Beats | February 27, 2018

Pin the tail on the billion-dollar impact investing funds

ImpactAlpha
The team at

ImpactAlpha

(Editor’s note: The half-dozen impact investment firms on the new ImpactAssets 50 list that manage more than $1 billion are (drumroll…) Kairos Investment Management Co., North Sky Capital, Bridges Fund Management, Leapfrog Investments, Finance in Motion and Enterprise Community Partners. Thanks to Calvert Impact Capital’s Beth Bafford for a good try!)

When ImpactAssets started collecting its first list of impact investment fund managers seven years ago, it wasn’t clear there were 50 impact firms that could meet its criteria. Now, the nonprofit financial services provider needs a new category for the biggest funds on its annual ImpactAssets 50 list.

Of the managers in the 2017–2018 IA50, nearly half are managing assets of $250 million or more, the largest designation. A half-dozen of the impact funds have more than $1 billion under management.

In all, the 50 funds on this year’s list manage $29.3 billion in assets, more than double the total of last year’s firms. More than 60% have been operating for over a decade and nearly half have investment teams with at least 50% women or other under-represented groups.

The seven new funds this year are Green Canopy, Capital Impact Partners, Goodwell Investments, The Nature Conservancy, NorthSky Capital, SDS Group and Kairos Investment Management.

Jed Emerson, who chaired ImpactAssets’ review committee, says the vetted list provides financial advisors and clients “a starting place to make informed investment decisions.”

Tiedemann Wealth Management’s Stephanie Cohn Rupp says the resource is especially valuable for “family offices and accredited investors getting started in the impact space.” To be included, funds must demonstrate “significant commitment to social impact and track clear measures of social and/or environmental impact.”

Tip o’ the hat to the first reader to name the six billion-dollar funds. Post your answers below!