Two major talking points at this year's New Private Markets Investor Summit: North America were the transformative force of AI and the pressing need for liquidity in private markets portfolios.
While neither of these topics are unique to impact or sustainable investing, they are of paramount importance and dominated discussions on stage and off.
In this episode, Jennifer Kenning, founder and CEO of Align Impact who served as expert chair for day one of the event, joins New Private Markets' Toby Mitchenall and Michael Bowen for a 10-minute wrap-up of the event.
Optimism, a common trait of sustainable investors, abounds. "In the political environment we are in today, and how much the space has shifted in the last 12 months, there is a misnomer out there at the moment that it is all negative," says Kenning, who goes on to delve into reasons why, particularly in the areas of liquidity and AI, there is much to be optimistic about.
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What the UN pension fund likes to hear from GPs
When Kenza Himmi, the head of impact investing and partnerships at the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, attends a pitch meeting with a fund manager, she keeps an ear out for a few non-negotiable items.
She wants to know the fund's intent and whether it is designed to direct capital to environmental and social solutions. She wants to know how the fund measures the impact of its investments. And, of course, she wants to know if a fund’s investments will create value over time.
Some managers have impressed; others, not so much. In this episode, Himmi, who will be a panellist at the Investor Summit: North America in New York City on 5 November, takes us behind the scenes and tells us what she likes to hear from fund managers during pitch meetings.
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Does more money mean more impact?
Is the field of impact investing growing in a healthy way, or is it being co-opted by firms for whom positive impact is secondary to asset gathering?
In this episode of The New Private Markets Podcast, we explore this fundamental question with Jed Emerson, a true veteran of the impact field, an author of multiple books and papers on the topic, and until April of this year, the chief impact officer for US wealth management firm AlTi Tiedemann Global. He's also the founder of Blended Value Group and holds a number of advisory positions.
The conversation was prompted by a lively online debate surrounding coverage of New Private Markets' Impact 50, in which Emerson had questioned the link between the dollar size of a fund and the size of its impact. You can read about the online exchange here, and you can read about the Impact 50 here.
We also touch on the distinction between NPM's Impact 50 and Impact Assets' IA 50, a different resource for investors in the impact space with which Emerson has been involved for more than a decade.
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Understanding impact's financial performance with Schroders
Financial performance is the key issue that will determine the viability of impact investing at scale in the long term. Given the relative youth of most impact funds, it is a topic still open to debate.
Asset manager Schroders has been examining the performance of its impact investments. The UK-headquartered firm released a study in collaboration with Oxford University’s Business School earlier this year which examined impact’s performance in listed equities. It has now released further research focused on private equity. Read NPM's coverage of the findings here.
The results are positive: private equity impact investments have outperformed the wider buyout and growth markets over the last decade.
In this episode, we speak to Schroders' co-head of impact management Catherine Macaulay and head of sustainability and impact for PE Paul Lamacraft to get their perspective on the findings.
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APG and Colesco on the rise of impact credit
When it comes to impact, private credit is often considered to be lagging behind other private markets asset classes. There are, however, signs that this is changing. Debt funds to hold a final close raised a combined $5 billion in 2024, the second-highest total of any asset class behind private equity.
Dutch institution APG Asset Management is one major LP to turn its attention to impact debt. The €616 billion fund recently moved into infrastructure debt with an impact focus and is considering buying impact credit assets in the US.
APG was one of the cornerstone investors in sustainable lending debutant Colesco, which raised €800 million for a mid-market European lending strategy with “a mission to unite capital and purpose”, the firm announced earlier this year. The Dutch firm, established in 2023, is seeking to raise between €1 billion and €1.5 billion. At €800 million, it has already become the largest private debt impact fund of its kind.
In this episode of The New Private Markets Podcast, we speak to Menno van den Elsaker, head of alternative credits at APG, and Colesco CIO Danny Vroegop to discuss the growth of the impact lending market, how LPs are approaching it, and where the opportunities for investors are.
The New Private Markets Podcast focuses exclusively on sustainability issues in private equity, venture capital, private debt, real estate and infrastructure. Join the editorial team behind New Private Markets as they pick through the sustainability trends shaping these asset classes, from ESG to impact and beyond, with help from industry insiders
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