The latest developments in the ESG space.

M&G, an international savings and investments business, has announced that it has made a ÂŁ200 million ($244 million) commitment to two impact investment strategies to help tackle the global food challenge. 

The two investment strategies in Asia and Latin America are designed to improve the production and availability of healthy food worldwide, as well as rural livelihoods, while strengthening the agricultural value chain by building resilience to climate change, the firm said in a statement.

The move comes after M&G acquired responsAbility earlier this year, a Swiss-based leader in impact investing across emerging markets. 

According to the firm, demand for healthy and sustainable food will increase as the global population grows and consumers change their diets and consumption patterns. It is expected that the consumption of fruits and vegetables, for instance, will have to double over the next 30 years. 

M&G’s ÂŁ200 million investment in the strategies is on behalf of the ÂŁ133 billion Prudential With Profits Fund, which is fully invested in by the UK market-leading PruFund. The diverse strategy seeks to partner with specialist investment teams who have the potential to provide excellent investment returns alongside diversification by both investment type and region, the firm said.

Jack Daniels, chief investment officer at M&G, said: “It’s essential that investors play a role in solving the biggest challenges we face. In this instance, investing in strategies that address feeding a growing population in a sustainable way, in economies where the tangible impact will be greater.” 

“This commitment demonstrates how we can use our investment firepower as an asset owner to provide scale to responsAbility’s specialist capabilities and their expertise to deliver financial returns while having a positive impact,” he continued.

Rochus Mommartz, CEO of responsAbility, added: “M&G’s investment is accelerating our growth by attracting more institutional investors to our pioneering range of strategies.”  

“Through these two strategies, which aim to generate above-benchmark financial returns alongside creating tangible impact, we will utilise our 20 years of experience to positively contribute to the transformation of global agriculture and food value chains,” he added.