M&G seeks private credit director for £5bn impact fund

Asset manager M&G is set to hire an impact director for private credit for its £5 billion ($6.8 billion; €5.8 billion) multi-asset class impact fund.

M&G launched the Catalyst fund in February 2021 to invest in social and environmental impact through private equity, private credit, real assets and financial assets.

The role will involve leading the ESG and impact focus within investment activities, facilitating the definition and implementation of Catalyst’s impact strategy and classifying and analysing impact of Catalyst’s investments, according to the job advert. It will report to Alex Seddon, head of Catalyst.

The London-headquartered firm manages more than £65.5 billion in private credit, private equity and real assets on behalf of policyholders and other clients of British insurance company Prudential, according to a press release earlier this year. M&G committed to allocate up to £5 billion to Catalyst from its £136 billion with-profits fund, which provides private pension plans and savings plans for public customers.

Catalyst’s impact remit “flexibly encompasses ESG risk management through to positive impact for vulnerable groups”, according to the press release announcing the fund launch. Catalyst uses M&G’s proprietary ESG scorecard and the Impact Management Project’s classification framework to select investments, according to the press release, as well as the IMP+ACT Alliance’s impact classification system, according to the job advert. The fund excludes gambling, tobacco and controversial weapons sectors.

M&G is also expanding its central stewardship and sustainability team with “a range of roles at varying seniority levels”, a spokesperson told New Private Markets. “This expansion will help meet increased client demand for ESG-integrated, sustainable and impact products and develop the roadmap to meet M&G’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its investment portfolios by 2050,” the spokesperson added. The central stewardship and sustainability team was formed in November 2020 with 13 professionals led by Rob Marshall. It works “across M&G’s investment engine in all asset classes” and with portfolio companies, according to a press release announcing the team’s formation.