Colony Latam Partners

Its investing is restricted to two places: Latin America and the Hispanic market of the US. It presents itself on its website as SouthLight Capital, a socially responsible alternative asset manager, and says that an integrated team with more than 14 years of regional deal experience and two fund cycles manages it.

Deal structures

The firm says it has an extensive record of completing transactions in the region, in forms ranging from early-stage and growth equity to credit. It operates what it calls quick capital rotation vehicles and holds that proven products alone will not do, so it aims to create new products suited to changing markets. Its mandate has recently widened from Latin America to include the Hispanic market in North America.

Partnership capital

Its investment model is described as partnership capital: the companies it funds are treated as real partners in a value creation plan rather than as deals or portfolio positions. The firm takes part in active portfolio management and real-time risk management, and uses these to decide on investments, create value and plan exits. Its strategy rests on three guidelines: sustainable impact, growth, and staying inside the region it is mandated to cover.

Where it sees opportunity

The firm names under-investment in distribution and logistics, financial services and fintech, education and health, consumer retail and export businesses. It places particular weight on companies well advanced in digital technology and on those with a clear gap between supply and demand. Its target companies include those in the Pacific Alliance countries and Brazil, as well as US businesses serving Hispanic customers. The firm points to the region's large population, growing middle class and young average age as supporting that view.

Responsible investment

A long section of the site sets out eight responsible investment principles. They include integrating environmental, social and governance criteria throughout the investment process alongside financial, legal and commercial checks, requiring minimum standards from partner companies, encouraging products and services that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, monitoring sustainability through key performance indicators, and reporting openly to stakeholders. The firm also lists five sustainability themes that it aims to build into the management of its investments, beginning with prosperity for its markets.

Colony Latam Partners, shown on its website as SouthLight Capital, is an alternative asset manager that focuses only on Latin America and the Hispanic market in the United States. It says it acts as a partner to the businesses it funds rather than a passive financier.

What Colony Latam Partners offers

• Growth equity: capital for expanding regional companies and projects.
• Early-stage investment: funding for younger ventures.
• Credit: debt transactions alongside its equity work.
• Active portfolio management: real-time risk management, help planning value creation and support in preparing exits.

Customers and markets

Companies and projects in Latin America and among Hispanic communities in North America. Its investment guidelines are impact and sustainability, growth, and geographic focus on the mandated region.

Key facts

• Region: Latin America and the Hispanic US market
• Track record: managed by a team that has been doing deals in the region for more than 14 years and two fund cycles
• Approach: partnership capital, with ESG considerations built into investing