PARIS, FRANCE, 11 March 2015: The Sustainability | Finance | Real Economies fund (SFRE, pronounced Sapphire) has been launched. SFRE is the first global open-ended investment company created to deploy substantial amounts of long-term capital to support the growing segment of banks focused on serving individuals and enterprises in the real economy whilst delivering a triple bottom line of prosperity, planet and people.

SFRE was initiated by the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) to meet growth capital needs of values-based banks, and expand their impact and reach. “SFRE is a concrete example of positive financial innovation focused on meeting human needs in the real economy.” said Peter Blom, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, and CEO of Triodos Bank (The Netherlands). “Our research identified approximately 2,000 banks with this focus having assets of USD 600 billion and equity of USD 65 billion. They represent a significant, growing, positive-money movement that requires and deserves new sources of growth capital.”