Schroders Private Assets Media Summit 2021: Impact is a paradigm shift for private markets
The growing need for private market investments to deliver impact as well as returns is a landmark shift for the entire asset class, journalists at Schroders Private Asset Media Summit 2021 were told.
Assets being directed to impact investment strategies globally have soared from $46 billion in 2013 to $715 billion in 2019[1] with institutional investors increasingly looking to allocate to this space. Furthermore, Schroders Institutional Investor Study* found that asset managers should focus on delivering impact through active company engagement.
This emphasis on impact is also being reflected among retail investors as, according to Schroders Global Investor Study**, 70% of investors globally believe that a company’s impact on communities and society is of key importance.
Maria Teresa Zappia, Chief Impact and Blended Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, BlueOrchard, commented:
“For 20 years driving tangible change for society has been at the core of BlueOrchard’s activities. Investors are increasingly demanding that positive impact should be a key outcome and private markets with their exposures to the likes of infrastructure and real estate are exceptionally well placed to deliver on this paradigm shift.”
Schroders completed the acquisition of a majority stake in BlueOrchard in 2019. Earlier this year, Schroders took another step towards building a leading position in sustainability and impact investments by joining the influential Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of impact investing.
BlueOrchard was the first commercial manager of microfinance and debt investments and is this year celebrating its 20th anniversary. BlueOrchard has since evolved into a leading manager globally, having invested more than $8 billion across more than 90 countries since inception.
Over 215 million poor and vulnerable people in emerging and frontier markets have received access to financial and related services with the support of BlueOrchard.
* About Schroders Institutional Investor Study:
This global study was commissioned by Schroders for the fourth consecutive year to analyse institutional investors and their attitudes towards investment objectives, performance outlook and risks to their portfolio. The respondent pool represents a spectrum of institutions, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations managing approximately $25.9 trillion in assets. The research was carried out via an extensive global survey during April 2020. The 650 institutional respondents were split as follows: 179 in North America, 248 in EMEA, 173 in Asia Pacific and 50 in Latin America. Respondents were sourced from 26 different countries.
**About Schroders Global Investor Study:
*In April 2020, Schroders commissioned an independent online survey of over 23,000 people who invest from 32 locations around the globe. This spanned countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and more. This research defines people as those who will be investing at least €10,000 (or the equivalent) in the next 12 months and who have made changes to their investments within the last 10 years.
[1] Source: The Global Impact Investing Network