NAB Foundation unveils $50m Impact Investment Fund

National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) philanthropic investment arm, NAB Foundation, is allocating an additional $25 million to its social and environmental-focused Impact Investing Fund (IIF), with an eye on affordable housing projects.

The planned $25 million boost to the IIF, to be added by October 2026, comes on top of the NAB Foundation’s original $25 million commitment to the newly launched fund.

The IIF was announced today by NAB group executive and JBWere chair Cathryn Carver in an address to the Asia Pacific Impact Investing Summit in Sydney in which she discussed sustainable investment solutions within the context of Australia’s housing crisis.

According to NAB, the IIF has so far invested $10 million of its now $50 million investment pool.

Overseen by NAB subsidiary JBWere, the IIF specifically seeks out investment opportunities that “generate a positive and measurable social and environmental impact”, NAB said.

Investments are targeted at scaling impactful projects and organisations that align with NAB’s sustainability priorities, covering the broad target investment categories of Indigenous Economic Advancement, Social and Affordable Housing, and the Climate Transition.

Carver said the IIF, on top of the NAB Foundation’s broader social investment remit, would seek to unlock more opportunities to address societal challenges and support sustainable development.

Already, she notes, the Foundation provides up to $6 million in philanthropic grants and partnerships each year to support community initiatives.

“Directing capital to aligned impact investments opens up new ways for the Foundation to create positive and lasting change.”

JBWere chief executive Michael Saadie said the firm’s governance and impact investment experts were “excited to work with NAB Foundation and like-minded clients to help them develop and execute their impact investing ambitions”.

A specialist IIF Investment Committee, chaired by Ben Smith head of Impact Investing at Paul Ramsay Foundation, has also been established to identify and conduct due diligence on prospective investments.

The IIF is part of an overall NAB Foundation investment pool of $170 million.