Amsterdam, October 28, 2021: Phenix Capital Group has today released its Impact Report: Deep Dive on Ocean Funds, which shows that there is an increasing awareness about the importance of investing for the oceans, particularly in emerging markets. The report provides data from the Phenix Capital’s Impact Database, one of the most complete sources in the impact investing market, demonstrating that more funds and more investors are turning their attention to the importance of taking care of the ocean, especially in emerging regions.
Key report takeaways - Fundraising targets for this year are optimistic, as they went 0.5 billion higher than the previous year. Funds with a 2020 vintage year received more than 1.5bn Euros in investment and the total target size of Ocean funds currently open for investment is 2 billion Euros, with an average target size of 130 million Euros. Another interesting finding is that, currently, fundraising targets for ocean focused funds are higher in emerging and global markets. The target size of Ocean funds launched in 2021 is the biggest in the Middle East and Africa (20%, 930 million), followed by Latin and Central America (19%, 865 million). In fact, emerging markets have been receiving more attention since 2020, when they received almost 0.4bn in investment.
A sector shift is observed. In previous years, capital commitments towards Ocean funds have come primarily from the Water & Sanitation sector (26%), followed by the Oceans sector (16%), then Climate (13%), Biodiversity (7%), Agriculture (7%), Aquaculture (4%), Land Conservation (4%), and Food and Nutrition (3%). However, currently, fundraising targets are mostly aimed at the Oceans sector (30%), followed by a mix of other sectors (19%), then Water & Sanitation (15%), Biodiversity (13%), Climate (9%), and Aquaculture (8%).
Interviews - Next to the insights and analytics provided by the Phenix Capital's Impact Database, the report also features interviews with Fund Managers focused on the Ocean, which exemplify current Ocean fund strategies:
“At present, the themes we work on are water & agrifood, water technology, water & crisis, climate resilience, and finance for water. Within all themes a link to oceans (direct or indirect) can be made. Most clear examples can be seen in the water technology space, when we deal with cleaning the plastic pollution”, explained Bianca Nijhof, Managing Director at the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP), a network of Dutch water organisations working to catalyse global water impact.
“We invest in solutions to any of the three main threats to the ocean: overfishing, ocean pollution, and climate change. On the ladder, we invest in merit-based solutions to climate change, such as marine renewable energy or the decarbonisation of shipping”, declared Christian Lim and Olivier Raybaud, co-Managing Directors and founders of the SWEN Blue Ocean fund, which is SWEN Capital Partners' direct impact strategy to invest in innovations that regenerate ocean health and contribute to achieving SDG14 (Life Below Water).
The interviewed Fund Managers also explain the raise in awareness and the importance of Ocean funds now: “The ocean is the lungs and the heart of our planet. It provides more than 50% of the oxygen that we breathe. It provides food for the entire world, and it's also the primary source of protein for more than 3 billion people. Besides that, the ocean is our best ally in the fight against climate change, since it is the main regulator of the climate on the planet. Oceans have absorbed more than 90% of excess heat since the industrial era. So we cannot win the war against climate change if we don't have a healthy ocean”, emphasise the founders of the SWEN Blue Ocean fund.
“Water plays a vital role in almost every part of our life, but, on its own, it will probably never get the attention it should get. Hence, we should find ways to value water properly and include this proper value in the choices for investments we make”, affirmed Bianca Nijhof, Managing Director at the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP).
In a deep dive in the Phenix Capital’s Impact Database, in October 2021, 36 funds with a focus exclusively on the Ocean were found. From those funds, 16 are currently open for investment.
About Phenix Capital Group
Phenix Capital Group is an impact investment consultant that enables institutional investors to make impact investments. Founded in 2012, the company has been dedicated to building a solid knowledge based for the impact investing industry, educating asset owners, and catalysing institutional capital to impact investing.
Phenix Capital’s Impact Database provides investors with access to and intelligence on the impact fund market opportunities available to them. Three main variables used to construct, monitor and update the dataset: funds considered have an impact proposition; institutional scale; and target market-rate returns. Impact Database now includes detailed overview of more than 1,700+ impact funds.
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