Investors are increasingly seeking out rewarding opportunities that help feed the world, according to Peter Rockefeller.

This view from the legendary family of investors supports the now almost universally recognized investment trend: Impact Investing is growing.  And fast.

The considerable – and growing - opportunities for both impact investors and social entrepreneurs is one of the key themes to be discussed, and moderated by the World Economic Forum, at the inaugural AIM Europe Summit in Geneva on 12 June at the Hotel President Wilson.

After many successful editions of the Alternative Investment Management (AIM) Summit in the Middle East over the past five years, which have brought together high-profile global investors from leading institutions and family offices, this is the AIM organisation’s first-ever European Summit.

At this inaugural European Summit, impact investing is high on the agenda as more and more global investors seek out the diverse opportunities to advance social and environmental solutions through investments that also produce robust financial returns.

“The Summit will address one of the most critical issues of our time as it will introduce global investors to the vast array of opportunities that are key to advancing the innovations in technology that are essential for meeting the food supply of a world population that is projected to be a staggering 9 billion by 2050,” says Lee Tashjian of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council.

Opening the event is keynote speaker Peter Rockefeller, Board Member & Vice Chairman of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Managing Director of Brock Capital Group.  Mr Rockefeller observes: “As the world’s population continues to surge it becomes ever more pressing to increase the production of healthy foods using Earth-friendly farming methods that can be sustained into the future.

“This need is matched by opportunities for forward-thinking investors to deploy investment capital in ways that will simultaneously advance sustainability in agriculture and meet the need to feed additional millions, while generating real returns.”

The World Economic Forum’s Katherine Brown, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing, will be moderating this part of the Summit.  She emphasises: “The future of sustainable and impact investing is based on building industry coherence and collaboration to accelerate the evolution from the short-term investment mindset to one that focuses on long-term investments and sustainable impact.”

It is not only the global rise of impact investing that is attracting investors from all over the world to Geneva for the gathering on alternative investments:  This asset class forecast by industry experts to grow to $14 trillion by 2023 according to Dalma Capital.

“Investors are increasingly seeking uncorrelated investment opportunities in the late stages of global asset price cycles,” said Zachary Cefaratti, CEO of Dalma Capital and Strategic Partner of AIM Summit.

“Leading institutions and family offices are also increasingly conscious of the impact their investments make on society and the environment, as well as the governance of the firms they invest into – thus a focus on ESG and Impact Investing at the AIM Summit is welcome at its first European Summit.”

The Managing Partner of AIM Summit, Raha Moradi, comments: “No serious investor can ignore any longer the vital importance of alternative investments – including hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, and private debt – in their portfolio.

“The world has changed in recent years - and continues to evolve rapidly - and investors’ portfolios must evolve accordingly.  This is why we are seeing unprecedented demand by institutional investors, family offices, sovereign wealth funds, private investors and fund managers to attend this inaugural AIM Europe Summit.”