(Montreal) Innocap and Finance Montreal want to launch a $1 billion sustainable investment fund. The objective is to strengthen Montreal’s expertise in sustainable finance by entrusting capital to managers based in Montreal.
A dozen partners have expressed interest in the “Invested” fund, which is to be launched this fall, says Senior Director, Impact and ESG Solutions at Innocap, Caroline Bergeron. Their commitment would represent sums equivalent to 300 million. “Invested is ultimately aiming to raise a commitment of one billion assets”, specifies the director.
The Desjardins Group, National Bank, the Solidarity Fund, Fondaction and the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec are among the institutions that have expressed their interest.
By entrusting management mandates “between 50 million and 75 million” to established firms, the “Invested” fund aims to strengthen Montreal’s expertise in ESG portfolio strategy. Firms have until June 30 to submit their applications. “A crucial objective is to encourage managers who are currently in Quebec to develop the best ESG-impact investing strategies,” explains Ms.me Bergeron.
Mandates could also be given to international managers provided they open an office in Quebec. We want to “make them understand that Montreal is the place in North America and that if they want to launch a sustainable finance strategy, then this is where they should deploy their teams, establish their offices”.
Even for large international firms, Mme Bergeron believes that a mandate of at least 50 million is a “substantial” sum to attract new businesses to Montreal. “To start a new strategy, it’s not easy to raise assets, especially in the markets we know today. »