The philanthropic foundation of UBS will soon reach an important milestone, according to information obtained by finews.com. It may not be the biggest such organization, but the volume of investments is growing steadily.
UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, launched the Optimus Foundation 20 years ago. The foundation helps rich people put some of their money into sustainable investments in accordance with the targets set by the United Nations.
Optimus, led by Phyllis Costanza, is now approaching an important milestone, according to information obtained by finews.com: the foundation is about to reach a total of 500 million Swiss francs ($509 million) in donations.
Ambitious Targets
Reaching the milestone comes as a major success for UBS, which pledged to support the UN development targets and also gathers money through the sale of dedicated armbands to this end. Of course, compared with the huge amounts that flow into philanthropy each year, the Optimus funds are not that enormous.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for instance has more than $50 billion in assets, to name but the best-known among these vehicles.
And still, the UBS foundation is growing at a steady pace and it has set itself ambitious targets for the coming year: Costanza wants to collect 100 million francs in 2020.
Asian Focus
The foundation wants to spend a substantial part of the money in Asia, where the interest in philanthropy has grown with the increase in large family estates and the need to find a transition to the next generation. Optimus, which in particular addresses the needs of the most vulnerable children, has opened an office in Singapore last week.
The growing infrastructure doesn’t impair the donations of the wealthy people because the bank is paying for the administration of the foundation and thereby guarantees that 100 percent of donations are being used for the purpose intended.
