Six firms have pushed into the Impact 20, our proprietary ranking of the largest managers of private markets impact capital, in a mid-year reshuffle.

Typically, New Private Markets would only conduct this research annually, but such is the pace of development in the impact investment space, we thought it worth revisiting our initial ranking – published in June this year – to see how the market is developing.

This updated version of the ranking tracks capital raised from 1 January 2016 up until 31 July 2021.

Whether it is through substantial fund closes, as was the case with Brookfield Asset Management or Trill Impact, or because qualifying funds have moved onto our radar screen, an additional four months has seen six arrivals in the top 20. Actis, which topped our inaugural ranking in June, has retained its position at number one.

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At number three, Brookfield Asset Management is the highest new entry, having held a first close on its global transition fund of $7 billion. The vehicle, which began marketing in February, aims to deploy capital into assets that “catalyse the transformation of carbon-intensive businesses” and “accelerate the global transition to a net-zero carbon economy”, a statement from the firm said. Commitments to this first close came from Canadian pension funds including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, PSP Investments and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, as well as Singapore’s state-backed investor Temasek.

Brookfield would have debuted at number two, were it not for a substantial close from existing Impact 20 firm TPG Capital on its Rise Climate Fund. Having raised $5.4 billion for the vehicle, TPG remains in the number two slot. Both TPG and Brookfield continue to raise capital for these funds.

In at number five is Vision Ridge Partners, a Colorado-based investor in sustainable real assets. Vision Ridge closed a $1.25 billion fund in April – after just under five months in market – to deploy into industries undergoing a significant shift to sustainability, including energy, transportation and agriculture.

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At number 12 in the revised ranking is Trill Impact. Trill caused a stir with its debut fund, a €900 million vehicle that closed in July. Apart from its size – relatively large among impact debutants – it features a mechanism that ties a portion of the carried interest to impact targets.

DWS, the asset management unit of Deutsche Bank, joins the ranking at 17th, having raised $935 million across a number of vehicles in the last five years, such as the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund and the European Energy Efficiency Fund.

At 18, Lightrock is a firm that formally launched in February this year when banking and investment group LGT consolidated all its impact investing activities under one roof. The firm announced the close of Fund 1 in July on $900 million.

In at number 19 is Summa Equity. Summa is raising its third fund, but makes it into the ranking based on its 2018 second vehicle, which closed on Skr6.5 billion ($740 million; €650 million). Summa is a Northern European private markets firm established in 2016 to invest in UN Sustainable Development Goals-aligned investments.

 

From left to right: Udayan Goyal, Apis Partners; Pal Erik Stajil, Lightrock; Bobby Turner, Turner Impact Capital; Lila Preston, Generation; Kevin Lu, Partners Group; Ken Mehlman, KKR; Maya Chorengel, TPG; Jan Ståhlberg, Trill Impact; Mathieu Chabran, Tikehau Capital; Torbjorn Caesar, Actis; Jim Coulter, TPG; Stephen Ellis, TPG; Nino Tronchetti Provera, Ambienta; Reuben Munger, Vision Ridge Partners; Cecilia Chao, Bain Capital; Reynir Indahl, Summa Equity; Connor Teskey, Brookfield; Thierry Déau, Meridiam Infrastructure; David Blood, Generation; Robert Antablin, KKR; Matteo Stefanel, Apis Partners.

Tom Zimmerman and Daniel Rodriguez contributed to this report