Generali France launches impact investment fund to improve the lives of vulnerable families and refugees
- The fund in partnership with INCO Ventures, a pioneer in impact investing, is launched for institutional investors to aid the growth of social enterprises focused on disadvantaged communities
- The fund will be available for individuals through GF Ambition Solidaire, a unit-linked saving solutions of Generali Vie, a company governed by the French insurance code.
- The initiative is fully in-line with Generali Group’s flagship foundation, The Human Safety Net, aim to unlock the potential of people living in vulnerable circumstances.
According to a recent study by Opinionway, one-in-two French people would be prepared to favour responsible investment – this is particularly important given the challenges many vulnerable people and communities are facing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
To meet these challenges, Generali France, in partnership with INCO Ventures, have created a fund dedicated to support the growth of unlisted companies with a strong social impact. In line with the work of Generali’s flagship international foundation, The Human Safety Net (THSN), the fund will increase the resilience of communities living in vulnerable situations to unleash their potential.
The fund, available to institutional investors and individual savers will invest equity or quasi-equity in associations or unlisted companies that have a strong social impact with a visible and proven economic model. The companies or associations that qualify for the fund will meet the following conditions, which are in line with the strategy and focus of The Human Safety Net:
- Improve the lives of the most vulnerable – disadvantaged families and refugees – in particular by enabling children’s access to education;
- Support entrepreneurial projects of refugees or boost their professional integration.
Generali’s commitment to work together with its customers for a common good is enhanced through this fund. The existing unit-linked fund available to customers has now been updated and renamed Generali Ambition Solidaire to reflect this new approach.
The fund and its objectives will help to renew the commercial unit-linked offer of Generali France, while supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, amplify the effect of the Generali Human Safety Net’s work in France and it will comply fully with the obligations of the French PACTE law.
GF Ambition Solidaire will be available for the majority of French life insurance customers and will be distributed via Generali France’s networks and partners.
Jean-Laurent Granier, Chairman and CEO of Generali France: “Since the mid-2000s, Generali France has been committed to a responsible investment strategy and to an ambitious approach to social and environmental responsibility. Our foundation, The Human Safety Net, launched in 2017 and today present in more than 20 countries is a clear indication of our commitment. With the launch of Generali Impact Investing and the opening of our GF Ambition Solidaire unit-linked support to impact investing, we are taking a new step in our commitment through a triple dynamic. On the one hand, we are positioning ourselves in the booming impact investing market. On the other hand, we give our clients the opportunity to invest meaningfully in the common good. Finally, by funding businesses and organizations that help improve the lives of the most vulnerable, we complement the work of our THSN Foundation, which supports both vulnerable families and encourages refugee entrepreneurship. It is therefore a resolutely virtuous circle, and a win-win process for all stakeholders, in which we deeply believe.”
Nicolas Hazard, CEO of Inco and special adviser in charge of the social and solidarity economy at the European Commission, reporting to President Ursula Van der Leyen : "I am very pleased with this collaboration between INCO Ventures and Generali France. Because in the face of social and climate emergencies, a change of paradigm requires the development of companies that are leaders in a new, more inclusive and sustainable economy. Native impact" companies for whom impact investment is the natural financial instrument for their development, because it is aligned with a shared objective: that of reconciling economic performance and the general interest on a daily basis.”