Symbiotics publishes its inaugural global impact fund survey, merging its historical microfinance investment vehicle survey, started with the CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) in 2007, and its private debt fund survey, started with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) in 2018.
The Private Asset Impact Fund (PAIF) survey filters out the impact investing universe by focusing solely on strategies investing through funds and vehicles, targeting emerging and frontier markets, and with a development finance impact bias. This ecosystem is composed of over 210 specialized investment boutiques and the 435 private asset funds that they manage. The survey captures over two thirds of the market in assets under management (AUM), with USD 22 billion of data aggregation. The results show a market growth of 10% for the sector in 2019. In 2020, despite the pandemic, investment managers forecast stability – with only a slight decrease of 1.5% in AUM.
Other results of the combined sample size show that these funds are primarily managed out of Switzerland (35%), the Netherlands (18%), Germany (14%) and the United States (12%).
Regarding the incorporation of Funds, in Europe, Luxembourg remains the top place, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium.
Concerning more specifically Microfinance funds, according to the report they “have indicated their lowest growth prospects for 2020, translating their negative market sentiment linked to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”
