Global leaders to explore USD 1bn fund of funds to catalyze the LatAm impact investment market

Buenos Aires, July 13, 2018: The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) today announced the launch of a task force of Latin American impact investment leaders to explore a “fund of funds” model for supporting social and environmental impact investment in the region.

The Latin America Impact Fund of Funds (LIFF) Task Force will determine the feasibility of a USD $1 billion Fund of Funds to drive social and environmental impact in 20 countries across Central and South America. Once viability has been established,, the LIFF Task Force intends to launch the fund of funds to strengthen the intermediary market “We are delighted that the Task Force will explore this important and innovative Fund of Funds,,” said Sir Ronald Cohen, Chair of the GSG. “This group of leaders in investment and social impact is passionate about improving lives and the environment in Latin America by attracting private capital for public good. I am confident they will help achieve on the aspirations of the continent.”

Latin American countries have made significant progress on key social and environmental fronts over the last decade, but significant challenges remain. By some estimates, about 40 percent of the population live in vulnerable conditions: 115 million people live in informal urban settlements, more than 80 million people are affected by insufficient water supply and sanitation, twenty percent of the regional population lack access to basic healthcare facilities, and nearly ten percent of young people have not completed primary school.

The fund will seek to address these issues by providing patient debt and equity capital to social and environmental impact funds in Latin America. It will pool institutional and retail capital from domestic and international sources and it will be aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The announcement was made in Buenos Aires today by GSG Vice Chair & Global Ambassador Alejandro Preusche, who will chair the Task Force.

“I am honored to accept the Chairmanship of the LIFF Taskforce and I am confident that we will attract the region’s finest talent to assess and, hopefully, launch this much-needed impact Fund of Funds,” said Preusche. “As the first of its kind in the region, the LIFF will offer new approaches to tackle some of the region’s most intractable challenges. We are excited to begin our work and look forward to sharing the results widely.”

Other members of the LIFF Task Force include chairs of the GSG’s current National Advisory Boards (NABs) in the region: Maria Laura Tinelli (Argentina/Uruguay); Beto Scretas (Brazil); Angelica Zegers (Chile); and Rodrigo Villar (Mexico). They will be joined by GSG CEO Amit Bhatia.

The GSG is incubating two similar-sized initiatives in India — the India Education Outcomes Fund and the India Impact Fund of Funds — as well as an Education Outcomes Fund in Africa and the Middle East.