Switzerland has a long and distinguished history in impact investing, establishing itself as a pioneer in making microfinance accessible to private investors. Today, it ranks among the top three countries globally for private market impact investments, supported by a robust network of specialists. Yet, despite all its progress, impact investing remains somewhat niche, and there is an increasing call for action to integrate it more fully into mainstream financial strategies.

SSF, in collaboration with Tameo Impact Fund Solutions (Tameo), has recently published “A Stocktake of Swiss Impact Investing”. The report is built on two data sets. First, data from the SSF Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study 2024 captures impact investing as a self-declared sustainable finance approach, totalling CHF 180 billion AuM. This volume is held across a large variety of asset classes, with private debt and private equity making up only 5% of AuM and the majority being held in listed equity (31%) and real estate (25%). These assets were mostly invested in the environment sector (21%), the housing/community development sector (13%), the health sector (12%) and energy sector (11%).

Second, data from the Tameo Private Asset Impact Fund Report 2023 demonstrates that Swiss-managed private asset impact funds (PAIFs) comprise a considerable share (12%) of the global PAIF market (USD 95.3 billion), placing Switzerland among the top 3 countries for AuM in PAIFs. In 2024, there were 18 impact asset managers in Switzerland with a total of 83 funds with a combined AuM of USD 11.2 billion. The most popular sector for impact investing was microfinance with 65% AuM.

But besides looking at the state of impact investing today, the report more importantly aims to make recommendations on how to address barriers for further growth and thereby provides the basis for future collaborative efforts between different actors in the Swiss impact investing space.

In order to further expand the potential of Swiss managed capital toward impactful outcomes, collaboration is needed between different actors from the financial sector such as mainstream asset managers, foundations and pension funds and the investees that receive capital. This is why the “Swiss Platform for Impact Investing” is launched as the Swiss National Partner to GSG Impact at Building Bridges on 12 December. This Swiss Platform will further Swiss expertise through collaboration between actors and is hosted by Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF). The Swiss Platform will work to leverage the expertise from within the market, with different organisations taking the lead on different projects, amongst them SSF. All work will be overseen by the Swiss NP Executive Board.

The Swiss NP will be pushing for projects that:

  • Engage the Swiss ecosystem around impact investing
  • Create clarity and transparency in the Swiss financial market on impact investing
  • Increase flows of capital toward impact investing
  • Provide an expert voice for Swiss impact investing

To get involved with the Swiss NP, join the Network.

– This contribution is brought to you by Swiss Sustainable Finance, a valued founding partner & event partner of Building Bridges 2024.