Amsterdam, June 24, 2021: Phenix Capital Group has today released its Asset Owner Trend Report: Looking Back at 6 Years of InvestorConnect. The report highlights that, throughout the years, a broad base of institutional investors has come back and recurrently met impact fund managers across different asset class solutions at Phenix Capital’s InvestorConnect (IC) meetings. The report also finds that since 2015, asset owners’ interest in impact investing has evolved from an exploratory phase to a more selective and structure one.
In terms of meeting count, fiduciary managers and banks are the most predominant type of asset owner participating in InvestorConnect followed by pension funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals and finally insurance companies.
“In the last 6 years, we have seen a growing number of institutional impact funds being launched across asset classes and geographies coupled with a growing number of asset owners, all facing different constraints, but still approaching impact investing with increasing emphasis. Based on our experience organising more than 3,600+ InvestorConnect meetings, we have also seen that if fund managers want to stand out to fund allocators, they need to have robust impact propositions as seen through their policies, processes, and reporting,” explains Dirk Meuleman, CEO of Phenix Capital Group.
► Read the Asset Owner Trend Report: Looking Back at 6 Years of InvestorConnect
The report provides an in-depth look at how fund allocators’ interests and preferences have evolved in the last six years based on their InvestorConnect meetings. Next to the meetings insights, the report also features interviews with practitioners from Anthos Fund & Asset Management and EuroCapital Advisors that have both attended a number of IC meetings.
“Although they are short meetings, first impressions are very important. I specifically look at the team dynamics, if they are well versed in impact, and how they talk about their purpose and motive. I also pay attention to team diversity, both in terms of gender and ethnic diversity, especially if the fund manager is focused on emerging markets. Then I look at the track record, the quality of the portfolio and what companies they have invested in or will be investing in. Overall, I see what portion of the InvestorConnect presentation is dedicated to the impact side and the financial side and pay equal attention to both,” said Dimple Sahni, Managing Director Impact Funds Portfolios at Anthos Fund & Asset Management.
Asset owners’ take on impact themes and SDGs reveal that from 2015, the year the Paris Agreement was signed, the industry has started to wake up to the urgency of the climate and social crises. From 2016 to 2020, investors met fund managers focused on SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 13: Climate Action as well as focused on the impact themes of renewable energy, agriculture and climate.
More than 3,600 meetings have taken place between institutional asset owners and impact fund managers across the 10 editions of InvestorConnect. Specifically, 217 asset owner organisations and 124 fund manager organisations have participated since 2015.
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.
InvestorConnect is a unique feature of Phenix Capital Impact Events designed as an efficient and intuitive format for institutional asset owners to meet a curated group of fund managers of institutional quality, with scalable opportunities across asset classes, regions, SDGs, and impact themes. These pre-arranged meetings offer a privileged opportunity to learn about impact fund market trends, get introduced to relevant fund managers, and have an open discussion.
For more information or interview requests, please feel free to contact our team at info@phenixcapitalgroup.com or call + 31 20 240 27 31.
If you would like to receive updates on the latest publications, impact events, and product developments, sign up to our monthly newsletter. This will not affect your receiving Phenix Capital Group press releases.
