Schroders Capital publishes latest sustainability and impact report
Schroders Capital has invested about $1bn (£784m) across 175 transactions through its impact investing specialist BlueOrchard, according to its latest Sustainability and Impact Report.
Meanwhile, the investment manager reported the closing of its seventh sustainability linked loan by its infrastructure debt business, to future-proof strategic infrastructure.
To date, Schroders Capital has invested $817m in insurance-linked securities transactions specifically designed to contribute to reducing the ‘insurance protection gap’.
Highlighting the importance of this investment, the firm pointed to Asia, where an alarming 85 per cent of economic losses from natural disasters between 2014 and 2023 were uninsured.
Read more: BlueOrchard launches Impact Credit Fund
Schroders also highlighted a £50m investment from Homes England which will help it deliver impact through its real estate business. The Schroders Capital Real Estate Impact Fund is focused on addressing the shortage in social and affordable accommodation, as well as the regeneration of town centres.
More generally, “there is a significant opportunity to deliver new homes in areas of high demand in Europe”, the firm said.
To date, Schroders Greencoat, Schroders Capital’s specialist renewables and energy transition infrastructure manager, has invested $12.6bn across wind, solar and energy transition assets, generating 12.3TWh of renewable energy, avoiding 5.7 million tonnes of CO2 compared to what would have been generated by non-renewable energy sources, and powering 3.6 million homes.
Additionally, Schroders Greencoat has been the largest investor in UK green hydrogen.
Read more: Schroders’ private markets business sees £1bn of inflows in Q3
Last year in the UK, Schroders Greencoat was the first to launch a renewables-focused LTAF and a sister global semi-liquid Article 9 fund.
The firm said 64 per cent of its private equity general partners were UN Principles for Responsible Investment signatories in 2023, rising from 52 per cent in 2022.
Furthermore, Schroders Capital’s private equity sustainable development goals aligned co-investments have achieved 32 per cent net internal rate of return.
“Sustainability is more critical than ever to deliver long-term competitive returns,” said Schroders Capital chief executive Georg Wunderlin. “It is simply a once in a generation business opportunity. Our ambition is to build a new type of private markets firm, one which is anchored in sustainability and delivers the superior performance and real-world difference our clients expect from us.”
BlueOrchard deputy chief executive, head of sustainability and impact at Schroders Capital, and global head of impact at Schroders Maria Teresa Zappia said: “Investors remain committed to sustainable and impact investing, despite immense challenges. We see a strong, ever-growing client demand for sustainable and impact investing across all segments and geographies. To deliver above and beyond on their imperatives, we strive to combine agile, diverse sustainability and impact capabilities with a seamless execution approach.”
Read more: Schroders publishes first impact report
