By Ross Kerber

(Reuters) – BlackRock Inc, a top asset manager (NYSE:), announced Wednesday that it had more than $800,000,000 in commitments to a new Impact Fund. This is part of a rising investor focus on equity and diversity themes.

According to the New York-based company, its BlackRock Impact Opportunities Fund was created to support businesses and projects that serve Black, Latino or Native American communities. BlackRock announced this as one of a series of actions it took in June 2020 in order to improve racial equity following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

Pam Chan is the global head for BlackRock’s Alternative Solutions Group. She stated that the fund seeks to achieve market returns while encouraging economic growth.

We’re looking at the billions in gross domestic product that can be unlock by closing the gap between racial equity and wealth. Many of those possibilities have been missed,” she stated.

BlackRock reported that the $80million has already been invested in investments such as the development of fitness centers in less-developed communities and support for a Black-owned property firm’s 292 unit rental community.

These initial investors are the foundations or investment arms of companies such Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:). PayPal Holdings Inc BlackRock stated.

Morningstar Inc reports that U.S.-based impact funds had $234 billion as of the end 2021. That’s up from $127 Billion a year ago and $88 Billion at the end 2019. Market declines and positive inflows caused a drop of assets to $222 billion by March.

Fund prospectuses that address social and environmental issues are covered by the tallies.