Recent high-profile fund launches indicate that the private impact debt class is poised to take flight, according to the Dutch consultancy.
The number of private debt impact funds on Phenix Capital’s impact database now stands at 423, representing an increase of 184% over the last decade, though the rise was only 1.7% over the last year, the Dutch-based consultancy said in its latest report.
These private impact debt funds – comprising 15% of Phenix’s total database – have raised a cumulative €66bn since 2015, with a target size of €83bn. The 423 funds are run by 232 fund managers, with 264 (62%) of them open for investment.
In its June 2025 private debt report, Phenix highlighted some recent high profile launches which it said showed “this asset class is poised for growth in terms of assets and numbers of funds going forward”.
These included Allianz Global Investors’ Impact Private Credit strategy launched in 2024, which had received €705m in commitments from European institutional investors by its fourth closing in April, and Sienna Investment Managers’ launch of the Sienna Biodiversity Private Credit Fund, dedicated to preservation and restoration of biodiversity in Europe.
Other new initiatives noted by Phenix were Nuveen’s global credit strategy, backed by $170m (€145m) from a range of global investors, and the European Investment Fund’s Green Private Credit fund of funds targeting €200m, launched in February.
Looking at sub-strategies within private debt impact funds, Phenix reported that 46% of funds on its database focused on direct/private lending. Microfinance was the next most pursued strategy (22%), followed by infrastructure debt funds (14%) and asset-based lending (7%).
Some funds feature in more than one category in the database analysis, as investment managers usually concentrate on more than one theme or region.
The share of funds focused on emerging markets fell to 65% from the 69% recorded in Phenix’s 2024 private debt report, while the proportion focused on developed markets rose to 29% from 26%. Private debt funds with a global remit remained around the same level at 6% of total funds.
Targeting Africa
Regionally, Africa remained the leading target – a focus for nearly a third of funds on the impact database, driven, in part, by efforts to support micro companies and SMEs starved of growth capital from other quarters. High-growth sectors, such as health, education and nutrition, continued to provide opportunities in Africa for private debt funds tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Phenix noted. Latin America was the second strongest focus, looked at by around a fifth of funds, followed by Asia and Europe.
The bias towards emerging market-oriented impact funds in the database meant that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) most-targeted by funds were SDG 1 on poverty alleviation (206 funds) and SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy (152 funds). SDG 5 on gender equality and SDG 2 on zero hunger were the next most popular goals for funds.
The report also includes a “deep dive” section on Latin America, where it reports on an expansion of the private credit market, and a focus of private debt funds on SDG 1 and SDG 2, followed by SDG 5.
Demand for funding globally was being driven the widening gap in financing to meet sustainable development needs, which currently lie in the $2.5trn-$4trn range – a figure that Phenix noted was more than 50% higher than estimates prior to the Covid pandemic.
In terms of in types of investors committing to private debt funds on the impact database, development finance institutions led the way, contributing to 282 funds – a position that Phenix said reflected their role in providing catalytic capital and risk mitigation in emerging markets, as well as their ability to provide crucial long-term capital required for investments in infrastructure, sustainable land use and renewable energy. Next in the investor list were foundations (197 funds), government agencies (95 funds) and banks (93 funds).
