What IMAS Foundation does

IMAS Foundation (Stichting IMAS Foundation) is a Dutch charitable foundation established in 1982 by Ingvar Kamprad as part of a three-foundation succession structure alongside INGKA Foundation and IKEA Foundation. It is headquartered in Leiden, Netherlands, and operates with a deliberately lean team of approximately 14 professionals based in multiple countries. The foundation's statutory purpose is to create long-term returns on financial assets while incorporating responsibility and sustainability considerations into every investment decision, with the explicit constraint that no person, including any member of the Kamprad family, is entitled to the foundation's assets.

The foundation manages an investment portfolio of approximately €14.7 billion (end 2025), split across listed equities and fixed income and a non-listed sleeve that includes infrastructure, direct lending, specialty finance, and non-listed equities. IMAS does not select individual stocks or bonds; instead, it sets strategic and tactical asset allocation, can deploy up to 20% of capital into infrastructure on 20–25 year horizons, and executes through a curated set of specialist external fund managers including Osmosis, Ninety One, Climate Investor One, Infranode, Asper, and Just Climate. Investment decisions apply ESG criteria, decarbonisation strategies, and resource efficiency screening, with quantified targets including a €1 billion energy transition allocation by 2024 and demonstrably lower sustainability footprints than passive benchmarks.

IMAS's sole beneficiary relationship is internal to the IKEA foundation structure: dividends from Ingka Group flow to INGKA Foundation and are transferred to IMAS for long-term management until capital is needed for charitable purposes, after which IMAS financially supports INGKA Foundation to fund grant-making by the IKEA Foundation addressing poverty and climate change. The foundation has no external customers, no product or service revenue, and is governed by a five-member board on which the Kamprad family may occupy up to two seats without controlling outcomes. Leadership is headed by CEO/CIO Henrik Lundin with Johan Kuylenstierna chairing the Investment Committee.

Name

IMAS Foundation

Legal name

Stichting IMAS Foundation

Website

https://imasfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IMAS Foundation is a Dutch charitable foundation established in 1982 that manages approximately €14.7 billion in financial assets, deploying long-term patient capital through specialist fund managers into listed and unlisted investments with embedded sustainability criteria to financially support INGKA Foundation and, ultimately, IKEA Foundation grant-making.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation Asset Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG Integration / Responsible Investment Funds (Broad ESG) (FSANAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable/ESG Equity (Active) (FSAAAIAM), Core Infrastructure Funds (Transport, Social, Digital, Utilities) (FSANAEAA)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation asset management
• Sustainable investing portfolio
• Endowment management services
• Infrastructure investment funds
• ESG investment strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Leiden

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment returns on managed financial assets: IMAS Foundation generates returns on its financial assets through investments in listed assets (equities and fixed income) and non-listed assets (infrastructure, direct lending, specialty finance, non-listed equities). It achieves its charitable purpose by financially supporting INGKA Foundation to facilitate the funding of the IKEA Foundation, with dividends from Ingka Group flowing through INGKA Foundation to IMAS Foundation for long-term management until needed for charitable purposes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

IMAS Foundation is a Dutch charitable foundation that manages its own diversified portfolio of listed and non-listed financial assets (~€14.7 billion AUM as of end 2025), allocating capital across equities, fixed income, infrastructure, direct lending, and specialty finance. Its core activity is long-horizon, sustainability-focused investment management of dividend flows received from Ingka Group via INGKA Foundation, with returns ultimately funding IKEA Foundation's charitable programmes. It does not sell products or services to external customers.

Product overview

IMAS Foundation is a Dutch charitable foundation managing approximately €14.7 billion in assets (end 2025) for long-term investment returns while incorporating sustainability considerations. The organization operates a diversified investment portfolio comprising listed assets (equities and fixed income) and non-listed assets (infrastructure, direct lending, specialty finance, non-listed equities). Key investment products include the Osmosis Resource Efficient Core Equity Fund, Climate Investor One, Ninety One Global Environment, and Just Climate for listed equities, while infrastructure investments are made through partners like Infranode and Asper. The foundation provides patient capital with long horizons (20-25 years for infrastructure) and implements decarbonisation strategies across its portfolio, targeting €1 billion in energy transition investments by 2024.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Long-term financial asset management for charitable purpose Internal investment management service managing a diversified portfolio (~€14.7 billion AUM at end 2025) of listed equities, fixed income, infrastructure, direct lending, specialty finance, and non-listed equities on behalf of INGKA Foundation, with returns ultimately funding IKEA Foundation grant-making.
• Sustainable listed equity portfolio implementation Implementation of decarbonisation strategy across the listed equity portfolio through funds focused on resource-efficient companies (water, waste, energy) and exclusion of the heaviest polluters, aligned with UN SDGs.
• Infrastructure and energy transition investment programme Long-horizon (20-25 year) infrastructure investment programme covering renewable energy, district heating, transport, digital infrastructure, and energy transition, deployed through partners in developed and emerging markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy transition investments target of €1 billion by 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• IKEA FoundationflagshipOthersIKEA Foundation achieves its charitable purpose through grant-making to tackle poverty and climate change. This is made possible thanks to INGKA Foundation and IMAS Foundation and the work of so many Ingka Group co-workers around the world. IMAS Foundation facilitates the funding of the IKEA Foundation through its investment management role.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IKEA Foundation: Sister organization in the Kamprad three-foundation structure; IKEA Foundation receives funding channeled via IMAS and uses grants for poverty and climate programs, while IMAS manages the underlying capital. Directly comparable as a Dutch-rooted, IKEA-linked philanthropic entity focused on long-term climate impact.
• INGKA Foundation: Owns Ingka Group (IKEA retailer) and channels dividends to IMAS Foundation. Directly comparable as the upstream entity in the same three-foundation ecosystem, also a Dutch Stichting focused on long-term stewardship of IKEA-linked capital.
• Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF): UK-based charitable foundation with a strong climate and energy-transition investment mandate, actively deploying patient capital into climate solutions. Directly comparable as a major philanthropic vehicle explicitly targeting climate impact through investments and grants.
• Arcadia Fund: Charitable foundation established by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, focused on climate, biodiversity, and open knowledge. Comparable as a smaller-scale charitable foundation that is highly active in climate-related long-horizon investing and grant-making.
• Stichting INGKA Foundation (IKEA-related): Note: listed separately for emphasis; this is the same Dutch Stichting that owns Ingka Group and is the direct upstream capital source for IMAS, structurally comparable in legal form and charitable mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: One of the world's largest charitable foundations with a similarly long-term, science- and impact-oriented investment mandate and a multi-decade horizon. Comparable as a UK-based charitable foundation that manages a large diversified investment portfolio to fund philanthropic activities.
• Novo Nordisk Foundation: Danish enterprise foundation with a large investment portfolio supporting scientific, humanitarian, and social purposes. Comparable as a Nordic-rooted enterprise foundation managing diversified long-horizon capital for charitable ends, similar in scale and philosophy to IMAS.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: One of the largest charitable foundations globally, managing an endowment to fund global health and development programs. Comparable as a large-scale philanthropic asset owner with professional investment management supporting grant-making.
• Rockefeller Foundation: Historic US foundation with a substantial endowment and explicit focus on climate and sustainability. Comparable as an institutional philanthropic investor with a long-term horizon and sustainability-driven mission.
• Ford Foundation: Major US charitable foundation with an extensive endowment and programmatic focus on inequality and sustainability. Comparable as a globally active philanthropic institution managing a multi-asset portfolio to support long-term charitable objectives.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments9 records

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Frequently asked questions about IMAS Foundation