SWEN Capital Partners Sees Market Transformation Decade Ahead with Focus on Climate and Biodiversity Impact Investing

Jean-Philippe Richaud, Chief Investment Officer at SWEN Capital Partners, shares his view on the current market environment from IPEM Cannes 2025, the 10th edition of the conference.

SWEN Capital Partners is a private markets platform that began as a fund-of-funds operation in 2008 and has since expanded into direct investing strategies. It manages close to €8 billion in assets under management across six investment strategies: two fund-of-funds verticals in private equity and infrastructure, and direct investments in infrastructure, two venture capitalstrategies, and mezzanine debt.

In this interview, Jean-Philippe discusses the current market environment, exploringchallenges around fundraising and a slow dealmaking climate, while highlighting opportunities he sees in climate change and biodiversity-focused investments. Richaud emphasizes SWEN's evolution from ESG monitoring toward measurable impact investing as a key differentiator and value creation strategy for its LPs.

Key Points from the Interview:

• Market parallels to post-tech bubble transformation period: Jean-Philippe characterizes the current environment as the middle of a "decade of transformation" similar to the post-tech bubble era, with a slowdown in fundraising and extended challenges in dealmaking despite significant dry powder awaiting deployment.
• Investment activity paradox between total deal value and volume: While 2023 showed satisfactory overall transaction value, the number of individual deals remained very low, creating a challenging dynamic where market participants have substantial capital to deploy but face limited investment opportunities at an appropriate pace.
• Strategic emphasis shifts toward climate and biodiversity impact: SWEN is placing increasing emphasis on impact investing focused on climate change, energy transition,and biodiversity. It sees these as long-term trends that appealing to LPs and present attractive investment opportunities.
• Evolution from ESG monitoring to measurable impact investing: Jean-Philippe notes that SWEN has always put a strong emphasis on ESG monitoring, which has appealed to LPs. It is now transitioning to detailed impact measurement and quantification across deals, building trust and alignment among its portfolio companies, employees, and investors.
• Optimistic deal outlook despite market challenges: Despite fundraising difficulties and changing market conditions requiring careful management of refinancing and existing deals, Richaud expects a good year for deal activity, particularly in the impact-focused opportunities SWEN is looking at where dealflow remains strong.