NAB Foundation Launches $50 Million Impact Fund with Focus on Housing and Climate
With $25 million already committed, the new Impact Investment Fund aims to deliver both social outcomes and risk-adjusted financial returns, starting with affordable housing.
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The NAB Foundation has unveiled a new $50 million Impact Investment Fund (IIF), which targets social and environmental outcomes alongside financial performance. Affordable housing is among its top priorities.
Launched at the Asia Pacific Impact Investment Summit in Sydney on Wednesday, the fund has already allocated $25 million of its capital, with $10 million deployed and a further $25 million expected by October 2026.
Speaking at the launch, NAB Group Executive and JBWere Chair Cathryn Carver said the fund reflected NAB’s broader ambition to create long-term value for both communities and investors.
“Directing capital to aligned impact investments opens up new ways for the Foundation to create positive and lasting change,” said Carver. “The NAB Foundation is already supporting crucial community initiatives through up to $6 million in grants annually, and this fund adds another layer of strategic impact.”
The fund will be managed by JBWere, NAB’s wealth management arm, and will focus on investments aligned with three key pillars: Indigenous economic advancement, social and affordable housing, and climate transition. The initiative is part of the Foundation’s broader $170 million corpus and marks a deliberate shift into outcomes-driven capital deployment.
JBWere CEO Michael Saadie said the firm is seeing a significant uptick in clients seeking performance with purpose.
“Impact investing is a growing area of focus for those looking to invest effectively for performance and purpose,” said Saadie. “We’re proud to partner with the NAB Foundation, alongside hundreds of other purpose-driven clients.”
To oversee the fund’s governance, a specialist Investment Committee has been formed, chaired by Ben Smith, Head of Impact Investing at the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Smith said the committee is especially encouraged by NAB’s appetite to invest across the risk-return spectrum to unlock high-impact opportunities.
“The Committee is excited by the potential of the Fund, especially with NAB Foundation’s willingness to invest across the risk/return spectrum to generate high impact return,” he said.
The committee will work closely with JBWere to identify and vet investment opportunities, provide due diligence, and ensure accountability in impact measurement — a crucial step as Australia’s impact investing market matures.
The move comes as investors increasingly look to align portfolios with environmental and social outcomes, especially in sectors like housing, where demand far exceeds supply. NAB’s entry into this space via the Foundation is being seen as both a strategic capital allocation and a signal of institutional leadership.
With this fund, NAB joins a growing list of financial institutions leveraging balance sheets and philanthropic capital to accelerate solutions to some of the country’s most urgent challenges — from housing affordability to climate resilience.
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With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.
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A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.
The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.
The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.
GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.
“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.
The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.
Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.
According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.
“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”
The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.
Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.
“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”
The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.
With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.
For more information, contact marc@kanerbridge.com.au
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