Impact investing glossary

Find below terminology that is used worldwide in the impact investing industry by institutional investors and fund managers.

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Committed capital

Amount committed in a fund vehicle by its Limited Partners (LPs) /investors.

Fund managers

Organisations managing commingled, pooled and customised vehicles invested by institutional asset owners.

Impact investing

Investments with the dual mandate of financial return and positive societal or environmental impacts, with the notion of measuring the positive and negative impact of investments, ensuring both intentionality and additionality among these.

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Institutional asset owners

Outsourced Chief Investment Officers (CIOs), pension funds, insurance companies, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, banks, fiduciary managers, discretionary investment consultants.

InvestorConnect

Efficient and intuitive solution developed by Phenix Capital Group for institutional asset owners to meet a select group of fund managers with scalable impact investment opportunities across all asset classes, SDGs and impact themes.

Discover more about InvestorConnect

Target fund size

Amount the fund manager is targeting when raising capital.

Vintage

Year where the fund manager first calls capital from investors.

Fund of funds

Fund manager that invests in other funds as a LP.

More information on funds of funds

Hedge fund

Private investment partnership that uses its less regulated nature to generate investment opportunities that are distinct from those offered by traditional investment vehicles, which are subject to regulations such as those restricting their use of derivatives and leverage. Hedge funds represent a wide-ranging set of vehicles that are differentiated primarily by the investment strategy implemented.

More information of hedge fund

Private equity

Equity stakes in privately held companies/funds: venture capital, growth, buyout strategies.

Private equity – buyout: A specialised form of private equity, characterised by controlling investments in established and mature privately-held firms that are undergoing a fundamental change in operations or strategy.


Private equity - growth: A specialised form of private equity, usually a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets or finance a significant acquisition without a change of control of the business.


Private equity - venture capital: A specialised form of private equity, characterised by high-risk investment in early-stage or young companies following a growth path in technology and other value-added sectors


More information of private equity

 

Read the "Private Equity" Impact Report

 

 

Private debt

Debt instruments to companies: direct lending, mezzanine, microfinance strategies.

More about private debt

 

Read the "Private Debt" Impact Report 

 

 

Public equity

Equity stakes in publicly traded companies: from small-cap to mid-cap and large-cap.

More about public equity

 

Read the "Public Equity" Impact Report

Real assets

Encompasses real estate, infrastructure, farmland & cropland, timberland & forestry assets.

More about real assets

Timberland & forestry: Ownership and/or management of productive forest lands focused on biodiversity preservation, biological growth and sustainable timber sales. More about Timberland & forestry

Farmland & cropland: Land dedicated to the systematic and controlled use of livestock and production of crops. 

More about Farmland & cropland

Read the Conservation & Nature-based Impact Report

 

Real estate: Commercial and residential properties and/or Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) focused on green buildings, elder care, disability and affordable housing properties. More about real estate

Infrastructure: Greenfield and brownfield facilities or asset investments focused on social (airports, roads…), healthcare (hospitals), education (schools), energy (hydro, wind, solar...).  More about infrastructure

Read the Impact Report "Real Estate & Infrastructure"

Public debt

Publicly traded fixed income securities: investment grade or high yield, focused on green bonds and municipal and community infrastructure and affordable housing issuers.

More about public debt

Market targeted

Markets fund managers target for their investments: global, developed markets, emerging markets.

Global: Funds that have an investment geographic scope encompassing both developed and emerging markets.


Developed markets: We include Europe (excl. Eastern Europe), North America, Asia Pacific (Singapore, Japan, and South Korea only), Oceania (New Zealand, Australia) Middle East and Africa (Israel only).


Emerging markets: We include Latin and Central America, Asia Pacific (excl. Singapore, Japan, South Korea), Middle East and Africa (excl. Israel) Europe (Eastern Europe only).

More about emerging markets

Regions targeted

Regions fund managers target for their investments: Asia Pacific (East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, South East Asia), Europe (Western Europe, Eastern Europe) Global, Latin and Central America, Middle East and Africa (East Africa, Middle East, Northern Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa), North America, Oceania.

Discover our Impact Reports

Everything you need to know to start investing for positive impact and returns today.

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Explore the use of the SDGs against our Impact Themes 

The Phenix Capital Group team has mapped the SDGs against our Impact Themes.

More about the SDGs