ACC's Private Markets team seeks investments with health and safety impact
Our Private Markets team wants to hear from promising investment candidates who are wanting to make a positive difference to health, safety and wellbeing.
ACC has launched its first Impact fund and is seeking investments that will make a positive impact on the health, safety and wellbeing of New Zealanders as well as providing a commercial return.
Our Private Markets team wants to hear from promising investment candidates, primarily in the New Zealand market. We welcome approaches from companies, organisations and funds seeking investment to make a positive difference to health, safety and wellbeing.
The $50 million Impact Portfolio has the characteristic twin objectives of Impact funds – to generate positive, measurable social impacts and achieve superior risk-adjusted returns that will help sustain the Scheme for generations to come.
While New Zealand’s Impact investment community is still emerging, in Private Markets globally there’s some US$71 billion of assets under management with verifiable intent to contribute to measurable Impact alongside financial return (Ref: IFC report).
“This portfolio is the first of its kind in the New Zealand market, combining ACC’s established expertise in injury prevention with its proven skill in investment management,” ACC Board Investment Committee Chair James Miller says.
Experienced health & safety (H&S) advocate George Adams is an advisor to the Impact Portfolio. His deep H&S knowledge includes advising WorkSafe via their Work-Related Health Advisory Board, engaging with business leaders and Chairing the Independent Forestry Safety Review in 2014. He also brings extensive commercial and corporate governance experience.
“ACC is a natural partner - its reason for being is to prevent harm, it has ongoing work in injury prevention, and it has a successful Private Markets team motivated to make a genuine impact on people’s lives,” George says.
“The HSWA (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015) has created new levels of demand for H&S solutions that weren’t there before.”
The Impact Portfolio has a notional size of $50 million but each investment opportunity will be assessed on its merits. The Private Markets team doesn’t have a defined ‘cheque size’ for each investment. While the preference is for equity and preferred equity, all parts of the capital structure will be considered.
The Impact Portfolio will seek investments that improve health and wellbeing, advance health and safety standards in New Zealand, improve the rehabilitation experience of those on ACC, and assist in the reduction of ACC’s outstanding claims liability (OCL).
The Impact Portfolio is part of the wider context of ACC’s ongoing ethical investment policy work and its commitment to deliver both social and financial impact. ACC’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) approach recognises that a public good role is at the heart of the corporation and its legislation.
This news follows on from the announcement in June that ACC has developed a climate change policy framework and news last week that ACC will invest $50m in a partnership with CORT Community Housing to build 100 new homes in Auckland for families on the public housing waiting list.
The ACC Private Markets team can be contacted at PrivateMarkets@acc.co.nz.
