PBU, Copenhagen, committed 100 million Danish kroner ($16 million) to SEAF Women Economic Empowerment Fund run by Small Enterprise Assistance Funds, Johannes Bill Ladegaard, head of alternatives at PBU, confirmed in an email.
The fund invests in opportunities that support women's rights in Asia, particularly in Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, and is focused on women-led companies and industries with a high number of female workers. Small Enterprise Assistance Funds is a private equity subsidiary of international organization CARE International.
The Danish Pension Fund of Early Childhood and Youth Educators, which has 80 billion kroner in assets, expects to achieve good returns and strengthen its social investments, Mr. Ladegaard said. The fund's private equity investments account for 3.5% of total assets.
"With investments that have a special focus on women's conditions, we strengthen their employment, earnings and opportunities for social and economic advancement. From experience, it means better economic and social well-being for the whole family. At the same time, we have an expectation that these investments will provide a good return for our members," Sune Schackenfeldt, CEO of the fund, said in a news release.
