Asset Managers and the Control of Financial Flows: A Perspective from the Social and Environmental Impact Industry

• Grant number: 25/00476-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Geography - Human Geography
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Betioli Contel
• Grantee: Maira Magnani Asencio
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Global capitalism is increasingly driven by the flow of capital controlled by asset managers. Although this phenomenon has been extensively studied-particularly in the so-called "Global North"-there is a lack of studies focusing on the social and economic relationships that occur among the myriad of actors involved in these financial flows. This project aims to investigate the role of asset managers in the social and environmental impact investment industry in Brazil, a class of investment that has been growing globally, exploring how its trajectory is shaped by Brazilian asset managers interested in new material forms of accumulation. It is argued that, by performing three main functions-capital attraction, asset management, and final investment-asset managers are engaged in various social and economic relationships that are crucial to maintaining control over financial flows in the impact investment industry. The central hypothesis is that the actions of asset managers in the impact industry involve creating "ethical" narratives to attract investors, using metrics to transform environmental and social elements into financial assets, and actively participating in regulatory agendas to support their interests. A qualitative methodology will underpin the focus on the social and economic relationships that permeate financial flows.