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It’s a sign of the times: Impact investors are anxious about the progress of the market (and the state of the world), but bullish on their own projects and those of their peers.
Evidence of progress, albeit incremental, was abundant at the Global Impact Investing Network’s impact forum in Amsterdam last week, where the theme was “shift minds, drive decisions, steer growth, accelerate results.” A few takeaways:
Shift minds
“The biggest obstacle in the financial sector is how we approach growth and profit maximization,” said Tania Rodriguez Riestra of Mexico-based CO_, an impact-first family office that focuses on poverty and climate change. The finance sector is avoiding tough conversations about what financial returns really look like in a healthy planet and in healthy communities, she said.
CO is seeking to enlist other family offices to invest at the nexus of climate change and food security.
“We need to shift to thinking about what it looks like to operate within planetary boundaries,” Rodriguez said.
Drive decisions
A handful of highly motivated family offices are using their wealth to push the boundaries of impact finance. Azarine, a new multi-family office led by Lauren Cochran, is directing capital to land restoration and rewilding projects. Ceniarth is helping new fund managers in emerging markets prove their investment theses. Family offices are backing BlueOrchard’s second InsuResilience Investment Fund, which invests in insurance tech and providers for climate vulnerable communities in emerging markets.
Blue Haven Initiative’s Liesel Pritzker Simmons called on the impact community to “stand up” to political attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, and environmental, social and governance-based investing.
Steer growth
Pension funds and insurance companies are contributing the bulk of growth in impact assets under management.
“This year I keenly observed how several of major institutional managers are projecting forward-looking impact strategies as a way of market differentiation and positioning,” recounted climate impact advisor Ashish Kumar.
The UK’s South Yorkshire Pensions Authority touted the impressive returns of its place-based portfolio. Dutch pension fund PFZW affirmed its goal of aligning 30% of its €238 billion ($257 billion) portfolio with the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Fund managers like BlueOrchard are getting ready: InsuResilience is reliant on catalytic capital for now but, like the firm’s $2.7 billion flagship microfinance strategy, aims to be an institutional vehicle within a decade.
