Beckon Impact Growth Equity Fund

Product Name	Beckon Impact Growth Equity Fund
Issuer	Beckon Capital
Category	Investment
Type	Private Equity
Target	Wholesale, Institutional
Certified Since	2022

Asset Classes	Private equity
Markets	Australia
Investment Approaches	Impact investing, ESG Integration
It Includes:	Impact investments More sustainable companies
It has some level of screening for:
It fully excludes:	Armaments Fossil fuels Gambling Human rights abuses Labour rights violations Predatory lending Tobacco
Broker	Responsible Returns
URL	https://www.responsiblereturns.com.au/investment-options/beckon-impact-growth-equity-fund/profile

Overview

Beckon’s mission is to create value by supporting Australian SME businesses that achieve positive impact for individual wellbeing, local communities and the planet. Beckon thinks differently about impact. Beckon believes that: * All businesses can and should understand their holistic impact, both positive and negative (“externalities”) * This understanding will create businesses that are financially stronger, more resilient, and greater contributors to the wellbeing of their communities, people and the planet * The team plays a leading role in supporting companies across all sectors with intention and capacity to deliver positive impact - whether or not delivering impact was their foundational principle *Supporting businesses across the impact maturity spectrum to aspire to excellence will deliver the broadest positive impact across the universe of small business in Australia Beckon’s growth equity investment style is particularly suited to this inclusive and hands-on approach to impact.

Description

The team formed Beckon with the firm belief that financial returns and impact are intrinsically linked, and that financial performance can be significantly improved through the use of impact insights to inform core business decisions.

Beckon also believes in the capability and potential of Australia’s Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. This is a sector that powers the economy and drives innovation, yet could achieve so much more with greater support and access to capital.

Impact + SMEs = sustainable returns that make a difference

These fundamental beliefs underpin an asset class, new to Australia – Impact Growth Equity. Beckon expects this asset class will offer strong returns and the capacity to embrace impact in a way that can drive the sustainability and resilience of those returns, while making a difference to people and the planet. This return expectation is based in part on the experience of growth equity internationally, but also on the quality and initiative displayed by Australian enterprises and communities.

Communities can no longer simply rely on big business, big government or big finance for the answer. The logic of “bigger is better” is falling short. Bureaucracies are struggling to get resources and services to support people and the environment.

Beckon believes that the SME sector is the answer to these challenges. This sector contributes 66% of the workforce and nearly 55% to GDP. It is the driver of innovation, yet many of these companies struggle to access the resources they need to take up the opportunities before them. This SME financing gap is a drag on our economy and our communities’ wellbeing.

Beckon’s impact measurement methodology incorporates:

An investment scoring system that concurrently scores an applicants' impact and financial potential
An outcomes-based impact measurement tool similar to the Impact Management Project’s 5 Dimensions of Impact
A 360° stakeholder assessment based on ESG criteria adapted for use with Australian SMEs

International standards for impact assessment are evolving rapidly. Beckon is confident that its methodology meets and exceeds current standards and it will continue to evolve this methodology to meet global best practices and standards.

RIAA Note: The Beckon Impact Growth Equity Fund is conditionally approved for certification provided the portfolio holdings and performance of the fund is disclosed once available. This will be provided once the fund starts making investments.

Product documentation

Supporting documents

Join or sign up for this product

Find a responsible investment adviser to discuss my options

Sign up to learn more and get updates on ethical and responsible investing

The products featured on this site have all achieved certification under the Responsible Investment Association Australasia’s (RIAA) Responsible Investment Certification Program.

Transparency & Verification

What sets these investment products aside from regular ones on the market is they all have some type of responsible or ethical strategy applied to them.

At a minimum, their issuers explain these strategies in public documents and open their offices and books to third party verifiers who check these strategies are implemented according to what you read about them publicly.

You can also click through to see the underlying managers and / or stock holdings in each certified product as well as access a certified product’s recent performance results.

Stewardship & Impact

In July 2019, we lifted our requirements of certified products which we are phasing in over 18 months.

We now require that issuers have organisation-wide commitments to responsible investing and they exercise their responsibilities as stewards of your money - through engaging with companies to improve sustainability performance and voting on shareholder resolutions where possible. All certified products now need to at least avoid significant harm and their issuers will annually report against any sustainability-based claims made by their products. This uplift in program standards is part of our passion for, and on-going commitment to, responsible and ethical investing.

Even though we're lifting the bar, we know your convictions to doing good with your money may be higher and so we have served up our member's certified products with a large dose of transparency and independent verification, so that you can draw your own conclusions from reliable information and choose investments that best suit your individual needs.

*Information Disclosures

While all reasonable efforts are undertaken to ensure information and links on site are current there may be instances where information and documents are updated during the course certification (eg. PDS, Fact Sheet). Certified product issuers are required to update this information as soon as possible on the Responsible Returns site, but there may be some extenuating circumstances impacting timeframes.

The certification program may also assess information provided for certification based on proposed future changes to a responsible investment process that is in-line with Responsible Investment Association Australasia’s (RIAA) Responsible Investment Certification Program criteria. In such instances, members are similarly required to update this information on Responsible Returns within an agreed future timeframe. Old document versions may be reflected on site until this process is finalised.