The country's first-ever "impact investment"-focused open-ended mutual fund (MF) will be launched next month (March), targeting the ready-made garment (RMG) sector workers.
ICL, an asset management company under Impress Group, said on Wednesday that the Esquire-ICL Apparel Fund will be introduced to provide an investment opportunity to the country's around 5.0 million RMG workers with return. The initial size of the fund is Tk 250 million.
"Formal launching of the fund will take place on March 15 at Dhaka Club," said Arastoo Khan, Chairman of Build Bangladesh, a concern of Impress Group - working on impact investment and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
People from the clothing sector will attend the launching programme, he added.
Impact investment is aimed at generating specific social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains. The point of such investment is to use money and investment capital for positive social results.
Impact investment may take the form of numerous asset classes, and may result in many specific outcomes.
ICL officials said they will ensure impact of the investment through international standard matrix.
"Even, we will inform the investors what impact has been generated through their investment," said Biplab Das, head of research - ICL.
Each garment worker may invest a minimum of Tk 500 in the fund, which can be bought and sold at net asset value (NAV), he added.
