Capital Allocation Series
Family offices, both single family offices (SFOs) and multi-family offices (MFOs), represent one of the most heterogeneous but increasingly influential investor groups within the global impact investing landscape. Unlike banks, developmentfinance institutions, insurers, or pension funds, family offices are typically not bound by regulatory capital requirements, formal mandates, or externally imposed return benchmarks. Their investment […]
Capital Allocation Series
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have become increasingly relevant actors in impact investing in emerging markets and developing economies, although their participation differs structurally from that of foundations, DFIs or commercial asset managers. SWFs are state-owned investment vehicles mandated to manage national wealth over long time horizons, often derived from commodity revenues, foreign exchange reserves or […]
Capital Allocation Series
Global capital markets amount to approximately 288 trillion USD according to aggregated data from the World Federation of Exchanges, the Bank for International Settlements, and S&P Global Market Intelligence, as reflected for example in the BIS Global Debt Statistics. Around 275 trillion USD, or roughly 95 %, is invested in public markets, primarily listed equities and […]
Alternative Development Trilogy
Before collaborating across countries and governments, and before the concepts of aid or development cooperation even existed, local individuals and organisations around the world have always been working on solutions to their challenges from the ground up. However, in Official Development Assistance (ODA), cooperation is usually between governments, and local voices are frequently ignored. This […]
Alternative Development Trilogy
Global South countries harnessed more than half of the world’s economic growth in recent years. Their foreign direct investment outflows now represent a third of global flows. And intra-South trade is significant and ever-growing. While development cooperation is often viewed as being between developed and developing countries, with the developed partner providing the funding, it […]
Alternative Development Trilogy
In 2025, the world’s wealthy countries cut between 9 and 18% of their official development assistance (ODA), following an average of 9% cuts in 2024. These trends are led by the United States, which suddenly dismantled its international development agency, USAID, and exited or slashed funding for numerous international organisations, leaving a 60 billion USD […]
Resource Curse Trilogy
Timor-Leste is the youngest nation in Southeast Asia and, according to the Freedom House Index and V-Dem, it is also the most democratic. Born from a quarter-century of Indonesian occupation that killed roughly a third of the population, the country restored independence in 2002 and immediately faced a question that has undone far wealthier states: […]
Resource Curse Trilogy
In the early 2000s, the World Bank embarked on what was arguably the most ambitious experiment in resource revenue management ever attempted. The Chad–Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project was designed to prove that, with the right institutional framework, oil wealth could be channelled directly into poverty reduction even in one of the world’s poorest […]
Resource Curse Trilogy
Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and, for decades, petroleum revenues financed public spending, social programmes, and infrastructure, positioning the country as one of Latin America’s wealthiest nations and a regional economic powerhouse. Today, Venezuela stands as one of the most dramatic examples of economic collapse in modern history; hyperinflation, prolonged GDP contraction, mass […]
Pollution Trilogy
Soil pollution remains one of the least visible yet most consequential environmental challenges of our time. While air and water contamination dominate public debates and policymaking, the slow and cumulative poisoning of soils unfolds silently. Often, the problem is ignored until its consequences become irreversible, creating an invisible crisis that undermines food security, human health, […]