Monika joined Abris in 2017 as a partner responsible for Investor Relations, communication, and ESG. Before joining Abris, Monika was active as a non-executive director, serving on multiple supervisory boards of large companies and publicly listed corporations. Earlier, she held the position of CFO at Sanofi-Synthélabo, a pharmaceutical company and was a senior auditor at both Salustro Reydel (France) and Arthur Andersen (Poland). She brings 25 years of international C-suite experience in finance, private equity, banking, investor relations, management, strategy, and development into her current role.
Monika is a member of the Abris Partners’ Board, Investment Committee, and she is chairing the Corporate Governance Committee. She contributed materially to develop and implement the ESG strategy of Abris, which is focusing on managing portfolio risks and creating shareholders’ value. She will share her views on ESG at the conference and in this interview, too!
What motivated you to become part of the impact ecosystem? How did you start this journey and where are you now?
I have been observing the impact investing ecosystem for a couple of years now, since I believe this sector is now the fastest developing part of the market. At Abris, we are a Private Equity investor with ESG transformation specialization, but I believe we have a pretty good overlap with impact as well. Since our next fund will be focusing on environmental and social goals even more, our paths should entwine even more.
At Abris Capital Partners, you contributed materially to developing and implementing its ESG strategy. What place and role do you think ESG should play in impact investing?
ESG standards add methodology and discipline to your investing toolkit. My strong conviction is that
„any class of investors should use them to manage risks and create value in their underlying portfolio.”
The good thing is that impact investing, which pursuits social enterprises and sustainable targets, should adapt ESG in a more natural way.
As the economic and geopolitical landscape changes faster than ever, what do you see as impact investing’s biggest challenges and opportunities in the next 12 months?
I think currently opportunities for impact investing exceed challenges. The major opportunity is the fact that limited partners and most of the institutional investors have finally allocated material amounts to support this asset class.
“I see many new “pockets” opening for impact investors, which means that the fundraising should be easier and faster.”
The two key challenges are pipeline and regulatory framework. On one hand, the CEE region is still not producing a sufficient pipeline of interesting, maturing concepts and companies to invest in. On the other, European regulations and reporting requirements are increasing. For a small impact investor – and I think most of them are still small – meeting those requirements will be a major effort.
Looking further, I hope the impact ecosystem, which is now somehow a niche and still a minor part of the financial sector, will grow fast, get stronger and become a part of the mainstream. I see many experienced PE houses adding impact to their product’s offer and many existing independent impact investors raising bigger and more visible funds. I am convinced this is the future.
What advice would you give to a social entrepreneur looking for an investment – what to focus on and what to avoid?
While entering the investment world, there is one thing each entrepreneur should remember, whether female or not. The measure of investors’ success is a return on investment. Whether it is PE, VC or impact, financial return is always embedded in the primary purpose of investing. Therefore, despite the specificity of the impact purposeful mission, if one wants to secure a meaningful investment round, a solid business plan and a clear revenue projection should be key to the sales pitch.
Monika will be sharing her thoughts about ESG credibility on the line in a panel discussion at the CEE4Impact Day. When asked about the program, she thinks each agenda point sounds very exciting.
“I am very much looking forward to hearing both: the big picture perspective of the keynote speakers as both of them are opinion leaders in our industry, and the true experience from the case studies. I am sure there is still so much to learn!”
Join us on the 14th October 2022, at Budapest Music Center, where you can meet Monika Nachyla and the key players of the CEE impact ecosystem. It will be a place to get inspired and change perspectives!
At the CEE4Impact Day we will explore the power of impact investing in an international environment, with international speakers and presenters coming from the CEE/V4 region, seeing what the trends are, where the gaps need to be filled and in what manner.
Agenda and tickets: www.thbe.hu/konferencia
