Kostis Tselenis | Managing Partner, swiss impact office

My affinity for social and environmental issues started early on thanks to my family. Since the 1990s, the family business is focusing on professional, sustainable and ethical cosmetics, which is where I first learned about responsible business practices such as using natural ingredients and recyclable packaging. After finishing my master's in Zurich and following some very exciting years at the investment banking department of Lombard Odier, I was very lucky to meet Sven Hansen and Marcel Brenninkmeijer and become involved in Good Energies, a pioneer private investors that became quickly one of the largest investors in cleantech globally. It was very exciting to do Venture Capital and Private Equity with a vision to support the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy; it was a perfect alignment with my personal beliefs and goals. I also started relatively early to look more and more into the social component of my investments and expand to more impact themes with direct equity and debt investments and investments in funds, mainly through my involvement in Quadia, a Geneva-based impact investing manager that also started very early with impact. And still today, I continue to be as passionate about creating positive social and environmental impact as on the very first day, in my role as Managing Partner of the swiss impact office in Zurich, with a focus on balanced risk-return, high-impact investment portfolios.

IS THERE ONE THEME WITHIN THE SDGS THAT YOU SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFY OR SYMPATHIZE WITH? 

There are a couple of specific SDGs that I have historically prioritized through my work. Based on my personal expertise, preferences, and deal flow capacity, I have focused on what I call “environmental advancement”, which is linked to SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 13 Climate Action, SDG 14 Life Below Water, and SDG 15 Life on Land. I have also specifically worked on themes around “sustainable lifestyles”, linked to SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and of course “access to finance”, associated with SDG 1 No Poverty and SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth. I am currently looking nevertheless into developing investment strategies for impact themes that are less addressed but at the same time most pressing moving forward. One of these is “biodiversity”, especially with a proactive approach through investments in key technologies and innovative business models.

WHAT DIFFERENTIATES IMPACT INVESTING FROM TRADITIONAL INVESTING, IN YOUR OWN WORDS?

From the perspective of an investor, impact investing is tied to the core business model of the investee company. I firmly believe an impact company’s purpose should address a major global environmental or social issue in the mid-to-long-term. On top, it needs to gradually develop the impact framework and metrics to be able to measure and report its social and environmental footprint. Thankfully over the last couple of years, it has become clear that companies fully aligned with environmental and social considerations have a better risk profile which eventually reflects in their financial performance. We are seeing that impact investments can be better investments!

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU IN WHAT YOU ARE DOING ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?

I think it is the passion that we all have as impact pioneers, and which is keeping us motivated despite the challenges we faced in the last decade. After many years in the field, as an investor, it is especially rewarding to see that you are actually creating change when you review the impact reports, you are contributing to the protection of the environment and probably changing lives, and in general that you are supporting the transition to a more circular future economy. By working in this field, you are also continuously exposed to a wide variety of projects and ideas which makes our work more “colourful”, more interesting and very stimulating. Finally, the component of innovation, which is integral in most of these impact targets, continues to make impact investing very “fresh”, new, and future driven.

swiss impact office believes in unlocking the potential of impact investing.