Investment fund to support women in business

Wombat Invest, the mobile-only fractional investment app, has launched a new thematic fund that offers exposure to companies taking the lead on gender equality. 

The Women in Power fund tracks the stock price of companies in the UK and abroad that lead on board-level gender balance, parental benefits and equal opportunities and pay. They include Vodafone, Bank of America, ITV, Nike, Macy’s, Unilever and Mastercard.

Michaela Crisp, Head of Growth at London-based start-up Wombat, said: “Many recent studies have shown that gender diversity has a positive impact on company success by deepening the talent pool, improving organisational culture and bringing new perspectives on problems and challenges.

“At Wombat we want to make it both easy and interesting for everyone to invest. Launching this fund gives our users another opportunity to invest in their passions such as companies leading on gender equality and as a female in Fintech it’s crucial we are empowered to create the future for everyone.”

The exchange traded fund (ETF) aims to track the Solactive Equileap Global Gender Equality Net Total Return Index. This is an equally-weighted benchmark of 150 companies from around the world that score highly for gender equality according to 19 criteria. 

Wombat allows users to invest in firms that match their lifestyles, interests and beliefs. Investors can now choose from 22 themed funds including the new Women in Power in addition to its recent launch of UK individual fractional shares. This fund is in addition to their range of impact and ESG investing options such as The Green Machine, Medical Cannabis and The Goodies. 

The app is free to use until the user’s account value reaches £1,000. After that, users are charged at £1 per month plus 0.45% of the value of their investments.