AEW transforms UK vehicle into first impact fund

AEW has launched its first impact investing strategy, seeded with £100 million ($125 million) of assets.

The real estate investment manager’s AEW UK Impact Fund is an open-ended fund seeded with a £100m portfolio of UK assets, comprising specialist supported living, key worker accommodation, care homes and residential-led town centre regeneration projects.

The launch of the new fund follows approval by the Financial Conduct Authority and investors to transform the AEW Real Return Fund into this new strategy using its existing portfolio of impact assets. 

AEW is now raising capital for the impact fund, targeting a range of investors, from institutional capital and local government pension schemes to private wealth. It will adopt an active management, core strategy, seeking to generate a sustainable income stream and return for investors.

The fund’s impact framework focuses on providing people in underserved locations with access to real estate; funding developments and refurbishments which service a societal need and ensuring investments are socially and environmentally sustainable. 

AEW is working with social advisory and impact measurement firm The Good Economy to align the fund with the best principles of impact investing, the requirements of the Global Impact Investing Network and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Nick Winsley, head of AEW UK, said: “The built environment has a huge influence on people’s everyday lives and the launch of our first impact fund provides investors with an opportunity to invest in a way that creates both a tangible positive social and environmental impact, whilst also achieving their return objectives.”