Stella Vermögensverwaltungs, a German family office, is progressing a plan to invest 10 percent of its assets in impact strategies. Much of this capital will be directed to emerging markets private equity, where “the impact per Euro invested is highest,” says Christoph Schlegel, Stella’s managing director and chief investment officer.
Stella is the single family office for Heinz Hermann Thiele Family Foundation and Julia Thiele-Schürhoff. It manages wealth amassed through the ownership of German autoparts manufacturer Knorr-Bremse and railway components supplier Vossloh.
The investor was recently in the news for awarding a €200 million mandate to M&G-owned impact firm ResponsAbility and committing to Blue Earth Capital’s debut secondaries fund.
This recent activity reflects a “broader long-term approach,” Schlegel tells affiliate title New Private Markets. “We started to invest in impact private equity in 2022, and after we had achieved proof of concept and seen the first encouraging financial and impact results, ramped up annual commitments to a much higher level about a year ago.”
Schlegel declined to give details on the amount of assets the family office manages, or its wider asset allocation activity, but did give insight into its impact investing approach and priorities.
Stella’s impact capital is invested “predominantly” in emerging markets, he says, “and not only into more established impact investing markets like India, but also where investing is more challenging,” such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The 10 percent impact allocation is predominantly emerging markets private equity, with some developed markets PE, “and to a much lesser degree debt and infrastructure” in emerging markets, says Schlegel. “This is in addition to substantial allocations to mainstream private equity and debt.”
The firm’s interest in private equity venture capital funds. One VC fund it is known to have committed to is Fund II from London-based Emerge Capital. That vehicle closed on $73 million in November 2024 to invest in the future of work and learning.
Additionality matters
“We want to be additional with our capital and target areas where modest amounts can really make a difference to people and planet,” says Schlegel, “and we want our contribution to further grow new or undersupplied capital markets.”
Industrial decarbonisation and circular economy are two themes that Stella is interested in across both developed and emerging markets, whereas social impact (including quality job creation, affordable healthcare and other goals) as well as clean energy infrastructure are “reserved for emerging markets, where capital is scarce and our capital is most impactful.”
Stella has opted to use external managers rather than build up internal impact investing capabality. Alongside the commitments with Blue Earth Capital and ResponsAbility, the investor works with FIIND Impact, a specialist investment consultant and adviser.
“These three partners do all investment research for us,” says Schlegel. “We then discuss and decide each individual investment in a collegial manner. At Stella we retain overall responsibility for portfolio construction, and also for judgment calls to balance the depth of impact vs financial risks.”
Through its three partners, Stella is confident that it sees every relevant opportunity across its priority impact themes and geographies. “There is no need for an impact manager to come to us. If they fit, our partners will show them to us,” Schregel says.
Where the team does select funds directly is in “large global growth equity impact managers” and clean energy infrastructure and transition strategies for the Global South, he adds.
The investor also wants to “signal to other investors that impact matters,” says Schregel. “When a manager demonstrates a strong alignment with our impact priorities, we sometimes support a fund at first close, often alongside development finance institutions to accelerate fund raising momentum and crowd in more private capital.”
Additional reporting by Venture Capital Journal staff
