Applicant Registration Form

    Please confirm that the following eligibility criteria apply to your team and fund project:

    Emerging Investment Manager *

    • The applicant is a first- or second-time investment management or investment advisory company (the “Applicant”) and intends to set up an impact investment vehicle (the “Project”).1

    • The Applicant will uphold best market practices.2

    • The Applicant will demonstrate a commitment to develop and implement best practices in the management of responsible investments by being signatory to recognized responsible investment frameworks.3

    • The Applicant will or intends to be duly authorized by a competent supervisory authority of an EU Member State; or subject to a regulatory and/or supervisory regime that is equivalent to that of EU Member States.4

    Planning to set up an Impact Investment Vehicle *

    • The Project will have a strategy enabling the generation of positive social impact alongside financial return on investments, in line with its sustainable investment objective(s).5

    • The Project will target to finance activities made with the intention to generate positive, measurable, and substantial impact. The Project will highlight if/how it is addressing unmet needs for specific target populations.

    • The Project will have an integrated process in place to identify, manage, monitor, and measure the environmental and social impacts on 100% of its investments.

    • The Project will apply exclusion criteria in line with the Initiative’s Exclusion Policy and ensure the compliance of its investments with the defined exclusion criteria.

    With Climate Finance as its Primary Focus *

    • The Project’s impact strategy must focus on relevant impact themes, with an intention to contribute to climate change mitigation and/or climate change adaption.6

    • The Project will have at least 75% of its total assets allocated to investments that contribute to one or more of these impact themes.

    Aiming to invest in Challenging Geographies *

    • The Project will have a target portfolio consisting of investments in target countries above the programme minimum.7

    Ready to be accelerated *

    • The investment strategy is built from insights gained through the feasibility studies and the expertise of its team members, utilizing local networks and knowledge, but still to be refined.

    • The team has a solid grasp of the potential impact of their investment vehicle and has begun formulating their theory of change. However, the concepts of impact still require refinement and integration into a comprehensive impact measurement system.

    • The investment manager team boasts a sufficient array of expertise necessary for the successful launch of the fund. This expertise includes fund / vehicle management, investment management, investment acumen, technical proficiency, structuring, legal competencies, pipeline development, and fundraising capabilities.

    • The investment vehicle and the investment manager team’s collective knowledge, time commitment and experience provide a robust foundation for taking advantage of the programme support and reinforcing their ability in navigating the complexities of fund establishment and operation, ensuring a well-rounded and effective approach to achieving the investment vehicle’s objectives.

    • The investment manager team possesses ample expertise and local networks, enabling them to effectively delineate a pipeline aligned with the investment strategy and impact aspirations to convince institutional investors to commit to their investment vehicle.


    * This field is required

    Only Applicants deemed Eligible will be considered during the next phase of the selection process. The ICFA reserves the right to update the eligibility criteria, selection criteria, and exclusion policy at any time.


    1 Eligible Applicants are unlisted small companies up to five years following their registration and/or the start of their economic activity, which have not yet distributed profits and have not been formed through a merger. If the Applicant is part of a group of companies, i.e., an economic entity formed of multiple companies which are directly or indirectly controlled by a controlling company, eligibility will consider on a group basis.

    2 Applicants undertake to prepare, at least, an impact or an Environment and Social (E&S) report, and, in addition but not limited to, CSR/sustainability guidelines/policy, annual CSR/sustainability report, engagement policy, active ownership policy, etc. published at the level of the Applicant or at the level of its group. Applicants will be subject to the Initiative’s General Terms of Business and General Code of Conduct.

    3 Recognized responsible investment frameworks such as, but not limited to, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM).

    4 The equivalence of regulatory and/or supervisory frameworks of non-EU countries with the EU framework will be assessed premised on the equivalence decisions of the European Commission and the Luxembourg national supervisory authority.

    5 For a Project that is not subject to the SFDR, this requirement will be assessed on the basis of the Project’s legal and reporting documentation, and its non-financial objective described therein. As minimum requirements, the Project:
    – has indicators to monitor and report on its impact objectives and demonstrate commitment to recognized impact reporting standards relevant to the impact strategy of the Project;
    – maintain on its website information on the methodologies used to assess, measure and monitor the impact characteristics or the impact of the sustainable investments selected for the financial product, including its data sources, screening criteria for the underlying assets and the relevant sustainability indicators used to measure the environmental or social characteristics or the overall sustainable impact of the financial product.

    6 Climate impact themes are defined according to internationally and/or regionally agreed classification systems and taxonomies around climate change mitigation and/or climate change adaptation, including without limitation the MDBs’ Common Principles for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Finance Tracking.

    7 Assets under management for every ICFA Cohort need to reach a minimum of 70% to be invested in countries eligible to receive international climate finance. Please see https://www.greenclimate.fund/countries.