The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

M&G Investments
With the outlook for China currently more upbeat, M&G Investments has just launched the M&G (Lux) China Fund to provide investors with access to the market; it will identify attractive long-term investment opportunities. 

The fund is managed by David Perrett who has spent more than three decades investing in China and the wider region, the firm said in a statement. He is supported by Singapore-based deputy fund manager, Jamie Zhou and the wider Asia Pacific equity investment team which manages about €23.8 billion ($30.7 billion) in assets across the region. The fund is structured as a sub-fund of a UCITS Luxembourg SICAV, and will be available to institutional and wholesale investors in Europe, as well as professional investors across Asia.

The M&G China Fund’s investment approach centres on a universe of around 300 Chinese stocks, which has been curated over years of investment research. With a focus on risk pricing, the team’s bottom-up stock picking approach use its knowledge, network of companies and contacts in the region.

“In our view, China’s stock market capitalisation is currently disproportionately small compared to the size of its economy, with many stocks trading at compelling levels of valuation,” Perrett said. “At the same time, many Chinese companies are showing improving operational resilience and are increasingly focused on maximising profits and boosting shareholder returns through both higher dividends and share buy-backs.”

“In addition to ongoing corporate self-help, many Chinese businesses are also leaders in globally growing areas such as renewable energy and digital supply-chain management. We believe our bottom-up stock picking approach, combined with rigorous risk management should enable us to deliver consistent and attractive returns for our investors."

The team manages sizable mandates, investing in Asian and Japanese equities on behalf of M&G Life’s £128 billion With Profits Fund as well as external investors, as it seeks to increase the diversity of its geographical allocation.

The M&G (Lux) China Fund aims to provide a higher total return (capital growth plus income) net of OCF than that of the MSCI China with 100 per cent China A Share Index over any five-year period. Typically holding between 50 to 80 stocks, it focuses on quality companies with strong balance sheets, sustainable cash flows and attractive valuations. 

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management
Dutch-based Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management has just raised €374 million ($404 million) during the first closing of its third Europe-focused private equity strategy. The funds, which are offered to private banking clients in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, focus on small and medium-sized private companies in Northwestern Europe, the firm said in a statement.

“The successful closing demonstrates that our private banking clients are increasingly interested in non-listed investments as a complement to their listed investment portfolios. This is due to the potential returns and to be less dependent on stock market sentiment,” Wendy Winkelhuijzen, member of the management board of Van Lanschot Kempen, responsible for private banking Netherlands, said. “Our strategy makes this asset class more accessible to our experienced investors, such as high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs with a long-term focus. The strong interest from these client groups has translated into this successful first closing of the fund in a relatively short period.” 

“The interest in non-listed investments is widespread among private banking clients in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium. We facilitate this through both the Kempen European Private Equity Fund III for private banking in the Netherlands and Switzerland, and the MercLan European Private Equity Fund for clients of Mercier Van Lanschot in Belgium,” Sven Smeets, head of the private equity strategy at Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management, added. “Both funds, with similar underlying investments, are managed by our dedicated private equity team. This third fund builds on the two previous successful European private equity strategies. It is part of the ongoing offering of new private market solutions that Van Lanschot Kempen provides to its private banking clients.” 

Kempen European Private Equity Fund III is a sub-fund of the Kempen Umbrella Coöperatief, domiciled in the Netherlands. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management NV is the manager of the umbrella fund. The sub-fund is registered under the license of the fund at the Netherlands Authority for financial markets.

L&G
UK financial services group L&G has just committed a further $235 million to nature conservation and sustainable development in emerging markets through the launch of its Nature and Social Outcomes strategy. This initial investment has been made through L&G’s Future World Multi-Asset Fund and Retirement Income Multi-Asset Fund – both held within L&G's main default Target Date and Lifetime Advantage Fund ranges, available to its 5.5 million UK Defined Contribution members.

The $235 million investment for the strategy brings L&G’s total commitment to nature conservation and sustainable development in emerging markets to over $1.1 billion, capitalising on the investment opportunity presented by the $4 trillion annual funding gap to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the potential for strong returns and diversification that exposure to emerging markets can provide.

The newly-launched Nature and Social Outcomes strategy diversifies L&G’s private markets platform, expanding its commitments to addressing the funding gap faced by developing countries, the firm said in a statement. By using financing methods that benefit from credit enhancement through multilateral guarantees and insurance, such as use of proceeds bonds, debt conversion bonds, and outcome bonds, the strategy aims to deploy capital through projects that aim to deliver strong commercial returns alongside positive nature and social outcomes. Indicative projects will target habitat and biodiversity conservation, as well as socially beneficial infrastructure to support education, healthcare, and access to clean water, the firm continued.

L&G has now committed over $1.1 billion in private debt financing for nature conservation and sustainable development in emerging markets, targeting projects worldwide.

L&G completed its first direct investment for the Nature and Social Outcomes strategy in December 2024 with an investment in Ecuador’s second debt conversion for nature. This initiative, led by the Republic of Ecuador and The Nature Conservancy, is the first of its kind to support forestry and freshwater conservation, the firm said. The partnership should provide significant gross savings over the life of the transaction, unlocking around $460 million to facilitate the Biocorridor Amazónico programme, which aims to protect 4.6 million hectares of forest and 18,000km of freshwater, as well as benefiting indigenous populations and communities.

“Exposure to emerging markets has the potential to offer attractive returns for investors whilst aiming to support communities and ecosystems which play an indispensable role in upholding economies across the globe,” Jake Harper, senior investment manager, Asset Management, L&G, said. “Innovative debt financing allows investors to allocate to nature conservation and sustainable development in emerging [markets] whilst benefitting from an improved credit rating and higher returns. By leveraging our proven track record and long-standing industry relationships, we believe L&G has distinct access to diverse investment opportunities and is advantageously positioned to shape future transactions in the sector.”