Key takeaways
- Interest in emerging markets is rising faster than actual impact capital deployment, and the gap is where most execution risk sits.
- Emerging markets are fragmenting, so a single regional thesis is less useful than a country-by-country view of currency, regulation and exit routes.
- Family offices have historically held little in emerging markets, which means many are entering with thin local networks and limited ways to verify counterparties.
- A trusted introduction shortens the path to decision-makers but should start diligence, not replace it.
On November 13, the World Bank Group published a blog arguing that the next big asset class could come from emerging markets. Its arithmetic is simple. If only 1% of the USD 100 trillion held by global institutional investors and pension funds went to emerging and frontier markets, that would mean USD 1 trillion extra for clean water, energy transition, healthcare and jobs. The post also points to Dutch investors, who have shown that institutional capital can participate. For impact investors and family offices, the pitch is an invitation. It also raises a harder question: what separates the capital that arrives from the capital that merely intends to?
Is the money really moving into emerging markets?
Less than the headlines suggest. The Global Impact Investing Network’s 2026 market report covers 318 respondents and $434.3 billion in impact assets under management. It notes that emerging markets continue to attract interest, but the data shows a gap between investors’ stated interest and current allocations. Sub-Saharan Africa (18%) and Latin America (17%) had the largest shares of investors planning to increase exposure.
Family offices show the same pattern. The UBS Global Family Office Report 2025, as summarised by a market newsletter, found that they held almost four fifths of their assets in North America and Western Europe. They allocated just 4% to emerging market equities in 2024 and 3% to emerging market bonds. A later survey reported by Markets Group suggested a record 60% of family offices planned to change portfolio allocations, with increased allocations to emerging market equities, infrastructure and gold. Plans are shifting. Local relationships, for most of these offices, are not yet in place.
What should impact investors check before entering an emerging market?
Start by dropping the idea of “emerging markets” as one trade. Amundi’s November outlook says the developing world is becoming increasingly fragmented, with a split between commodity exporters and importers, and it is monitoring events in Brazil and Indonesia. Goldman Sachs Asset Management lists the standard exposures: inadequate regulations, volatile securities markets and adverse exchange rates. A sponsored MetLife Investment Management note published on November 12 makes the bullish case but concedes that investors continue to worry about geopolitics, governance, regulation and currency volatility.
For a direct impact investor, those headline risks translate into a practical checklist:
- Exit and currency: the GIIN report’s commentary notes that exit timelines have stretched, so model patient capital and local-currency returns from day one.
- Regulatory path: confirm licensing, foreign-ownership limits and repatriation rules before term sheets, not after.
- Counterparty and governance: verify beneficial ownership, related-party dealings and the track record of the local operator.
- Impact measurement: agree on metrics and data access with the investee early, since weak reporting is hard to fix later.
- Government and institutional alignment: know which ministries, development banks and multilateral programmes touch the sector.
Why do trusted local introductions matter so much?
In markets where public information is thin, reputation does much of the verification work. That favours investors who already have access, and it explains why family offices, which are typically discreet, tend to move through peers and known intermediaries. A good introduction does three things. It gets a principal in front of a real decision-maker. It lets a counterparty vouch for the investor as well as the reverse. And it shortens the period before meaningful diligence begins.
It does not remove risk. An introduction can be commercially motivated, and a warm handshake can hide weak governance. The disciplined approach is to treat the introducer as a source to be checked, and to test the introduction against independent references, local counsel and public records.
This is the territory where advisers such as Welch International operate. Dylan Welch, founder and CEO of the St. Petersburg, Florida firm, works on business development, strategic partnerships and communication strategy across the public sector, the private sector and the multilateral system. The firm describes its business development work as mapping markets and stakeholders, securing decision-maker introductions and shaping pipelines, and lists trusted access and discretion among its stated principles. (Those descriptions come from the firm, not from the sources cited elsewhere in this article.)
Convening is the other half of the access problem. Welch co-hosts the New York Innovation Forum at 777 United Nations Plaza with Emilie McGlone of Peace Boat US, timed to Climate Week NYC and the UN General Assembly. Its programming has included a Climate Week Family Office Forum. The 2026 edition ran on September 21 and 22, and the 2027 edition is set for September 20 and 21. Rooms of this kind put family offices, corporates and institutions together outside a pitch setting, which is useful for first contact.
The same logic applies to the multilateral system. Intelligence Report has examined why so many UN partnerships with business stall after the handshake and whether COP31’s private capital push can close the SDG gap. In both cases, the first meeting is rarely the constraint. Follow-through is.
What to watch
- World Bank follow-through: whether the call for institutional participation produces concrete vehicles that family offices can co-invest in.
- The allocation gap: the next GIIN and UBS data, to see whether stated interest in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America becomes deployed capital.
- Fragmentation signals: oil prices, the dollar and political developments in Brazil and Indonesia, which will separate winners from losers inside the asset class.
- Convening season: the 2027 Climate Week and UN General Assembly calendar, where many first introductions will be made.
Investors and institutions working on partnership and market-entry questions can find more about Welch International at welchinternational.org.
Frequently asked questions
What risks should family offices weigh before investing in emerging markets?
The main risks are currency volatility, regulatory uncertainty, governance weaknesses, geopolitical shocks and limited liquidity. Goldman Sachs Asset Management cites inadequate regulation, volatile securities markets and adverse exchange rates. Direct investors should also model longer exit timelines and verify local counterparties independently before committing capital.
How much do family offices invest in emerging markets?
Historically, not much. The UBS Global Family Office Report 2025 found family offices allocated about 4% to emerging market equities and 3% to emerging market bonds in 2024, with nearly four fifths of assets in North America and Western Europe. Surveys suggest allocations may rise.
Why do local introductions matter in impact investing?
Information in emerging markets is often thin, so reputation does much of the verification work. A trusted introduction gives investors access to decision-makers and credibility with counterparties, and it shortens early-stage relationship building. It should prompt diligence rather than replace it, because introducers can have their own commercial interests.
Sources
- Welch International
- The next big asset class could come from emerging markets
- State and Size of the Impact Investing Market 2026 (GIIN)
- Global Investment Views November 2026 (Amundi)
- Market Pulse November 2026 (Goldman Sachs Asset Management)
- Emerging Market Equities: A More Resilient Growth Story (MetLife Investment Management, sponsored)
- Family offices shifting allocations toward emerging markets, infrastructure as risks mount (Markets Group)
- Emerging Market Skeptic, citing the UBS Global Family Office Report 2025
- In emerging markets, family offices emerge as a force for impact investing (ImpactAlpha)
- Welch International
Top image: Victorgrigas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
This article was produced by the Intelligence Report Desk. Sources are linked below.
