Blended Finance in a Volatile World: Practitioner Insights and Diagnosis

This market soundings brief analyzes the most salient trends, challenges, and opportunities facing blended finance as prioritized by practitioners. The analysis was generated from more than 30 interviews with bilateral donors, DFI practitioners, multilateral climate fund officials, private fund managers, impact investors, researchers, foundations, advisory firms, fund managers, and guarantee specialists during the first quarter of 2026. Respondents categorized the problems as systemic and they were undoubtedly anxious – even deeply frustrated – regarding the state of blended finance, but also not without hope and ideas for the future. The insights presented in this paper are intended to provoke discussion and insight into the changes still being digested by the market, clarifying the foremost challenges as a foundation for collective understanding and action.