3rd Sustainable Investor Summit Vienna – Sponsors and Partners

Sponsors and Partners

Principal Sponsors

Stafford Capital Partners (www.staffordcp.com) is a leading private markets investment and advisory group with a global presence and $5.3 billion under management and advice. Stafford works with a wide range of institutions like pension funds and insurance companies to deliver returns with a high cash yield through active investing across private markets segments such as infrastructure, timberland, agriculture & food, green growth private equity, and venture.

The company works diligently and creatively to find the best investment opportunities across a range of market sectors and accesses these opportunities with a focus on secondary transactions that significantly reduce the blind-pool-risk and avoid negative J-curve effects. Stafford is owned entirely by its principals – principals who have spent their careers investing in the private markets on behalf of clients with relationships spanning decades. While underpinned by investment performance, Stafford supports clients with complete integrity, open communication and a philosophy of responsible investing. Stafford is committed to and proud signatory of the PRIs since 2010.

Universal-Investment (www.universal-investment.com/en) is the largest independent investment company in German-speaking countries with EUR 462 billion in assets under administration, of which around EUR 360 billion are in retail and institutional products (UCITS, SICAV, Spezial-AIF, SCS, etc.) and EUR 102 billion in additional services (insourcing, direct investments, etc.), 1,402 funds and investment structures and around 700 employees.

In its three product lines Securities (Master KVG, Private Label Funds), Alternative Investments (Real Estate, Real Assets) and Portfolio Management with rule-based investment strategies, Universal-Investment offers institutional investors and fund initiators efficient administration, structuring of their funds, securities and alternative investments, supplemented by sophisticated risk management.

Lead Sponsors

Chi Impact Capital (https://chi-impact.com/) is an independent Impact Fund Manager based in Zurich. Our purpose is to assist qualified investors achieve both: attractive financial returns, while simultaneously being pro-active enablers of positive and systemic change.

Chi Impact Capital invests in a new species of entrepreneurs in Europe with an integrated business mission to serve a critical social or environmental issue. These companies provide a strong growth potential next to transformative and typically tech-heavy solutions across the following impact themes: Circular Economy & Conscious Commerce, Green innovation & Energy Efficiency, Affordable and Climate Resilient Healthcare, Food Safety & Security, and Smart Infrastructure & Mobility.

Supporters

Aqua Capital (https://aqua.capital/) is a private equity firm focusing on growth control investments in mid-market companies throughout the Brazilian and South American agribusiness and food value chain, managing $650 million in AUM.

Since our inception in 2009, we have allocated over $440 million through twenty-four control acquisitions organized in thirteen platforms. Aqua Capital has the largest dedicated agribusiness private equity team in the region, and one of the largest globally.

Our investment model is based on professionalizing and growing mid-market companies and executing roll-ups, originating unique, proprietary opportunities through our deep sector knowledge. We are the most award-winning firm in Latin America for ESG standards and practices, and the first private equity firm in Latin America certified as Great Place to Work®.

The GLS Bank (www.gls.de) is the first social-ecological bank, founded in Germany in 1974. With a balance sheet of approx. EUR 7 billion, GLS is among Germany´s leading mutual banks and offers commercial and private banking as well as asset management and advisory services for private and institutional clients.

While banking with us your money supports a variety of projects and businesses like organic farms, providers of natural health, nursing homes, projects for the unemployed, bio-food stores, communal housing projects, sustainable businesses, as well as independent schools and kindergardens. All of this contributes to our triple bottom line: social, environmental and economic benefits – the best for people, planet and profit.

MobilityFund (MF) is the first sustainable venture capital firm dedicated to the European mobility industry. MF’s management has a shared vision of a safe, clean and efficient mobile society. MF is run by a long-standing and experienced investment management team, that has pioneered independent alternative investment funds since 2004.

Prior to MF the team has built an onshore windfarm portfolio for German and Austrian public utility companies learning that energy transition and mobility transition are closely linked. MF’s first fund has a strongly performing investment portfolio, comprising eight companies from four European countries in several technological target sectors, such as connectivity, autonomy, shared mobility and logistics. MF raises its second fund in 2020 with an almost identical investment strategy to its first fund, budgeting more follow-on investments. MF is a BaFin registered German management company with market standard structure and terms working with experienced VC service providers. (https://mobility.fund)

Neptune (www.neptune-nrcp.com) is a sector-focused private equity firm dedicated to investing in small to medium-sized businesses operating within the global aquaculture value chain, with a specific focus on Europe, the Americas and Australasia.

Neptune works as an active owner, injecting the necessary industry expertise, human resources, and capital to support our businesses to achieve their full potential. We focus on partnering with attractive platform companies, led by exceptional management teams with a desire to further grow and develop their businesses.

Our proven, industry-specific investment strategies are designed to maximize value creation through a focus on resource efficiency, operational improvements and the introduction of new technologies that deliver incremental value, whilst simultaneously strengthening social and environmental outcomes.

Supporting Organisations

Advantage Finance is an owner-run management consultancy. Since 2015 it organizes the sole finance-platform for family offices and foundations in Austria, with a network in the whole DACH-region. The conferences are not only a finance platform for family offices and foundations for an exchange view and discussion, it additionally strengthens the business location Austria as a whole. The hand-picked family offices and foundations are from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the UK. Besides the mentioned conferences, Advantage Finance arranges investor-lunch-presentations in Vienna, Germany and Switzerland. Furthermore, it is direct funding partner of the Vienna Stock Exchange. For more information visit www.familyofficeday.at

CONVERGENCE (https://www.convergence.finance/) is the global network for blended finance. We generate blended finance data, intelligence, and deal flow to increase private sector investment in developing countries.

BLENDED FINANCE uses catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to scale up private sector investment in emerging markets to realize the SDGs.

Our GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP includes over 200 public, private, and philanthropic investors as well as sponsors of transactions and funds. We offer this community a curated, online platform to connect with each other on blended finance transactions in progress, as well as exclusive access to original market intelligence and knowledge products such as case studies, reports, trainings, and webinars. To accelerate advances in the field, Convergence also provides grants for the design of vehicles that could attract private capital to global development at scale.

– Established in 2017 by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) together with Deutsche Börse Group 
– Network of market actors working on solutions for mainstreaming sustainable finance in Germany in order to create a sustainable financial system. 
– Ten main recommendations describe the core fields of action, derived from the content overlap between the interim report of the High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance of the European Commission, the PRI Roadmap for Germany, the Living Document Sustainable Finance of the Council for Sustainable Development, the goals of the Accelerating Sustainable Finance Initiative of the Deutsche Börse and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures of the Financial Stability Board.
https://www.h4sf.de/

PHINEO gAG (https://www.phineo.org/) is a non-profit research & analysis institute and consultancy. Its mission is to support the non-profit, business and public sector in having a strong positive impact in society and making a difference in people’s lives.

Phineo has a broad network and strong relationships to organizations and individuals across all sectors and currently employ 60 people with various professional backgrounds. One focus of the work is on research and analysis of non-profit organizations (NPOs) and social businesses, social impact assessment as well as capacity building in the third sector. So far, they have published 17 market reports that introduce the character and scope of social challenges, structures of non-profit and social investor engagement in each particular area and highlight best practice to guide social investors. Topics include: inclusion of people with disabilities, dementia, depression, child poverty, generation 55+, integration of people with migration background and school-to-work transition.

We also identify, analyze and highlight (with the PHINEO impact label) best practice among NPOs and projects, i.e. activities with a very high potential to achieve impact and to bring about social change. Via the consulting unit we have supported hundreds of social investors such as global corporations, large foundations, family offices and public administration at the international, federal and regional level with expertise and consultancy in order to improve their strategies and implementation on shared value, social impact investment, social business development, high-impact engagement activities, impact assessment and reporting.

respACT – austrian business council for sustainable development is Austria’s leading platform for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development.

respACT stands for “responsible action“ and supports for more than 20 years its member companies in achieving ecological and social goals economically and independently. Throughout the year respACT provides room for exchange of knowledge on current CSR topics, inspires with examples of good practices and connects experts from fields of economy, science, politics and civil society. Besides several workshops and webinars, respACT yearly co-organises the TRIGOS- the Austrian award for responsible businesses, the ASRA- Austrian Sustainability Reporting Award and hosts the flagship-event for CSR managers in Austria, the CSR-Tag (CSR-Day).

Besides being the offical partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and CSR Europe, respACT also coordinates the Global Compact Network Austria since 2004. respACT acts as an advocate for the successful attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). www.respact.at

The World Environment Center (WEC) is a global non-profit, non-advocacy organization, led by member companies, with offices in Washington, D.C. (HQ), Munich, and San Salvador.

Founded by the United Nations in 1974, WEC has been the earliest international platform for business to discuss practical solutions for the environment. WEC‘s chief purpose is worldwide enhancement or strengthening of sustainable development through business operations of member companies in partnership with governments, NGOs, and universities. WEC achieves its mission through three core programs:
– Thought Leadership: WEC convenes senior business executives and key leaders from governments, NGOs and universities at roundtables and workshops on environmental and sustainability topics that influence the business agenda.
– Capacity Building: WEC implements scalable public and private capacity building programs on eco-efficiency and sustainability management around the world.
– Annual Gold Medal Award: By honoring business excellence WEC helps to raise expectations

WEC is open for any sincere and ambitious collaboration for sustainable development. Please visit www.wec.org

Know-How and Technology Partners

At advinda (www.advinda.com) we are an international team of software innovators, researchers, and fundraising experts from a leading global placement agent, DC Placement Advisors (DCPLA), with more than 100 years of combined experience in connecting with institutional investors. advinda combines an Investor Intelligence APP of unparalleled global private market data with a built-in ready-to-use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) available on all devices, designed specifically to make capital raising across all asset classes easier, while accelerating the connection with Limited Partners (LPs). Thus, in 2016, advinda was born with the vision to revolutionize how the global alternative investment industry raises capital.

Arabesque Asset Management (https://arabesque.com/) is a values-driven asset management company built on the pillars of sustainability and evidence-based, data-driven investing.
We employ the power of capital markets to motivate companies to conduct business in an entirely sustainable and responsible manner. Through the embedding of ESG criteria (environment, social and governance) in our rules-based investment strategies, we improve the risk-reward profiles of our portfolios.