Endeavor Global, the non-profit organization focused on the high impact entrepreneurial space, has launched the philanthropic Endeavor Catalyst Fund, which was introduced by senior industry figures this week.

Endeavor Global, the non-profit organization focused on the "high impact" entrepreneurial space, has launched the philanthropic Endeavor Catalyst Fund, which was introduced by senior industry figures this week.

Endeavor Global board members Elliot Weissbluth, chief executive at HighTower, as well as Matt Brown, CEO of CAIS, and Joanna Rees of Soda Rock Partners, spoke about the new fund at HighTower Apex 2014, an industry event.

Endeavor said the fund seeks to deliver a competitive return on investment without traditional management fees and expenses, while providing the organization with the resources to support its global work.

The fund was first open to private investors in 2013 and is now also available to the investment advisor community on the CAIS platform (CAIS is a provider of alternative investments).

Endeavor Global is an organization which funds, mentors and supports a selected group of entrepreneurs with the potential to create hundreds to thousands of jobs in their local economies, it said.

The use of impact investing - which applies to strategies that combine environmental, social, corporate governance and/or faith-based criteria with traditional investment approaches - has gained considerable ground in the wealth management arena. According to Envestnet, impact investing strategies now account for nearly one out of every nine dollars invested in the US. 

Yesterday, new research by PricewaterhouseCoopers confirmed that sustainability issues are increasingly relevant to US investors as they seek to integrate environmental and corporate responsibility factors in to their investments. The research examined the influence sustainability issues have on investment decision-making (primarily among large institutions that provide considerable capital to finance growth for companies). It found that, in the last year alone, 82 per cent of respondents considered climate change and/or resource scarcity in future investment decisions, while 79 per cent considered social responsibility and/or good citizenship.