AllianzGI creates unit dedicated to private markets impact investments

Summary

Latest evolution unlocks full potential of AllianzGI’s impact investing and private markets expertise. New Impact Measurement & Management team will underpin the company’s private equity and debt investing franchise. Unit to be led by Matt Christensen, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact investing.

 

 

26 January 2022. Allianz Global Investors, one of the world’s leading active investment managers has announced the creation of a dedicated Private Markets Impact unit within its Sustainable investment platform and will be led by Matt Christensen, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at AllianzGI. The Private Markets Impact unit combines existing equity and debt investing expertise with a newly created impact measurement and management capability. Matt will oversee the team of 12, completing AllianzGI’s Sustainability platform which was created in 2021 to push the boundaries of sustainability for clients.

Martin Ewald, Lead Portfolio Manager, leads the Private Equity Impact Investing team, which seeks to invest in real assets and private companies which contribute to solve global environmental and/or social issues. Martin is currently responsible for EUR 500m committed through the Allianz Impact Investment Fund, the AfricaGrow initiative, and the Emerging Market Climate Action strategy (EMCA) launched at COP26 by AllianzGI in cooperation with the European Investment Bank.  With a target size of EUR 500m, EMCA will invest in climate-focused investment funds and projects active in emerging markets and developing countries, with a focus on climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and access to electricity. 

Nadia Nikolova, Lead Portfolio Manager, manages the Development Finance & Private Debt Impact Investing team, which currently invests in de-risked sustainable loans in emerging and frontier markets. The team brings together the expertise from the AllianzGI Private Credit platform with an impact investing lens. They focus on building partnerships with Development Finance Institutions and Agencies, Donors and commercial investors to mobilise private capital for sustainable development, and have raised over USD 2bn since 2017.  The team also manages the vehicle for the Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) between Allianz and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The new program, MCPP One Planet is the world’s first cross-sectoral portfolio of emerging-market loans aligned with the Paris Agreement.

In addition, AllianzGI announced the creation of an Impact Measurement & Management team, led by Diane Mak, and the launch of an impact framework to facilitate the due diligence and selection of investments that contribute to material and positive impact. The approach supports rigorous measurement and management of impact over the lifecycle of the investment to ensure that impact is being delivered. Diane Mak joined AllianzGI in August from Y Analytics where she oversaw TPG Global’s impact assessments and management activities.

Matt Christensen, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at AllianzGI said: “Impact investing is fast-growing out of its niche. Investors want to see a positive change for the planet while generating a return, and impact investing offers a solution to these twin goals. The future growth trajectory of impact investing depends on asset managers demonstrating how the impact can be measured and reported. Our new Impact Measurement & Management approach enables us to measure impact in private equity and debt investments, and will allow us to develop our offering further according to the best standards.

Matt Christensen has been appointed as a board member of the GRESB Foundation, a newly established not-for-profit organisation that owns and governs the ESG standards upon which the GRESB real estate and infrastructure assessments are based. GRESB, a mission-driven and industry-led organisation, provides standardised, validated, and transparent ESG data to financial markets. The GRESB Foundation Board will guide the GRESB Standards to ensure they remain investor-led and aligned with responsible investment principles.

 

Notes to the editor:


The Impact framework enables the Impact Investing Team to consistently assess impact materiality across private markets asset classes and investment strategies prior to investment, track and update the assessment based on data throughout the investment lifecycle, and engage accordingly to support impact delivery. 

Two main aspects of impact are assessed within the Impact Rating Framework. The Enterprise Impact Rating assesses the impact of the enterprise or portfolio that AllianzGI invests in – either directly or indirectly via a fund manager – and is aligned with the Impact Management Project’s five dimensions of impact: who, what, how much, contribution of the enterprise, impact likelihood. The Investor Contribution Rating assesses the contribution that AllianzGI and other investors bring in supporting investees’ impact generation. The investment’s Overall Impact Rating is then incorporated into the investment decision-making process. Additionally, the Impact Rating assessment informs the selection of impact metrics (aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Impact Investing Network’s IRIS+) that are tracked and reported to demonstrate how the investments are meeting clients’ impact goals.  

Diane Mak joined AllianzGI from Y Analytics, TPG Global’s dedicated impact unit, where she was most recently Senior Director of Impact Solutions. Previously, Diane was the International Director at Social Finance UK, where she focused on structuring results-based financing mechanisms to address development challenges in areas including economic inclusion, education and health across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

 


For further information please contact

Sarah Einig Tel. +44 203 246 7846, E-Mail: sarah.einig@allianzgi.com Nina Dhatt Tel. +44 203 246 7475, E-Mail: nina.dhatt@allianzgi.com


About Allianz Global Investors

Allianz Global Investors is a leading active asset manager with over 700 investment professionals in 23 offices worldwide and managing EUR 647 billion in assets for individuals, families and institutions.

Active is: Allianz Global Investors

Data as at 30 September 2021

Investing involves risk. The value of an investment and the income from it may fall as well as rise and investors might not get back the full amount invested. Allianz Global Investors GmbH has established a branch in the United Kingdom, Allianz Global Investors GmbH, UK branch, 199 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3TY, www.allianzglobalinvestors.co.uk, deemed authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Details of the Temporary Permissions Regime, which allows EEA-based firms to operate in the UK for a limited period while seeking full authorisation, are available on the Financial Conduct Authority’s website (www.fca.org.uk). Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request. 

AllianzGI partners with International Green Gown Awards to promote exceptional sustainability initiatives at world’s universities and colleges

Summary

Allianz Global Investors, one of the world’s leading active investment managers, announced today that it has entered into a three-year partnership with the International Green Gown Awards, to encourage the next generation to start taking action for a sustainable future.

Key takeaways

Allianz Global Investors

You are leaving this website and being re-directed to the below website. This does not imply any approval or endorsement of the information by Allianz Global Investors Asia Pacific Limited contained in the redirected website nor does Allianz Global Investors Asia Pacific Limited accept any responsibility or liability in connection with this hyperlink and the information contained herein. Please keep in mind that the redirected website may contain funds and strategies not authorized for offering to the public in your jurisdiction. Besides, please also take note on the redirected website’s terms and conditions, privacy and security policies, or other legal information. By clicking “Continue”, you confirm you acknowledge the details mentioned above and would like to continue accessing the redirected website. Please click “Stay here” if you have any concerns.