Impact strategy for an Asset Owner
The Story : A French insurer was investment strategy that would not only yield returns but also resonate with the values of the insurer's subscribers. The task was toweave a narrative of investment that went beyond profits, illustrating a direct line from capital to positive change.
What was at Stake ?
The insurer's aspiration was to transcend traditional investment by demonstrating palpable impact, particularly in environmental health—a theme that resonated deeply with its subscribers. The goal was to communicate this impact lucidly,reinforcing the insurer's commitment to meaningful investment.
The Challenges we encountered
The challenge lay in harmonizing the insurer's interests with viable investment opportunities and pinpointing asset classes that would bolster both financial returns and societal benefits.
Moreover,Moonshot was tasked with defining pertinent KPIs to track the fund's impact performance meticulously.
The solutions
Moonshot's approach involved in-depth consultations with impact-oriented management firms to delineate a potential investment universe aligned with the chosen theme. An audit of existing methodologies led to the selection of transparent and comprehensible strategies, anchored by robust impact indicators.
Outputs
The formulation of an impact investment thesis that resonated with the insurer's expectations and theunderlying market. This was complemented by a suite of strategic indicators crafted for monitoring the investment trajectory.
Client satisfaction
The insurer lauded Moonshot for its acumen in grasping the financial and communicative nuances of the insurance industry. The robustness of the methodologies audited by Moonshot mitigated the risk of greenwashing, while their reactivity and ingenuity in strategy development earned them accolades
Go deeper : The regulatory framework on impact is poised to be reinforced
Impact is not defined by the European regulation on sustainable finance.
An impact fund is defined as such by relying on recognized methodologies (FIR, Institute for Sustainable Finance, Global Impact Investing Network, Impact Management Project) or on a proprietary methodology, which is often inspired by the SDGs.
European regulators, including ESMA, have repeatedly warned against the misuse of the SDGs to substantiate an impact fund's strategy. The regulatory framework on impact is poised to be reinforced to support the expansion of the impact investing market.
The recent proposals by the European Commission on revising the classification of sustainable funds (SFDR) include a new category focused on impact. In the UK, the FCA uses impact as a criterion to define one of the categories of sustainable funds (sustainable impact funds).
