KKR-backed firm Avendus Capital eyes $1-bn fund to tap India ESG investors

Global investment based on ESG strategies stood at nearly $23 trillion at the end of 2015

Avendus Capital has started accepting money for one of India’s first funds to base investment decisions on environment, social and governance parameters as investor concerns about governance at Indian companies surge. 

“Traditionally, university endowments and pension funds tend to participate in ESG. But we are now seeing a lot of appetite also from millennial, high net-worth investors and family offices,” Abhay Laijawala, managing director at Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternate Strategies LLP, said in an interview at his office in Mumbai. “The compelling newsflow around climate change and work-related issues is driving this shift.”

Avendus expects to raise $1 billion over two