Herbert Smith has played a major role in the launch of a unique charitable investment fund backed by 12 of the best known brands in UK fund management.

The Invest & Give fund, an authorized investment fund, has been created as a means of encouraging investors to donate to charity.

Each year the individual investor can choose to make a donation from their investment which is derived, on a twice-yearly basis, from the sale or redemption of shares equivalent to 0.6%. This donation, which will go to The Prince's Trust, can then qualify for the GiftAid scheme.

Herbert Smith, fielding a team under corporate partner Greg Mulley, spent two years working to persuade HMRC that it was within the scope of the existing rules for GiftAid, a scheme to allow tax relief on charitable donations.

The driving force for the Invest & Give fund is Campbell Fleming, managing director of JPMorgan Asset Management, who Mulley has known for many years.

Mulley (pictured) said: "The Prince's Trust is a superb charity and the project fitted in with the pro bono work we already do. It has been under discussion for two years and it needed someone persuasive like Campbell to drive it along.

"But we like complex and difficult work and when we looked at the GiftAid element that we got excited. We looked at the GiftAid rules and our interpretation was that they could used in this case for individual donations that came via the fund."

Mulley added that as a result of the law firm's work on the interpretation of the GiftAid rules they could be used by other charities to establish investment funds to enhance the value of individual donations. It is understood the British Heart Foundation and a major children's charity are considering an Invest & Give-style fund.

Mulley was supported on the project by corporate partners Nigel Farr, tax partner Bradley Phillips and private wealth & charities partner Rupert Ticehurst as well as of counsel Janette Sawden and associates Tram Nguyen and Ben Francis.

Invest & Give is supported by the fund managers Artemis, Aviva Investors, Axa Investment Managers, BNY Mellon, F&C, Ignis, Invesco Perpetual, Investec Asset Management, JP Morgan, Martin Currie, Old Mutual and Threadneedle.

JP Morgan's Fleming commented: "Invest & Give reflects two years of hard work. The fund evolved thanks to an unprecedented amount of cross-industry effort and co-operation. Together we have developed a simple, competitive product for investors with a pricing structure that enables them to give without noticing."

Incisive Media, publisher of Legal Week, is one of the other organizations supporting the launch of Invest & Give.