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Impact & Transition Investor Summit North America 2024
12 - 13 November 2024,
The Westin Times Square, New York
The next generation of investments
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit: North America is the leading private market conference to discover the game-changing investable solutions in the transition to an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable world.
Join 350+ leading fund managers and allocators focused on transition, impact and sustainable outcomes investing for two-days of networking, insight-sharing and collaboration.
The agenda will address transition investing trends such as electrification, energy efficiency, food systems resilience and productivity, hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, climate adaptation, circularity, biotech, industrial decarbonisation solutions and more.
Hear from leaders on strategies, challenges and allocation approaches to impact investing so you are equipped to make informed decisions in this growing market.
2024 key themes
- The state of the impact market: how is the deployment landscape, valuations and exit environment for impact funds?
- Allocator outlook: what is driving investment to impact funds for different types of LPs?
- Deep dives on the investment themes on the horizon: oceans, critical minerals, land transition, industrial decarb, climate adaptation, nature investing and more.
- Buyout, credit, secondaries and beyond: which impact strategies and products are gaining traction in the current market?
- Differentiating an impact fund in a crowd: what’s the secret sauce to fundraising success?
- Addressing growing inequality and social justice: what models have scale potential?
- Deep tech, AI and more: what technologies give us a shot at a sustainable world?
- Energy transition in North America: beyond renewables and batteries, what’s the next wave of opportunities look like?
2024 speakers:
What can you expect at the Impact & Transition Investor Summit?
Event content with value
The Summit will explore transition investing trends and impact models that are addressing urgent societal inequality and social issues. The agenda will cover topics including the future of healthcare and education, electrification, energy efficiency, food systems resilience and productivity, climate adaptation, biotech, industrial decarbonisation solutions, employee ownership, DE&I investing, affordable housing, aging populations, to name a few.
Build a valuable network
Connect with industry participants in all aspects of transition, impact and sustainable investment and elevate your network with the expansive global community. Network in-person at interactive workshops, networking breaks, evening drinks reception, roundtable discussions and invite-only breakfasts. Build lasting relationships and compare best practices with your peers.
Meet institutional investors
Hear from institutional investors who are looking to increase their exposure to impact funds and learn their priorities when investing into impact and sustainable funds. Investors who attended in 2023 included APG Asset Management, CDPQ, Foundation for the Carolinas, Keller Family Office, Kirchner Impact Foundation, Manulife, QIC, United Nations, William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, and many more.
Testimonials from attendees
Operating Principles for Impact Management
Diane Damskey, Head of Secretariat
The event gathered some of the top names in impact investing and covered key topics to promote the understanding and growth of this market. The organization and…
SV Health Investors
Hannah Maunder, Investor Relations and Communications Associate
The Impact Investor Global Summit provided a huge amount of clarity on all things impact investing and did so in an engaging and enjoyable way.
FSN Capital Partners
Pål Dale, Senior Director, Business Development
All in all, the event provided a rich and detailed snapshot of the state of the impact investment industry, as of 2021.
Pre-Event Resources
What to expect at the summit?
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit provides a leading platform for institutional investors and allocators focused on transition, impact and sustainable outcomes investing to connect with their peers, discover new opportunities and share best practices.
Past investor attendees include Align Impact, Alpha Square Group, AlTi Tiedemann Global, APG Asset Management, Archer Private Investments, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caprock, CDPQ, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Keller Enterprises, MassMutual, New York State Common Retirement Fund, QIC, Rockefeller Foundation, and many more.
What to expect at the Summit:
- Meet with the best and biggest impact funds globally – network and arrange one-to-one meetings with leading impact managers
- Networking with peers and other institutional investors – build your network of peers, understand their strategies, challenges and allocation approach to impact
- Get insight on the latest innovations and transition investing trends – take advantage of world-class speaking faculty to stay aligned with developments in the market
- Find investment opportunities across the market’s thematic sub-asset classes from climate, healthcare, social, education and many more
Apply for a complimentary Institutional Investor pass
A limited number of complimentary passes are available for impact LPs, allocators and institutional investors to join the event.
Complimentary investor passes are limited to foundations, endowments, trusts, insurance companies, single family offices, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds who are actively making fund commitments and do not engage in third-party fundraising activities or collect fees for advisory/consulting services.
Apply for a complimentary pass and a member of our team will follow up with you to confirm your eligibility.
Impact & Transition Investor Summit
Our leading advisory board in 2024:
Andrew Lee
Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing, UBS Global Wealth Management
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit will take place on 12-13 November 2024.
For more information on the agenda, please contact Boris Petrovic.
boris.p@pei.group | +44 (0)204 548 4494
View agenda page
Agenda
Day 1 - Tuesday 12th
08:00 - 09:00
Networking breakfast and registration
09:00 - 09:00
PEI welcome
09:05 - 09:20
Chair’s opening remarks
Plenary
09:20 - 10:00
The state of the impact market
Jed Emerson,
William Orum
- What are the trends in system-level investing and how can they complement impact investing efforts?
- How are corporates’ sustainability efforts driving opportunities in the impact market for exits and allocations?
- What is the incentive to being an impact investor currently?
- How is impact driving alpha?
Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Officer, Alvarium Tiedemann | AlTi
Bill Orum, Partner, Capricorn Investment Group
10:00 - 10:45
Policy, regulations, and politics: the US election result and the implications for impact investing
Fran Seegull
- With over a third of countries globally going to the ballot in 2024, what sort of future political environment are we seeing take shape?
- What will be the long-term impact of the assaults on ESG and DE&I investing?
- What is the future of climate change action in US government policy?
- What are the issues that have bipartisan agreement within the scope of impact investing?
Fran Seegull, President, U.S. Impact Investing Alliance
10:45 - 11:15
Networking Break
11:15 - 12:00
Allocator outlook: what is driving investment to impact funds for different types of LPs?
Alexandra Farmer,
Andrew Siwo,
Mark Berryman,
Jessica Pan
- How have asset owners reacted to the new regulatory landscape vis a vis SFDR and SEC guidance (fund naming rules)?
- What investment themes resonate most and where do challenges exist?
- What factors have driven challenges in fundraising?
- How has the sentiment for investments in climate-oriented strategies evolved, particularly across regions?
Moderator:
Alexandra Farmer, Partner, ESG & Impact, Kirkland & Ellis
Andrew Siwo, Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Mark Berryman, Managing Director, Caprock
Jessica Pan, Principal, Private Equity, APG
Andrew Siwo
Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Read bio
12:00 - 12:20
Keynote
12:20 - 13:00
Deep dive into transition investing: scalability, returns prospects and impact
Daniel Pianko
- How are the transition-labelled funds in the market deploying their capital?
- Where is the alpha in transition investing?
- Have ‘tourist’ investors had a damaging effect on the impact ecosystem in terms of valuations or investor sentiment?
- How is the impact market digesting the opportunities flowing out of the Inflation Reduction Act?
Moderator:
Daniel Pianko, Managing Director, Achieve Partners
13:00 - 14:00
Lunch
Social impact
14:00 - 14:45
Addressing growing inequality and social justice: what models have scale potential?
Joohee Rand,
Jessie Duncan,
Liz Roberts,
Sheena Strawter-Anthony
- Social impact funds resonate most with their locally based investors, what can be done in increase their appeal to other types of investors?
- What models provide the most promise in scaling impact on inequality?
- Is it possible to both provide above market returns and deliver genuine impact on the ground in a social context?
- Does social private capital have a contradiction at the heart of the concept?
Moderator:
Joohee Rand, Head of Secretariat, Director, Impact Principles, GIIN
Jessie Duncan, Program Director, Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing
Liz Roberts, Head of Impact Investing, MassMutual
Sheena Strawter-Anthony, Director of Impact Investment Strategy, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
14:50 - 15:35
Deep dive into the future of work, education and skills
- What are the risks of the growing skills gap and labor shortage problem being felt by fast-growing industries?
- What is the future of education and reskilling: universities, online courses, intensive bootcamps?
- How are funds active in the workforce development and education market faring in the current market, in terms of deployment?
- Where is the alpha opportunity for investors active in the scape?
16:00 - 16:45
DE&I: what does the future of DE&I investing hold?
- What are the best practices in building diverse manager portfolios?
- What is the state of diverse investment targets in the wake of SCOTUS rulings and the Fearless Fund litigation?
- How is the future of DE&I likely to evolve?
16:50 - 17:35
Blended finance: a new dawn for an old idea
Laurie Lane-Zucker
- How can blended finance be used to scale capital flows to impact?
- Is the blended finance model being applied to non-emerging-market-related investments?
- What case studies are there of genuine innovation in the impact market in terms of structures?
- Why hasn’t blended finance been a bigger thing to date?
Laurie Lane-Zucker, Founder and CEO, Impact Entrepreneur
Transition investing
14:00 - 01:45
Climate and energy transition in the US: understanding the investment opportunities in light of the IRA
Jonathan Hirschtritt,
Holland Davis
- Which aspect of the energy transition is underfunded?
- How is the IRA funding being digested by the market?
- What is the next wave of energy transition opportunities and how does it intersect with impact investing?
- How much price inflation are we seeing for ‘’grade-A’’ climate assets?
Jonathan Hirschtritt, Managing Director, Sustainability, GCM Grosvenor
Holland Davis, Principal, HarbourVest
14:50 - 15:35
How to invest in industrial decarbonisation
Micah Kotch
- How are corporates looking to decarbonise their operations and supply chains?
- Which technologies are being used to decarbonise?
- How capital intensive are industrial decarbonisation solutions?
- What are some examples of good brown-to-green investment stories?
Micah Kotch, Partner, Blackhorn Ventures
16:00 - 16:45
Artificial intelligence deep dive: how to approach this seismic investment opportunity (and risk)?
- How can impact funds get exposure to AI?
- How is AI being applied to address social and environmental issues right now?
- What can funds and investors do to get ahead of the disruption curve?
- How can AI be leveraged for bettering impact management and measurement?
16:50 - 17:35
Climate justice: what’s the investment case?
Roraj Pradhananga
- What types of assets are included in a climate justice thesis?
- Is climate justice a concessionary strategy?
- Is this just a new fad in the way of an investment theme, what’s the case for its long-term relevance to investors?
- Who are the funds and LPs already active in this theme in North America?
Roraj Pradhananga, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Veris Wealth Partners
Nature & environment
14:00 - 14:45
Nature impact investing: how to make money off carbon and nature?
- How dependant are nature investments on the carbon markets, and to what extent is this a strategic risk?
- What are the fundamentals driving viability of natural capital as investments?
- How are managers active in the market deploying their capital?
- What are the environmental objectives and impact goals of nature funds?
14:50 - 15:35
Climate resilience & adaptation: going beyond mitigation
- Is climate adaption largely an infrastructure investment story (e.g. reinforced river banks and flood prevention?)
- How is funding for climate adaptation taking place currently across public and private investing?
- What are some of the best examples of climate adaptation around the world?
What is the landscape of investors that are exploring climate resilience theme?
16:00 - 16:45
Ocean health and blue economy: a growing asset class
Diane Damskey
- Which types of assets are ocean funds targeting?
- Ocean and blue funds are a relative recent development, what are the fundamentals and basics of the sector?
- What is the return and impact potential of ocean funds?
- What are the challenges of allocating toward ocean impact from an LP perspective?
Diane Damskey, Secretariat Emeritus, Operating Principles for Impact Management
16:50 - 17:35
Future of sustainable materials and metals: mining vs circularity
- Can mining metals (for the energy transition) be an impact investment?
- What investment opportunities are there in transition metals mining?
- Is circularity a better route to sustainable materials supply for consumption?
- What are the material requirements needed to actualise a systemic transition to an ‘electrified economy’?
17:35 - 18:35
Evening networking reception
Agenda
Day 2 - Wednesday 13th
Morning Workshops
08:00 - 09:30
Developing an impact contract toolkit
Contracts facilitate collection of impact data from third parties and achievement of impact goals that relate to sponsors’ investment portfolios or operations. In this session, we’ll explore some of the drivers for impact contract uplift (e.g., commitments, regulation, risk mitigation), and provide an overview of different contract tools (e.g., reps and warranties, covenants, indemnities, information rights).
Participants will have an opportunity to share their experiences integrating impact into different types of contracts, including challenges and strategies for overcoming those challenges.
K&E will provide tips for how sponsors can identify key contracts with respect to both investments and portfolio companies, and then develop a set of tools that can be deployed by sponsor and portfolio company personnel.
08:00 - 09:30
GP workshop: the measurement & metrics of impact performance
Mike McCreless
- Is reporting being done for reporting’s sake?
- How are advances and innovation in impact benchmarking being felt in the reporting sphere?
- What can be done to ease the cost burden (both monetary and time) of doing impact reporting well?
- What are the best practice norms that are emerging?
Mike McCreless, Founder and Executive Director, Impact Frontiers
08:00 - 09:30
LP workshop: Impact allocator working group
Bhavika Vyas
- What filters are investors using to screen bad impact investments?
- What are the best practices for engaging with impact fund managers?
- How are different investors doing due diligence?
- How are LPs using impact data?
Bhavika Vyas, Managing Director, Impact Investing, Stepstone Group
Breakouts
09:45 - 10:30
Buyout, secondaries, GP-stakes and beyond: which impact strategies and products are gaining traction?
Priya Parrish
- Impact buyout playbook: how different is it to a mainstream strategy?
- Are we seeing more impact buyout strategies being launched?
- What does the future of impact secondaries hold?
- Are new product launches reflecting the impact potential of these products (or is it to meet investor demand)?
Priya Parrish, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Impact Engine
09:45 - 10:30
LP-GP speed networking
In this session we’ll have speed networking between funds and allocators. A great way to meet 10 new people with 4-minute per meeting.
Please note, places are limited. Apply here if you are an allocator (LP) and here if you are a fund manager (GP). PEI will confirm the week before the event to those that have been accepted and more details on the format.
11:00 - 11:45
Differentiating an impact fund in a crowd: what’s the secret sauce to impact fundraising success?
Jyoti Aggarwala
- What’s been the secret of the funds that have really outperformed in fundraising (e.g. Ara Partners)?
- How to differentiate fundraising efforts when going after market-rate LP (such as pensions) and impact-orientated investors (such as family offices, foundations or endowments)?
- How to fundraise in the US in the wake of the ESG backlash?
- Where are the new pools capital that are more inclined towards impact or sustainable funds?
Jyoti Aggarwala, Senior ESG Consultant & Private Markets Business Development Professional, Private Capital Raise
11:00 - 11:45
Elevator pitches: The best up-and-coming managers across impact investment themes
In this new format session, you’ll be hearing from some of the most innovative and exciting emerging managers in the North America impact market. We’ll hear a set of 5-minute pitches from five of the most exciting managers we’ve found in the impact market, followed by an open Q+A with the speakers facilitated by the chair.
We are committed to providing a platform for new managers that are doing exceptional work.
11:45 - 12:30
Going all in: Operationalising a 100% impact portfolio commitment
Mark Hays,
Amanda Feldman,
Kate Huntington
- How are foundations that have committed to 100% impact portfolio going about implementing the target?
- How are 100% impact investors filtering opportunities?
- What are the key differences in terms of the investment process relative to a standard market-rate investor?
- How is the collective pool of impact-orientated capital likely to grow?
Edmund Piro, CIO, McConnell Foundation
Mark Hays, Managing Director, Director of Sustainable and Impact Investing, Glenmede
Amanda Feldman, Managing Director & Head of Impact Engagement, Sonen Capital
Kate Huntington, Head of Advisory Solutions Group and Managing Director, Fiduciary Trust International
11:45 - 12:30
The rise of impact credit
- With interest rates high, what are the opportunities in credit investments in an impact context?
- Which funds have impact debt products and in what impact context are they being applied?
- How do credit strategies differentiate themselves from an impact perspective?
- How influential can credit be to the achievement of impact outcomes?
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch
Plenary
13:30 - 13:45
Presentation: Impact fundraising over the past year
- Who are the biggest funds and allocators in impact investing?
- What are the most significant trends in allocation to impact investing?
- Which strategies and themes are gaining the most capital?
13:45 - 14:45
Debate: Impact delivers market rate returns
This is an Oxford-style debate in which we’ll have two speakers for the proposition and two speakers against, with audience voting on their views at the start and at the end of the session. This session will be a closed-door discussion.
The substance of the debate is whether impact funds can deliver market rate returns – a questions that still seems to plague the market. This is a question that goes to the heart of what impact investing means to LPs and to the funds that label themselves as such. In the debate we’ll explore questions including: what is market rate exactly, whether the claim of always being able to deliver market rate returns is disingenuous, and if impact funds can deliver the exact same returns as a mainstream PE funds, what sort of assets are they buying for their portfolios?
14:45 - 15:00
Networking break
15:00 - 15:15
Keynote: The Waste Free World - the proof and the potential of transitioning to a circular economy
Ron Gonen
Ron Gonen, Founder and CEO, Closed Loop Partners
15:15 - 16:00
Deep tech, AI and more: what technologies give us a shot at a sustainable world?
- What is the landscape of technologies and innovations that we should get excited about from an impact perspective?
- How are megatrends and tech progress resulting in deployment opportunities?
- Where are the moonshots and the low-hanging-fruit of the transition investment world?
- What is the role of impact investors in fostering and financing the next wave of tech-enabled sustainability?
End of Conference
16:00 - 16:10
Closing remarks
Network with the global transition investment industry
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit is one of the highest-quality networking meetings for fund managers and allocators focused on transition, impact and sustainable outcomes investing. Join 350+ attendees in New York for two days of networking at the must-attend event for sustainable investment professionals.
The in-person networking experience
Meet investors focused on transition, impact and sustainable outcomes investing
Network with active investors in the industry. Benefit from our expansive global investor community who will be in attendance throughout the summit.
Network in-person in New York
Connect with your peers at interactive workshops, networking breaks, evening drinks reception, roundtable discussions and invite-only breakfasts.
Build new connections
Past attendees include Align Impact, APG, Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital Double Impact, Blackcorn Ventures, Caprock, Carlyle, CDPQ, Closed Loop Partners, Energy Impact Partners, Glenmede, Global Endowment Managment, Keller Family Office, Manulife, North Sky Capital, QIC, Stepstone Group, UBS Global Wealth Management and many more.
Testimonials from attendees
Operating Principles for Impact Management
Diane Damskey, Head of Secretariat
The event gathered some of the top names in impact investing and covered key topics to promote the understanding and growth of this market. The organization and…
SV Health Investors
Hannah Maunder, Investor Relations and Communications Associate
The Impact Investor Global Summit provided a huge amount of clarity on all things impact investing and did so in an engaging and enjoyable way.
FSN Capital Partners
Pål Dale, Senior Director, Business Development
All in all, the event provided a rich and detailed snapshot of the state of the impact investment industry, as of 2021.
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit will take place on 12-13 November 2024.
For more information on speaking in 2024, please contact Boris Petrovic.
boris.p@pei.group | +44 (0)204 548 4494
2024 speakers:
Liz Roberts
Head of Impact Investing – Investment Management, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Andrew Siwo
Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Sheena Strawter-Anthony
Director of Impact Investment Strategy, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
Chavon Sutton
Senior Investment Director, Sustainable and Impact Investing Research, Cambridge Associates
Sponsorship opportunities
Position your company to be front and center of the impact, transition and sustainable investment market in North America in a gathering of leading fund managers and institutional investors.
Sponsorship gives you the opportunity to:
- Level up your fundraising – network with private market investors looking to allocate towards impact and sustainable investment funds
- Discover brand opportunities to position your funds to maximum brand awareness
- Present your solutions to a room full of a senior decision-makers at the leading impact funds in the US and Canada
For more information on available sponsorship opportunities please contact tyler.m@pei.group | +1 646 795 3279
2024 sponsors
The Impact & Transition Investor Summit will take place on 12-13 November 2024.
For more information on speaking in 2024, please contact Boris Petrovic.
boris.p@pei.group | +44 (0)204 548 4494
Speakers in 2023 included: