Net Purpose, the platform for sustainable investors, today announces the acquisition of SDI AOP, the asset owner platform for sustainable development investments.  The transaction will create a unified standard to accelerate investing to achieve climate and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Under the terms of the new partnership, the SDI AOP Founders – APG, PGGM, AustralianSuper and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. (BCI) – will continue to play an active role in shaping the platform’s strategy and methodology, including representation on the Net Purpose Board. Net Purpose will bring the SDI AOP methodology, data processing and customer functions in-house, and launch enhanced SDG classifications on the Net Purpose platform. Net Purpose Founder and CEO, Samantha Duncan, will lead the organisation.  

Working together, the group will serve clients representing more than US$40 trillion in assets. Clients can look forward to a more comprehensive product platform exclusively focused on sustainable and impact investors across asset classes, and a larger team of sustainable investing experts to support their investment goals.   

Partnership to accelerate sustainable investing

Net Purpose and SDI AOP were founded with a shared mission: to accelerate investments to deliver on the SDGs, and thereby support investment outcomes for end beneficiaries.  

The two organisations have built highly aligned methodologies to assess a company’s contribution to SDGs, and set a high standard for measuring outcomes that directly contribute to SDG targets. As sustainable investing advances, and sustainable goals become more urgent, this partnership marks a renewed commitment from both organisations to accelerate progress, and to address market challenges of fragmented data and methodologies. 

Claudia Kruse, Chief Sustainability & Strategy Officer at APG and Chair of the Asset Owner Platform for Sustainable Development Investments (SDI AOP), said: “The SDI AOP was established by APG, PGGM, BCI and AustralianSuper to create a shared understanding of investments that contribute to the  SDGs, and to help identify Sustainable Development Investments (SDIs).  Five years in, we are thrilled to have built a committed community of clients with whom we have set a global standard.  We are incredibly excited for this next chapter of the SDI AOP, and to unite with Net Purpose on our shared mission and goals.”

Lars Dijkstra, Chief Investment Officer of PGGM, said: “As one of the founders of SDI AOP, PGGM has enormously valued the work of SDI AOP and its collaborators. SDI’s are one of the central characteristics of the investment approach PGGM takes. With this combination of Net Purpose and SDI AOP we have great confidence in the further development of a methodology for global investors to select portfolio companies that generate good financial returns while having a positive impact on the world.”

Jennifer Coulson, Senior Managing Director & Global Head ESG, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), said: "This partnership with Net Purpose marks an exciting evolution for SDI AOP. As a founding member, BCI has helped support the development of a global standard related to Sustainable Development Investments (SDIs). Combining forces with Net Purpose allows us to scale these efforts, and we look forward to continuing as part of the Net Purpose Board to maintain the quality and integrity investors depend on."

Sandra Silea, Director of ESG and Stewardship at AustralianSuper, said: “Net Purpose and SDI AOP are united by a shared ambition - to support investors with the tools they need to identify and measure progress towards the SDGs. Today’s announcement demonstrates that alignment. As a fund, we’re excited to support the combined platform as it enters this next phase.”

Samantha Duncan, Founder and CEO of Net Purpose, said: “Net Purpose was established to help mobilise trillions to achieve the SDGs, and make sustainable and impact investing more effortless for investors. We are honoured to join forces with four of the largest and most sophisticated sustainable investors in the world in this next chapter, and we applaud the high standard they have set for sustainable investing. Let’s align around common standards, and accelerate investments to achieve sustainable goals.”