EQT launches impact-driven longer-hold fund

• EQT strengthens commitment to drive positive impact by launching the EQT Future fund, targeting longer-hold investments in mature companies with market-shaping impact potential
•  Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, and Jacob Wallenberg, Chairperson of Investor AB, to co-chair the EQT Future Mission Board which will provide strategic direction and impact-focused advice
•  The EQT Future fund will have a target size of EUR 4 billion and a portion of its carried interest will be linked to achieving portfolio-level impact KPIs, including reduction of GHG emissions using the Science Based Targets

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on three decades of future-proofing companies, EQT now strengthens its platform-wide commitment to make a positive impact by launching the EQT Future fund. EQT Future is an impact-driven longer-hold fund which will apply EQT's active ownership model to accelerate sustainable transformation of companies alongside creating attractive risk adjusted returns. 

The launch of EQT Future comes just days after the announcement of EQT as the first private markets firm globally to formalize science based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). EQT will address climate change by defining ambitious greenhouse gas emission ("GHG") reduction targets, for both its own and the portfolio companies' operations.

The EQT Future fund will invest in mature, high-quality companies with market-shaping impact potential and where transformation requires a longer ownership horizon. Investments will be made in line with three key objectives i) Planet (safeguard resources and protect our climate), ii) People (improve mental and physical health), and iii) Prosperity (create equality of opportunity).

Every investment that EQT Future makes needs a clear impact thesis and the fund will deploy an Impact Acceleration Plan for all its portfolio companies to achieve the ambitious asset-specific and portfolio-level KPIs. These are, namely, i) reduction of GHG emissions using the Science Based Targets, ii) improved employee wellbeing through industry top-quartile eNPS (Net Promoter Score), iii) and increased gender diversity where progress will be tracked towards a 50 percent split within the top 20 percent of earners in each company. Up to 20 percent of EQT Future's total carried interest will be linked to achieving the portfolio-level KPIs.