Bridging Capital and Impact to Connect Mission-Driven Funds with Aligned Investors

As Vice President at Big Path Capital, Nick Dell drives the private equity placement team’s efforts to assist fund managers in raising capital from mission-aligned investors. Understanding the fund’s mission and investor priorities is important for successful connections, Nick says. “Our job is to highlight the unique attributes our managers possess that make them high-quality investors,” he says. “We do this by crafting a story around their prior fund performance or, in the case of new teams, their investable track record at their prior firms.”

One common theme throughout the fund team’s work is showing that investing for positive social and environmental impact doesn’t mean sacrificing financial performance. This framework has supported Nick’s work to scale impact since he joined Big Path in 2020.

In this Q&A, Nick discusses how Big Path incorporates its expertise in the impact investing sector to navigate change and growth and why in-person connections are a crucial part of its fund efforts on behalf of private equity impact funds.

What are some of the unique considerations/challenges that impact fund managers face when seeking mission-aligned investors? How does Big Path help navigate these challenges?

The impact investing space has grown over the last 10 years or so. But it still has a young nature because a large number of fund managers are emerging or leading first-time funds. Because of that, one of the biggest challenges impact fund managers face is demonstrating the strength of our work.

At Big Path Capital, our job is to highlight the unique attributes our managers possess that make them high-quality investors. We do this by crafting a story around their prior fund performance or, in the case of new teams, their investable track record at their prior firms. At the end of the day, our managers cannot scale impact without first generating risk-adjusted returns for investors.

What do you most enjoy or appreciate about working with mission-driven private equity funds and institutional investors?

The number one thing I enjoy is that the LP (limited partner) community and impact fund managers are proving that you can invest in themes that provide positive social or environmental change while also generating or exceeding market-rate, risk-adjusted returns in their respective asset classes.

How does Big Path identify and evaluate impact-focused investors? What types of investors does Big Path typically work with?

Big Path Capital has been involved in the impact space since its inception. We have enjoyed a very loyal following of investors who have considered our clients over the years. Our network is comprised of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, multi-family offices, foundations, endowments, fund of funds, pension funds, and advisors and consultancy firms for institutional investors. That being said, the impact space continues to grow, and so does the investor community that is now considering investments in this space.

We are continuously working to expand our network and connect with investors ready to shift to impact vehicles that support areas such as affordable housing, poverty alleviation, renewable energy, underrepresented entrepreneurs, and increased accessibility to healthcare. These efforts involve research, direct outreach, and events.

How does Big Path design events, including the Five Fund Forum and Impact Capitalism Summit, to help nurture opportunities for fund managers and investors? Can you share a bit about each event and how they serve fund managers and investors?

We understand that there is no substitute for in-person networking, especially when making investment decisions. Building on that understanding, we curate events where investors and fund managers can interact thoughtfully and productively.

We recently hosted our 35th Five Fund Forum, an event that brings impact fund managers and mission-aligned investors together. The goal of the event is for our clients, the fund managers, to present their latest strategy to a wide array of investors and advisors, which ultimately leads to commitments to their fund. The Five Fund Forum is purely a capital-raising event.

The Impact Capitalism Summit is a multi-day event that encompasses networking, fund manager pitches, panels from thought leaders, and activities that foster friendships. While the goal of this event is for our clients—the fund managers—to meet and pitch their strategies to the investor community, the Impact Capitalism Summit also serves to create new relationships and share ideas around impact investing and the broader ecosystem.

What changes have you seen in the fund market during your time at Big Path?

When I first joined Big Path in 2020, the private capital space as a whole was seeing tremendous volume from a capital deployment standpoint. Our clients saw a significant allocation of commitments from the LP community during the COVID-19 timeframe. Since 2023, things have cooled, although they are starting to pick up now.

That being said, a change in federal administration typically causes some market volatility, and we are seeing that today. Given the current volatility, the public markets have remained uncertain, which causes the LP community to pause when it comes to investing in venture capital or private equity strategies. Liquidity concerns have created a tough fundraising environment for private capital fund managers, impact or not. While interest in the impact space is still strong, some external pressures are requiring managers to change their messaging around their strategy. With impact as a guide since our founding in 2007, Big Path is well-positioned to navigate market changes alongside our purpose-aligned network.