Amsterdam, April 01, 2019: More than 90% of respondents believe that generating a positive societal and environmental impact is an integral part of their fiduciary duty and 33% of institutional asset owners with an impact allocation allocate at least 10% of AUM to impact assets.
Phenix Capital, a leading European impact investing consultant headquartered in Amsterdam, has released findings from a survey of participants at the upcoming 5th annual Impact Summit Europe in its inaugural Impact Asset Owner Trend Report. Click here to download
The survey of 64 asset owners and institutional investors that responded, with a total of €9 trillion in assets under management, found the following:
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More than 90% of asset owners believe that achieving a positive environmental and societal impact is integral to their fiduciary duty;
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Almost 80% of respondents expect to increase the target allocation to impact investing over the next three years;
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Nearly two-thirds of the survey’s respondents report, or expect, the return on the impact mandate to be in line with that of the general portfolio, although 27% reports or expects higher returns;
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33% of institutional asset owners with an impact allocation allocate at least 10% of AUM to impact assets;
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Mandates are diverse by geography, asset classes and themes, but environmental concerns are at the forefront of investors’ mind;
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Particularly for larger portfolios, the lack of opportunity, liquidity and execution are among the biggest challenges reported by impact investors;
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Many investors have adopted the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an impact investing framework: Good health and well-being (SDG 3), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), and Climate Action (SDG 13) are favoured themes.
"Our mission is to catalyse and mobilise $800 billion over the next seven years for the SDGs by helping investors map out their impact investing intentions and assisting them in accessing solutions that suit their individual mandates," said Sophie Robé, founder and co-chief executive officer of Phenix Capital.
“Knowing what is required to shift the dial, as highlighted in this report, is one of the key next steps to collaborating to create solutions to solve the problems,” said Dirk Meuleman, co-chief executive officer Phenix Capital.
The survey’s participants will be among some 350 delegates that will gather at The Peace Palace on 2-3 April 2019 for the 5th annual Impact Summit Europe. Of the delegates, the majority are institutional investors that collectively manage €12 trillion in assets under management.
“Imagine the impact if all the institutional investors present this week were to allocate just 5% of their assets to SDG investing alone. That would be €600 billion towards the UN’s sustainable goals,” concluded Phenix Capital’s Robé.
