PRESS RELEASE: Conservation & Biodiversity

Amsterdam, October 31, 2022: Phenix Capital Group has released today its Conservation & Biodiversity Funds Report, revealing that capital commitments have had an inconsistent inflow over the past 7 years. Conservation and biodiversity funds launched in 2020 fundraised the most, which caused the number of funds launched the following year, in 2021, to reach a record high.

However, the forecasted fundraising didn’t meet expectations. This led to a significant discrepancy in 2021, which saw the capital committed drop significantly. Post-2020,  we  saw  a  decline  of  55%  year  over  year  in capital commitments towards Conservation & Biodiversity.  This  was  due  to  many  factors,  ranging from  a  worldwide  pandemic  to  investors  preference for  other  impact  themes such as Circular Economy, Net-zero, and others.  

OTHER KEY REPORT TAKEAWAYS 
•    The  emergence  of  green  bonds  in  public  debt  has been  paramount.  In  fact,  there  was  nearly  15  billion euros  of  capital  committed  towards  global  markets. This  figure  accounts  for  more  than  80%  of  all  the allocated  capital  towards  this  market  within  public debt.
•    In   parallel,   real   assets   are   heavily   focused   on developing  markets,  accounting  for  2/3  of  allocated capital. 
•    The weight of capital amongst other asset classes also lies heavily  in  favour  of  developing  markets,  showing public debt is the outlier.

Funds  targeting  Conservation  &  Biodiversity  represent 6.5% of funds from Phenix Capital’s Impact Database. The majority of funds targeting Conservation and Biodiversity are open for investments. This presents a ripe opportunity for investors trying to enter the space. We are yet to see the result of funds with 2022 as vintage - funds launched this year are still being counted.
 

Graph from the Phenix Capital Group’s Impact Report on Conservation & Biodiversity Funds, revealing inconsistent capital flow through the years and the record of capital commitments in 2020 followed by an unexpected drop in 2021.

Funds targeting Biodiversity have reached a record high – followed by a 55% decline

INTERVIEWS
The report also brings exclusive interviews with two industry players:
•    Kilter  Rural,  an  investment  firm  in  Australia, which, for 18 years, have  been  delivering  returns  to  investors through  natural  capital  investment  solutions  across farmland, water and ecosystem assets.
•    SLM  Partners,  an  asset  manager  that  uses  capital  to scale  up  regenerative  farming  and  forestry,  investing for  more  than  a  decade  in  land  and  real  assets,  and partnering with local operators. 
“We have species that occur nowhere else in the world. There’s a value in this that is not recognised nor captured, certainly not financially”, declared Cullen Gunn, Chief Executive Officer of Kilter Rural.

“We think that investors can go beyond this and invest in strategies that have direct, positive impacts on biodiversity. One of the best ways to do this is by investing in natural real assets, i.e. agriculture and forestry, as these are the human activities that have the potential to  improve  biodiversity  outcomes  the  most”, affirms Paul McMahon, co-founder and Managing Partner of SLM Partners.

Beyond the free report, more data can be found in Phenix Capital Group’s Impact Database – a comprehensive database of impact investment funds across the globe.

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 base of the impact investing industry, educating asset owners, and catalysing institutional capital to impact investing. 

Phenix Capital Group’s Impact Database provides investors with access to and intelligence on the impact fund market opportunities available to them. Three main variables are used to construct, monitor and update the dataset: 1) funds considered to have an impact proposition; 2) institutional scale, and 3) target market-rate returns. The Impact Database includes a detailed overview of more than 2,050+ impact funds. 
For more information or interview requests, please contact our team at info@phenixcapitalgroup.com or call + 31 20 240 27 31.

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