In brief: How specialist can you get?

Matt Christensen, global head of sustainable and impact investing at Allianz Global Investing, is looking for a highly specialised GP.

It is the “oldest debate in private equity,” said Xenia Loos, co-founder of Collective Action and conference chair for the Impact Investor Global Summit: she was introducing a discussion on generalist vs specialist investment strategies.

Matt Christensen, global head of sustainable and impact investing at Allianz Global Investing, cast his vote in favour of specialists over generalists: “We are trying to look now for blockchain and social impact… I would call that a specialist strategy.

“They will become generalist as they grow: that’s often what happens,” he added. “But right now, when I look at the demand… for specialists there is real room now to develop new ideas around impact investing.”

Amara Goeree, private equity sustainability director at Schroders Capital, said she expected to see more specialist GPs and more generalist LPs: “Our clients are usually asking for broad climate solutions or broad healthcare solutions, so we have to stay quite generalist, but have to know the specialists.”