager. We seek businesses that provide goods and services consistent with a low-carbon, prosperous, equitable, healthy and fair society,' said David Blood, Co-Founder and Senior Partner at Generation Investment Management. 'Sustainable investing is all we do, and all we will ever do. With a continuum of capital, and the collaboration between our public and private investment teams, we can be true long-term equity partners to the very best companies big and small.'

Mark Haefele, Chief Investment Officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: 'We share Generation Investment Management's view that longer-term trends towards sustainability present investors with opportunities to both support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and fulfil their financial objectives.'

Christian Wiesendanger, Head of Investment Platforms and Solutions at UBS, said: 'We are very pleased we could raise this significant sum, which should contribute to the sustainability cause and create longer term returns. Our clients increasingly demand such solutions and we'll continue to seek comparable opportunities.'

According to UBS's latest white paper, presented at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos ('Awareness, simplification, and contribution '), more resources are needed, including private wealth, to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

By collaborating with Generation Investment Management, which is responsible for approximately USD 22 billion in assets under management, UBS has found a powerful partner in its mission to offer clients sustainable investing solutions. Sustainable Solutions Fund III will focus its investments in three primary areas:

  • Planetary health: low-carbon solutions transforming mobility, food, energy, and enterprise
  • People health: enabling health outcomes and a lower-cost, accessible healthcare system
  • Financial inclusion: supporting access to finance and an equitable future of work

Investment opportunities in this fund are restricted to qualifying investors only, are not available for general distribution to retail clients, and are not available in certain jurisdictions.

Your capital is at risk. The price and value of your investments and the income derived from them may go down as well as up. You may not get back the amount you originally invested.

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS' strategy is centered on our leading global wealth management business and our premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by Asset Management and the Investment Bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 52 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in the Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 14% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs approximately 61,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

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UBS Group AG published this content on 21 May 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 May 2019 12:52:11 UTC