It is less than two weeks until the Impact Investor Global Summit in London. Now feels like an apposite time to be meeting with a collection of some of the largest, some of the most sophisticated and some of the most forward-looking investors in private markets.

Sustainable strategies are still relatively high on investors’ wish-lists, according to survey data from placement and advisory firm Rede Partners. Twenty-eight percent of respondents to its twice-yearly Rede Liquidity Index survey, released in February, said they plan to increase their allocation to impact or sustainability strategies (second only to healthcare among sector preferences). This was a bright spot amid a relatively downbeat prognosis for fundraising activity.

“The continued macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical unrest and high-interest rate environment mean that investors are expecting ongoing difficulties extending into 2024,” the firm wrote.

Headline numbers from our Q1 fundraising report suggest the market might be picking up. Twenty impact fund closes accounted for $7.9 billion, more capital than any first quarter period since we started tracking data. However, in a relatively small segment of the market, individual closes can count for a lot. EQT’s Future fund, an impact-driven private equity strategy, held a final close on €3 billion in March, contributing around $3.25 billion to the total. The conclusion of a successful double fundraise by infrastructure debt firm Infranity added a further €2 billion. While these are toast-worthy achievements for the firms involved, to view them as heralding a market comeback would be a stretch.

A look across wider private markets fundraising data – courtesy of affiliate publications of PEI Group – provides another dose of cold water. Private equity was down compared to the same period last year, as were private real estate and private debt. Infrastructure was up on the same period last year, but the second-lowest Q1 total in the last five years (registration or subscriptions required).

But the outlook would best be described as mixed, rather than out-and-out bleak. Anecdotally there is hope among market sources that fundraising activity will gradually improve this year. Perhaps an increase in the rate of distributions at the end of last year- according to data from Burgiss cited by affiliate title Private Equity International, is giving them hope. It is the pace of distributions – or lack of – that is LPs’ number one constraining factor when it comes to making new commitments, according to Rede’s survey.

There is plenty to discuss; we look forward to doing so in London later this month.

The Impact Investor Global Summit takes place 14-15 May in London. Find out more here.