“Audacity is not about leaping into the unknown. Quite the opposite: it means assessing the risks of a course of action.”
I had the pleasure of welcoming Fanny Picard, a pioneer of impact investing in France and founder of Alter Equity.
Her idea: to prove that impact and the creation of financial value can go hand in hand.
It took her eight and a half years of energy and determination to complete her first closing, weather the 2008 crisis, persuade institutional investors and persevere despite the doubts.
An idea many at the time considered heretical.
Fanny has shown that, beyond its goal of profitability, a company can also help bring about change for the social and environmental common good.
Alter Equity’s figures speak for themselves: 32 investments, an internal rate of return above 20% on its exits, and 9.3 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided—the equivalent of 2.5% of France’s annual emissions.
Where does this commitment to the common good come from? From a family history deeply marked by public service, but also from her chosen career in finance at Rothschild, Danone and then Wendel.
Her work with Mozaïk RH to promote equal opportunities, followed by a pivotal encounter with Alain Grandjean, co-founder of Carbone 4, which opened her eyes to the environmental emergency, strengthened her conviction that finance should serve social and environmental causes.
The idea for Alter Equity then took shape: to create an impact fund addressing social and environmental challenges, founded on a firm conviction that impact and financial performance are not at odds; they go hand in hand.
In this episode, Fanny reflects on:
- Her childhood, shaped by two grandfathers who had been in the Resistance: one a liberal, the other a communist.
- Her wish to enter politics—even to become President of the Republic—and why she gave it up.
- Her years in finance—at Rothschild, Danone and Wendel Investissement—and what they taught her.
- Mozaïk RH and her pivotal encounter with Alain Grosjean (Carbon 4), which would change everything.
- The founding of Alter Equity in 2007 and the eight and a half years of resilience it took to close its first fund.
- Alter Equity in figures: 32 investments, an internal rate of return above 20%, and 9.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided.
- How Alter Equity selects its investments and measures their impact.
- Why so many people still do not feel that the climate emergency is an emergency.
- The reality of climate change, the role of finance and consumers’ responsibility.
- Her dictionary of audacity: assessing risks rather than leaping into the unknown.
