Activist Jeff Ubben to Seek Up to $8 Billion For Impact Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Jeff Ubben is seeking to raise as much as $8 billion for a hedge fund at his investment firm Inclusive Capital Partners, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Spring Fund II would be a successor to the $1.5 billion Spring Fund that Ubben started at ValueAct Capital Management, the activist hedge fund he founded in 2000. The new offering would focus on so-called impact investing, which aims to make systemic changes at companies and sectors to the betterment of society, the person said.

The fundraising goal was reported earlier Tuesday by Reuters.

Ubben launched Inclusive Capital after leaving ValueAct in June. The new firm counts electric-truck company Nikola Corp., power generator AES Corp. and bioenergy firm Enviva Partners among its investments.

While at ValueAct, Ubben agitated for changes at high-profile companies including Citigroup Inc., Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and Microsoft Corp.

The fundraising comes as Ubben is in the midst of negotiating for a board seat at Exxon Mobil Corp. He’s also discussing making a sizable investment in the oil giant if he were granted a seat.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.