IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
New Summit Investments
Climate Change
Health and Wellbeing
Workforce Development, Upskilling and RetrainingFirm Overview
New Summit Investments was built as a specialized impact investment firm with a high bar for social, environmental, and economic return. We have a strong track record managing high-impact investment strategies across asset classes in private equity, debt, and public equity. Our mission is to channel capital to investments that provide profitable solutions to the greatest challenges of our time: climate change, racial and gender inequities, economic opportunity, and human health. The firm was launched in 2016 by a consortium of Registered Investment Advisors to produce private market impact product solutions for investors with a focus on impact and sustainability.
Years of Operation: 5 – 9 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
We believe that an increasingly transparent, connected, and resource-interdependent world will reward enterprises that are well-governed, socially just, and focused on thriving in an economy evolving to meet the world’s needs.
New Summit presents a diverse multi-manager portfolio of private market funds, aimed at securing competitive returns by targeting enterprises devoted to solution-driven environmental and societal outcomes. Our blended strategy strives for market-rate returns, reflecting a blend of financial acumen and impact. Our Funds channel capital towards innovative firms in markets characterized by pronounced environmental and societal values. In addition to venture capital and private equity strategies, we extend our focus to real assets, including green affordable housing, renewable energy infrastructure, sustainable timber, and ecosystem services. Our approach is structured to deliver a compelling return within the framework of a 10-year lockup strategy, aligning long-term financial growth with measurable social and environmental impact.
As one of the first impact fund-of-funds created, New Summit paved a new way for individuals and institutions to access private market impact investments. Today, New Summit has a 7-year track record pursuing market rate returns on behalf of 300+ investors. We track a universe of ~500 investment opportunities and have committed capital to 40 fund managers. We are proud to have 16 IA50 funds in our portfolio. For our latest Fund III, we stated an intention to invest in more diverse and emerging managers, not as a box-checking exercise, but by subscribing to the fundamental belief that diverse teams make better investment decisions. Measured in dollars, Fund III is 40% committed to managers with substantial racial diversity (at least 20% of the investment committee is a racial minority) and 47% to majority gender-diverse teams (at least 50% of the investment committee is female).
Investment Example
As part of our Venture Capital allocation, New Summit's Fund III has invested in Black Opal Ventures, a female- and diverse-led venture capital firm focused on providing capital to innovative early-stage companies at the intersection of healthcare and technology, heralding a new era of transformation in the healthcare industry. Our combined investment in Black Opal's inaugural fund is $2.2 million, representing almost 4% of LP commitments to this fund. Black Opal is one of five recent investments in female-led venture capital funds.
Leadership and Team
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Alex Lamb – Managing Partner More Info
Alex is the lead Managing Partner at New Summit. He co-founded the New Summit Impact strategy and is a member of the Fund’s investment committee. Alex has close to a decade and a half’s experience with the integration of Impact and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into business value creation and risk mitigation. At Ernst & Young LLP, (and previously as Vice President for North America at Trucost), he worked with corporate and investor clients on the integration of Impact and ESG factors into core strategy and due diligence. |
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Natasha Lamb – Managing Partner More Info
Natasha Lamb is a Managing Partner at New Summit Investments and sits on the Investment Advisory Committee for the New Summit Impact Fund. Natasha is also a Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Arjuna Capital, which she co-founded in 2013. Natasha works with clients to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into their investments, while engaging major corporations to improve their performance through shareholder activism. |
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Alexandra Ellis – Principal and Head of Research More Info
Alex is a Partner at New Summit Investments, leading private market research, investment manager sourcing, and due diligence. Prior to New Summit, Alex spent five years working with corporations and financial institutions on environmental and social sustainability topics. She previously worked on Ernst & Young’s (EY) Climate Change and Sustainability Services teams in London and Boston. As part of her role at EY, she worked with investor clients on the development of their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies and on ESG due diligence. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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It is imperative that all fund managers that we consider invest in underlying assets where social and/or environmental impact is integral to their business activities. We would not consider a fund manager where this is not the case.
Our due diligence process tracks the racial and gender diversity of a fund manager's team.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
13 Elm Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA 01944 USA
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