Sustainable investing: LP Impact Guide
Category: Sustainable investing market research Year: 2021
27 July 2021
Case studies for LPs looking to invest in impact
Impact investing strategies – those that target positive environmental or social externalities as well as financial returns – have become an integral part of the private markets ecosystem.
Our LP Impact Guide, which was developed in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation, features interviews with five thought-leading LPs. These case studies were developed to provide investors with useful insights and to help facilitate the flow of additional capital into impact investing and wider sustainability themes.
The investors interviewed have established impact fund investing practices in place and span different types, sizes and geographies. They reflect the diversity of the broader LP universe and the lack of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to impact investing.
68% of LPs recently surveyed by Campbell Lutyens expect their focus on impact investing to increase in the medium term
Featuring contributions from:
Hamilton Lane
"It’s hard to single [any sector] out because there’s so much opportunity, but energy transition is one that is really big. We have also spoken to GPs lately who have said that climate technology investing will be one of the biggest themes in the next couple of decades."
Glenmede
"I wish I’d known that there would be such a proliferation of impact funds… Having a broader definition [of impact] would have helped from the get-go. New LPs in this space should think through what they want to define as impact without constraining themselves to self-defined impact funds."
AP4
"The impact investing market as a whole is still at an early stage. GPs and LPs are waiting for common terminology, common standards for measurement, more consensus on what impact is – but I think trial-and-error is probably a better method than just waiting for the market to mature and be perfect."
PGGM
"What always remains a challenge is the measurement and the reporting. It comes down to your definition of ‘impact’, which is just different for everybody. But I think we are making good steps, and the SDGs and EU Taxonomy really help."
HESTA
"We have come to the overarching view that it’s about understanding thematics and long-term trends. Meeting unmet needs creates investment opportunities – we are focusing on thematics rather than investing with groups labelling themselves as ‘impact’."