Catalytic capital is often described as concessional capital, sometimes accepting lower returns. But this framing overlooks what matters most. In practice, catalytic capital steps in first, absorbs the risk others can’t, and makes institutional capital comfortable enough to follow.

If you’re involved in capital allocation, this matters because catalytic capital isn’t about charity. It’s about structuring risk so institutions can invest in assets they normally couldn’t because of regulatory and rating rules.

This episode focuses on how catalytic capital functions inside impact investing portfolios under real regulatory and balance-sheet constraints. 

It revisits key points from my earlier conversation with Yasemin Saltuk Lamy who built and scaled the Catalyst Portfolio at British International Investment from roughly £300 million to about £1.6 billion.

Tune in to learn:

• Why who goes first matters more than how much capital goes in
• When catalytic capital actually crowds in institutional investors
• How credit enhancement changes regulatory eligibility
• How impact measurement shapes capital allocation decisions
• Why impact trades off with liquidity, not financial returns

Featured guest: 

• Yasemin Saltuk Lamy, Head of Investment Strategy for the Institutional Retirement division of Legal & General (L&G) and former Deputy CIO and Head of Asset Allocation and Capital Solutions at British International Investment (BII)

Listen Next: 

• Full conversation with Yasemin Saltuk Lamy

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