UBS announced that the SDG Outcomes Fund, developed by its philanthropy-focused platform UBS Optimus Foundation and impact specialist Bridges Outcomes Partnerships (BOP) has raised $100 million in commitments at its final close, reaching the initial fundraising target for the blended finance fund.
The final close of the fund included an $18 million anchor commitment from the European Investment Bank (EIB), through funding from the European Commission via the ACP Trust Fund.
Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB, said:
“Our commitment is more than just financing – it’s investing in a future where every investment delivers tangible, measured impact. This fund is already bringing advancements in health, education, and climate action to vulnerable communities around the world, with a strong focus on Africa and emerging markets.”
Classified as Article 9 under the EU’s SFDR regulation, the SDG Outcomes Fund aims to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) by investing in outcomes-based financing programs in low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on health, education, women’s economic empowerment, and the environment.
Blended finance brings together public or philanthropic capital and private funding through a common investment structure, enabling investors to invest in certain types of investments that have high perceived risk profiles, such as new climate mitigation-related technologies.
Under the partnership between UBS Optimus Foundation and Bridges, UBS provides first-loss capital, and BOP acts as a portfolio and delivery manager, and brings together partners to find innovative solutions that can achieve measurable impact for each project. The fund provides up-front costs for the programs, with other funders, such as local or national governments, donors, foundations, corporates, NGOs or individuals, only paying if successful, verifiable outcomes are achieved.
Tom Hall, Global Head of Social Impact and Philanthropy and CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation Network, said:
“The SDG Outcomes Fund is a ground-breaking initiative that shows how different forms of capital can come together to deliver outcomes for people who need it most. Reaching the USD 100 million milestone demonstrates the powerful potential of outcomes-based funding programs and their role in shaping future impact investment models.”
UBS noted that the fund is the first specifically designed to support outcomes-based programs in low- and middle-income countries. To date, the fund has already resulted in $13.5 million in payments for social and environmental outcomes.
Mila Lukic OBE, CEO of Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, said:
“The results achieved by the SDG Outcomes Fund already show that by bringing together a range of partners, and critically, by learning from the data about what works best and adjusting our programs accordingly, we can achieve better outcomes for individuals and better value for our funders. This more flexible, more collaborative approach has already helped to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and we are hugely grateful to all our investors for supporting this fund, which will ensure impact-seeking capital catalyzes high-impact programs in some of the areas of greatest need.”
