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Impact Forum 2014 is organized by:

IMPACT FORUM 2014 – FROM NICHE TO MASS

WELCOME TO IMPACT FORUM 2014

The Impact Forum 2014 was the sixth gathering of its kind organized by IIX and Shujog. The Forum was held for the first time in two locations: Singapore and France. The Singapore-based Impact Forum took place on the 12th and 13th of June at the Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre, while the France-based Impact Forum took place on the 12th of June at Credit Cooperatif (SCI) Auditorium, Paris. Fishbowl conversations, plenaries, breakout sessions and academies catalyzed discussions that brought to light key issues on how different players can come together to energize the Impact Investing space and move it further in the direction of the mainstream. In addition, key panels highlighting the theme were: Clean Energy, Food Security, Climate Change and Law and Policy. The Forum’s keynote speaker was José Ramos-Horta, former President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who spoke from Guinea-Bissau about the role of inclusive economic development in promoting peace and justice. Durreen Shahnaz, Founder of IIX and Shujog, echoed Mr. Ramos-Horta’s sentiments and emphasized that our focus as actors within the space should not only be on achieving $1 trillion investment by 2020 but also about impacting a billion lives. The Forum’s featured speakers Christopher Harvey of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd, Pavan Sukhdev of GIST Advisory Pvt Ltd, Anil Sinha of IFC, Sam Muller of HiiL, and Matt Christensen of AXA, also provided insight on how to bring Impact Investing from a niche market to a mass market. With almost 500 people present across the two venues, the Forum brought together delegates and speakers from a wide range of backgrounds to share challenges and discuss solutions on how to bring Impact Investing to the next level.

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Table of Contents

IMPACT FORUM IN NUMBERS ............................................................................... 1

FROM NICHE TO MASS ......................................................................................... 2

IMPACT FORUM 2014 FEATURED SPEAKERS ......................................................... 2 SINGAPORE .................................................................................................................. 2 FRANCE ........................................................................................................................ 4

SESSION SUMMARIES AND HIGHLIGHTS .............................................................. 4 SINGAPORE .................................................................................................................. 4

I. Fishbowl Conversations .......................................................................................... 4 II. Plenaries ................................................................................................................ 6 III. Breakout Sessions .................................................................................................. 8 IV. Impact Academies .................................................................................................18

FRANCE ...................................................................................................................... 20

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SHOWCASE ........................................................................ 22

IIX/SHUJOG COMMITMENT ................................................................................. 24

POST FORUM FEEDBACK ..................................................................................... 25

IN THE PRESS ...................................................................................................... 27

TESTIMONIALS .................................................................................................. 36

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................... 37

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Impact Forum in Numbers

Total Delegates 459 Singapore Delegates 340

Location Singapore and France Singapore Profile C Level Delegates – 40% Manager Level – 31% Academics – 6% Media/PR- 3% Others – 20% France Profile C Level Delegates – 38% Manager Level – 20% Academics – 17% Media/PR- 0% Others – 25% Social Enterprise Scholarships awarded 12 Social Enterprise Diversity The Social Enterprises participating in the Showcase and the scholarship program came from all over Asia working in the energy, agriculture, healthcare, waste management and livelihood sectors.

France Delegates 119 Impact Investor attendees 90 – Day 1 35 – Day 2 (Closed Session) Social Enterprises making pitches for investment at the SE Showcase 7 Social Enterprise-Investor Relations All Social Enterprises had 2-3 or more one-on-one chats with at least 12 separate investors. 7 out of the 7 Social Enterprises have serious indications of interests from several impact investors.

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From Niche to Mass

The dialogue around impact investing, has, up till now, been centered on risks and returns. Based on a joint 2010 report by J.P. Morgan, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Impact Investing Network, we have talked about how to achieve “the Grand Vision” of increasing impact investment to $1 trillion by 2020. We have not, however, talked about what those dollars should achieve by way of social impact. Bringing impact investing from niche to mass is about starting this conversation towards impacting one billion lives, in addition to achieving $1 trillion, by 2020. By focusing on the sectors we work in, we can think about how Social Capital Markets can impact one billion lives by 2020 and bring them clean water, electricity, essential housing, affordable healthcare and education. We can do this through focusing our efforts on creating effective policies, strengthening intermediation efforts, enhancing pre-investment support, injecting innovation & creativity and growing the supply of capital. Impact investing cannot be viewed as an issue specific to a country or region. To grow the industry, we must view it as a global issue and think about how we can work together to bring impact investment from the margin to the mainstream.

Impact Forum 2014 Featured Speakers

SINGAPORE

Dr. José – Ramos Horta

President José Ramos-Horta, Former President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, spoke from Guinea-Bissau, where he is currently Secretary-General and Head of the UN Integrated Peace Building Mission.

Prior to becoming President of Timor-Leste, Dr. Horta served as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense (2006-2007), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Cabinet Members in the United Nations Transition Administration for East Timor – UNTAET (2000-2002). He was also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Information in the first Government proclaimed in December 1975 following Timor-Leste’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and Representative, Spokesperson, for the Resistance (1975-1999).

Dr. Horta has been active in Peace and Conflict Mediation, in Timor-Leste and internationally. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. He is Vice-President of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council (APRC) based in Bangkok, comprising leaders from Asia working on second track diplomacy and mediation. He has been awarded 20 ¨Doctor “Honoris Causa”, and is Visiting Professor in Universities in Australia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, USA, etc. His main publications are: FUNU: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor, Red Sea Press, Trenton – USA, 1987; Timor-Leste: Amanha em Dili, Dom Quixote, Lisbon, 1994; and he contributed to Thomas Cushman (Ed.), A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq, Paperback, 1st Edition in 2005 by University of California Press.

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Christopher Harvey

Christopher Harvey is a Managing Director and Global Industry Leader of Financial Services at Deloitte. He is responsible for developing and executing Deloitte’s Financial Services Industry strategy across all dimensions of Deloitte member firms. In addition, he leads Deloitte‘s relationship globally for a major financial institution. Chris has held a number of leadership roles within Financial Services at Deloitte. Prior to assuming global Financial Services industry leadership, he led the Banking & Securities sector globally and was also the European Head of Consulting for the Financial Services Industry (FSI). In 2013, he contributed to the report “From the Margins to the Mainstream: Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors”, a collaboration between Deloitte and the World Economic Forum. The report provides a market assessment and recommendations for how mainstream investors can be better engaged in impact investing and also identify the factors constraining the acceleration of capital into the field of impact investing. Mr. Harvey holds a Master’s degree in law from Oxford University and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. He is currently based in Hong Kong.

Pavan Sukhdev Pavan Sukhdev is Founder-CEO of GIST Advisory, a consulting collaborative that evaluates externalities for governments, businesses, and NGOs. He is a Visiting Fellow at Yale University, where he was awarded their 2011 McCluskey Fellowship, and wrote his book “Corporation 2020”. Based on his book, his campaign “Corporation 2020” (launched at Rio+20) envisions Corporations of the future as having positive rather than negative personalities and also presents action plans for rapid reforms to transform business for tomorrow’s world. “Environmental Finance” magazine selected Mr. Sukhdev as their “Personality of the Year” for 2010.

Anil Sinha

Anil Sinha is the Regional Head of South Asia Advisory Services for the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Mr. Sinha has nearly 30 years' experience in private sector development ranging from project design and implementation to consulting. Previously, he was the Managing Director for a project management and consulting company in the private sector in Nigeria and has also worked in the private sector throughout Asia. In 1992, he joined the IFC and has worked on private sector development in Africa, East Asia, South Asia, the UK and the US. In his current role, based in New Delhi, Mr. Sinha is responsible for increasing the development impact of the private sector through sustainable business models.

Dr. Sam Muller Dr. Sam Muller is the founding director of HiiL, an advisory and research institute for the justice sector based in The Hague. An international lawyer by training, Dr. Muller now works on justice strategy and innovation, connecting research with practice that makes a difference.

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Before his work at HiiL he worked for the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was the Special Adviser to the Registrar on External Relations and head of the Advance team that set up the ICC. Prior to the ICC, he worked as Senior Legal Adviser of the Registry of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and as a legal officer at the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.

FRANCE

Matt Christensen

Matt Christensen is currently the Global Head of Responsible Investment at AXA Investment Managers, a position he has been in since 2011. He has been a leading voice in the field of responsible investment and was a member of the European Commission’s Co-ordination Committee to explore the future of sustainability policy and legislation in the EU. He previously held the position of Founding Executive Director of Eurosif from 2002 until his appointment at AXA IM. Eurosif is the leading European Responsible Investment think tank, grouping some 85 financial service providers and representing assets of over €1 trillion. Prior to that, Matt advised European clients as a strategy consultant with Braxton Associates/Deloitte Consulting, before becoming Business Development Director of the Motley Fool, a multimedia financial-services company. He holds MBA and MA degrees from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Session Summaries and Highlights

SINGAPORE

I. Fishbowl Conversations

Social Capital Markets: Past, Present and Future

Moderator: Durreen Shahnaz (IIX & Shujog)

Speakers: Jean-Philippe de Schrevel (Bamboo Finance), Pavan Sukhdev (GIST Advisory), Gary Dodge (SEAF)

Discussion Points and Takeaways

Social business can be a powerful tool to tackle social challenges that governments and traditional businesses have failed to address adequately. Social Capital Markets can help social businesses achieve maximal social impact by providing large-scale investments, innovation and business discipline. The panelists predicted that the existence of an effective Social Capital Market has the potential of catalyzing growth in sectors such as healthcare and education, provided that these organizations scale through securing investments and not through receiving aid. Each panelist offered a different perspective on the past, present, and future of Social Capital Markets. From a financial perspective, Social Capital Markets is not just something to be explored through

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philanthropy. It must be done through commercial investing, combining both social and commercial returns. The goal is to make positive returns while also impacting lives. To illustrate this, the panelist discussed how we could replicate the growth in microfinance in areas such as healthcare and education. In order to do so, we must ensure that when we aim to achieve social returns, we do not forgot about commercial returns. The investment cannot turn into philanthropy. From an economic perspective, it is important to be able to quantify social capital because you cannot manage something you cannot measure. From a corporate perspective, it is important for companies to realize that simply giving money is insufficient. Rather, corporations need to evolve in a manner consistent with the objectives and goals of impact investing. Incorporating impact investing to the core of their business activities, for example, may require corporations to change their environment through changing their policies on externality disclosures, taxation, leverage controls and marketing controls. Social Capital Markets is more than just about giving money or starting funds; it is about ensuring sustainability through commercial investing which allows for both social and commercial returns.

From Niche to Mass

Moderator: Durreen Shahnaz (IIX & Shujog)

Speakers: Christopher Harvey (Deloitte), Anil Sinha (IFC), Sam Muller (HiiL) Discussion Points and Takeaways

The panelists shared their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in transitioning social finance from the margin to the mainstream. All were in agreement that empowering those at the “core of the pyramid” requires efforts beyond providing them with money. There is a need to examine the entire financial ecosystem so as to allow impact investment to be integrated with and be part of the mainstream financial products.

Growing impact investing from niche to mass involves bringing more individuals into this space, giving those individuals the opportunity to marry philanthropic intentions with investment decisions. There was a consensus amongst the panelists that we have shifted the dialogue from an academic debate on what constitutes impact investing, to practical discussions on how we can grow the sector. Each of the panelists shared their thoughts on the significance of different ecosystem players in bringing impact investing from niche to mass. Mr. Harvey highlighted how financial institutions and the private sector can play a crucial part in the impact investing space, through activities such as promoting financial literacy in growth markets. Mr. Sinha emphasized the importance of government and institutions in ensuring that a country’s development needs are met. Dr. Muller advocated the need for impact investing to result in some kind of institution that can deliver social justice to all citizens. Justice, Dr. Muller attested, needs to exist before we can achieve equitable growth. The key to growing the Impact Investing sector is ensuring that our focus rests on achieving impact in areas where it is the most needed, that there is smooth cooperation amongst all players of the SE ecosystem, whether that be government, financial intermediaries, or other institutions, and ensuring that any assistance provided is backed up by a strong support system and the requisite level of skill. Taking social finance from the margin to the mainstream creates equitable growth, which empowers those that are the most disadvantaged and creates an environment conducive to a peaceful society.

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II. Plenaries

Debate – Should Taxpayers Catalyze Impact Investment

Moderator: Ruby Shang (Clinton Foundation)

Speakers:

Proposition team - Sandy Blackburn-Wright (Impact Investing Australia), Steve Okun (KKR)

Opposition team - William Kwende (Agritech Group), Edward Rubesch (Thammasat Business School)

Discussion Points and Takeaways This debate centered on the issue of whether the government should subsidize the expansion of impact investment using taxpayers’ money. This highly spirited debate consisted of intensive audience interaction and triggered thought-provoking questions from the moderator and the audience.

The panelists put forward their respective arguments, drawing on their experiences from various parts of Asia Pacific and Africa. Both sides agreed that the government can play a part in catalyzing the expansion of impact investment, but opinions differ on what should constitute this role and the stage at which they can get involved.

The proposition team argued in favor of the government giving out grants as catalyst funding. The rationale presented was that this is likely to encourage the creation of more SEs, leading to the expansion of impact investment. The opposition team, on the other hand, pointed out that government inefficiencies have the potential to hinder rather than expand the growth of impact investment. Investing in SEs should be left to the private sector, where there are better structures and support systems in place. The government can assist through other measures such as providing tax incentives for the private sector to invest in SEs, but they should not provide direct funding.

Although the debate demonstrated strong arguments on both sides, the audience ultimately crowned the proposition team as the winner.

Global Options for a Social Stock Exchange

Moderator: Amelia (Mim) Sweetland (IIX)

Speakers: V G Suchindran (IFMR Investment), Tim Wood (White & Case), Robert Kraybill (IIX)


This plenary session brings together pioneers from around the world who have thrived to build a Social Capital Market for all. With sustainable development becoming commonplace, one of the toughest challenges for donors was to choose among a multitude of outstretched hands in the social sector. This has led to the birth of the idea for a space for civic groups in need of funds to connect with potential donors. IIX has taken the evolution of public markets for social good to the next level with the introduction of its Impact Exchange in partnership with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Impact Exchange provide a unique opportunity for SEs to raise capital in order to scale their social and

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environmental impact, while offering investors the opportunity to invest in and trade securities issued by SEs that reflect their values. The panelists listed the benefits that a social stock exchange can bring to SEs, such as giving greater visibility and sustainability, as well as increasing its profile, attracting a wider audience, an exit strategy and increased liquidity. The lack of critical mass currently presents the biggest barrier to achieving an effective social stock exchange. In order to have a buoyant market, there must be proof of SEs wanting to list their enterprise and investors wanting to invest in the SEs. The panelists encouraged SEs to be “brave and take the first step”, so as to trigger further interest, leading to further consolidation and thinking of how this space can grow. Another challenge that the panelists identified was the unknown and potentially complex legal landscape. The government, from an infrastructure perspective, can play a part to mitigate this, by designing a regulatory environment that is robust but at the same time allows investors to easily enter the market.

The panels concluded that in order to grow the impact investing space, it is important to establish a thriving and viable stock exchange that attracts investors who can bring impact investments to the mainstream market.

The Role of Policy in Social Finance

Moderator: Sandy Blackburn-Wright (Impact Investing Australia)

Speakers: Nishith Desai (Nishith Desai Associates), Chong-Soo Lee (Korea Social Investment), Kevin Martin (USAID), Amit Vatsyayan (Oxfam GB Asia), Nicolas Hazard (Le Comptoir de l’Innovation & Groupe SOS)


The panelists shared their thoughts and insights on the current state of policies in social finance in the United States, India, Korea, Australia, and various parts of Europe. The panelists also discussed the importance of putting policies in place that encourages entrepreneurship and growth in social finance.

In Europe, there is a growing appetite for individuals to engage in impact investment. However, the burdensome regulation hinders potential growth that can take place in this space. There is a lot of money to be tapped for investments in SEs, but the current policy framework in Europe does not encourage this. In Asia the problem with the current policy and framework is the lack of coordination between the different players in the impact investing space. There is a lack of structure in this sector with respect to incubation of SEs as well as in the promotion of investments. It is important for government to take a long-term view and develop the policies and platform that allow different ecosystem players to work together and combine their skills and perspectives. The importance of this was highlighted by a Korean representative, where the lack of cohesiveness amongst ecosystem players is evident. In India, taxation and legal issues arise out of every new innovation, and thus leads to fragmentation. There is a need to mitigate this by designing a clearer and more innovation-friendly regulatory environment. Policies must be designed to empower citizens at a local level. Resources to be allocated to SEs who work directly with local authorities and are establishing local incubators, accelerators and education centers for the benefit of those at the “core of the pyramid”.

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The panelists also emphasized that building an effective policy to allow for growth in the social finance space begins with setting a clear but broad objective. We can only begin designing policies at a micro-level once broad objectives have been set.

III. Breakout Sessions

Unlocking Investment through Technical Assistance

Moderator: Robert Kraybill (IIX)Speakers: Steve Okun (KKR), David Spira (PFAN - Deloitte), Aaron Fishman (East Bali Cashews), David Tan (KKR)


This panel addressed the needs and gaps in relation to providing Technical Assistance (TA) to SEs and bringing them to an “investment ready” stage, so that they are able to have access to capital to scale their business. In developing countries, the day-to-day challenges faced by Social Entrepreneurs are compounded by the lack of a support system that enables them to grow. TA not only creates this support system by bringing many different stakeholders into the ecosystem, but also provides a third party perspective on risks that the Social Entrepreneurs may have overseen. In this way, companies that provide TA to SEs as part of their CSR efforts can truly create a long-lasting effect on their communities. One of the main challenges that need to be overcome is in relation to funding TAs. Most SEs face budgetary constraints and as a result will struggle to make upfront payments for TAs. Although Pro Bono TAs exists, it is not a sustainable model. There has been some recent innovations where CSR becomes incorporated as part of a corporation’s business practice. This initiative sees the CSR arm of a corporation sponsor the TA and engage their employees to make the SE investment-ready. Another model that has been effective is making TA payments dependent on the success of raising capital. Many SEs operate with under-capitalized situation with the potential to attract impact investments to scale their business, but often require TA to become investment ready. Although funding TAs remain a challenge for most SEs, recent innovations have provided more opportunities for SEs to tap into receiving TAs which will assist them in growing their organization.

Incubating for Success Moderator: Prof Albert Teo (NUS)

Speakers: Francis Ngai (Social Ventures Hong Kong), Paul Steele (Donkey Wheel), Shashank Rastogi (CIIE Initiatives)


The panel discussed the role of incubators in creating the essential pipeline of SEs ready to absorb impact investment in Asia. This panel discussed what can be done to help early stage SEs access support,

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mentorship and eventually funding, as well as critical factors of successful incubators and how we can customize this for Asian SEs. A critical factor for creating a successful incubator is having the right design, methodology and accountability for the SEs where they can take the capital and scale their organizations. In addition, it is important to ensure that the right ecosystem is in place, which allows SEs to tap into business networks and professional expertise for Technical Assistance. Lastly, the incubator must have the ability to find investment targets for the SEs in order to be of value. The session highlighted the view that what is currently missing in the SE ecosystem is not capital, but the supporting mechanisms behind it. In order to scale the SEs, assistance in the forms of technical skills and capacity building is needed. This is where incubators can play a part by working with intermediaries with the right skills and expertise to provide the Technical Assistance, allowing SEs to achieve the social impact it aims to deliver.

Cooperatives for the Mass

Moderator: Karen Mahlab (Pro Bono Australia)

Speakers: Derek Cameron (Canadian Co-operative Association), Alf Orpen (Organic Farm Share), Seah Kian Peng (NTUC FairPrice), Marion Verles (Nexus-Carbon for Development)


This panel discussed the different ways in which cooperatives represent the “quintessential social enterprise” and encourage investors, entrepreneurs, and intermediaries seeking social impact to look to the cooperative model for inspiration when making impact investment decisions. The session described how cooperatives are different from other enterprises. Cooperatives are capitalized by their members, so every decision is made in the interests of the social and economic benefit of their members. In addition, cooperatives do not have a secondary market for shares and returns are in the form of performance-based dividends. At the outset, these differences are unlikely to be desirable to most investors, but it is important to consider that this very nature is part of what gives cooperatives their stability and longevity. The panelist also discussed their experiences with cooperatives, such as keeping low-costs through collective buying power, generating and disseminating funds to support disadvantaged communities, and working amongst a group of people with a social and economic imperative who identify and fill gaps in the market. Co-operatives are most likely to appeal to investors who seek consistent returns over an extended period. When the appropriate vehicles are in place, impact investing can help cooperatives grow their bottom lines and return value to members and investors.

Venture Philanthropy for Impact Investing

Moderator: J.K. Sung (J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific), Speakers: Bernard Fung (Credit Suisse), Bryan Henning (Barclays), Satoko Kono (ARUN), Brian Shaad (Mera Gao Power)

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Discussion Points and Takeaways The discussion in this panel centered on the shift from the traditional philanthropic model – where “doing good” was simply about giving money – to the new venture philanthropy model, which goes beyond providing financial aid and sees institutions moving more and more towards impact investing. The panelists agreed that the traditional model of philanthropy is not a sustainable way to solve the world’s problems. Each of the panelists shared their journey towards Social Entrepreneurship and impact investing. Although their journey differed, they all shared the view that organizational growth can lead to greater social impact, but this growth cannot be achieved by solely relying on donations. The transition from the old philanthropic model to impact investing is necessary and there are a number of ways that this can be facilitated effectively. As a foundation, a sustainable ecosystem is essential. What must exist is a platform to connect investors and investees who share a common goal of incorporating social impact into traditional investment without sacrificing long-term financial returns. Traditional philanthropy is not enough to change society, nor is it a sustainable model to solve the world’s problems. Facilitating the transition to venture philanthropy require stakeholders working together to support SEs, connecting impact investors with impact investees and taking steps to incorporate social impact to traditional investment.

Building Entrepreneurship

Moderator: Christopher Wilson (Social Capital Venture), Speakers: Cindy Ko (Endeavor Global), Edward Rubesch (Thammasat Business School), Tong Yee (School of Thought)


The term “Social Enterprise” coins a broad range of definitions, from market-oriented not-for-profits to socially driven for-profits. This panel discusses how the differences in definitions can manifest in practice, and explores the support system that currently exists for budding Social Entrepreneurs.

The context of Social Entrepreneurship was discussed through different lenses. Social Entrepreneurship, for example, may exist within traditional commercial enterprises, where the senior management team integrates “social impact” as part of their business operations. Social Entrepreneurship can also be about creating employment and innovation. One can argue, for example, that supporting Small Medium Enterprises with strong scalability potential creates a large social impact by facilitating job-creation and stimulating economic growth.

One panelist highlighted, however, that we should not dismiss the role that SEs can play. It is important for entrepreneurs to support individuals wanting to address the gaps that currently exist in the system through creating their own path as opposed to working for a multinational corporation.

This session highlighted the importance of considering all players in the economy and that there is no one “right” model or definition of “Social Entrepreneurship”. The focus should be in driving the economy forward and creating strong stable organization that fosters the ecosystem required for social impact.

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Leveraging through Layering

Moderator: Corinne Molitor (INNPACT) Speakers: Kevin Martin (USAID), Anil Sinha (IFC), Farrukh Khan (Acumen Pakistan), Jin Wakabayashi (JICA) Discussion Points and Takeaways Leveraging through layering can be understood as using various instruments and strategies to create leverage while dissecting risks in impact investing. In this session the panelists discussed how their organization has created structures and strategies for leveraging and layering in impact investing.

The session advocated the development of a solid structure for Impact Investment vehicles, highlighted by the success of model structures in the areas of microfinance, renewable energy, agriculture and green infrastructure. Another method highlighted was leveraging insurance as a tool to work with loan guarantees to increase credit availability and share the risks. Providing Technical Assistance services to banks and other lenders in choosing the right impact projects to invest in will also help facilitate leverage and minimize the risk in impact investing. Private sector aside, it is important to consider the roles that the government can play in leveraging through layering, such as providing funding for the private sector to encourage more private capital into social good.

The panels agreed on the need to create new models to structure investment vehicles that cater to expectations of different types of investors with possible exit strategies. Examples discussed by the panels include getting the government involved in social projects as impact investors, a risk/loss sharing arrangement amongst the borrower, the originator of the fund and the arranger of the transaction and a crowdfunding platform for high net worth individuals.

The session concluded with the message emphasizing the necessity of having more private sector funding available for execution of impact ventures.

Justice Innovation

Moderator: Sam Muller (HiiL) Speakers: Leslie Johnston (C&A Foundation), Mascha Matthews (UNDP), Roberto Calingo (Peace and Equity Foundation) Discussion Points and Takeaways

This panel began by highlighting the idea that access to opportunities to participate in equitable growth is a basic human right. The foundation for this growth relies on robust and sound policies, regulations and legal systems. Growth in Social Capital Markets cannot take place without the existence of basic legal infrastructure. A consensus was reached that innovation in the social justice sector is badly needed. Contrary to the efforts that are being carried out in sectors such as health and technology, there has been very little effort to ensure the provision of justice at the local level. We can start the efforts by replicating what has been done in the health and clean technology sector, such as building an international, multi-stakeholder and specialized innovation eco-system.

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Access to justice should be universal to every citizen. The existence of a robust legal infrastructure provides a strong pillar for a country to grow its Social Capital Market sector from the margin to the mainstream.

Mobilizing Institutional Investors

Moderator: Mellisa Kang (IFC) Speakers: Tim McReady (Christian Super), Jean-Philippe de Schrevel (Bamboo Finance), Alexandra Boakes Tracy (Hoi Ping Ventures)


This session highlighted the need for engaging diverse stakeholders, including institutional investors, in order to unlock the full potential of impact investing. Institutional investors can catalyze the development of the impact investment market by providing large pools of financial capital as well as the expertise and resources needed to make the market scalable and sustainable.

Currently, institutional investors are not very active in impact investing due to their low level of awareness and understanding of the sector. This is exacerbated by the lack of investment opportunities and products that fit the conservative investment objectives and strict screening requirements of institutional investors.

It is important to develop new product solutions to match the investors’ specific investment strategies, risk profiles, cost structure, values and needs which best fits their existing portfolios. Investors must then be educated on the concept of impact investing, along with all its common terminologies and impact measurement frameworks. For impact investment to grow, it is necessary to change the current regulatory landscape to make the process easier for impact investors, as this is likely to be the biggest challenge in mobilizing institutional investors to grow impact investing from the margin to the mainstream.

Energizing the Core

Panelists: David Spira (PFAN Asia – Deloitte) Speakers: Jiwan Acharya (ADB), Assaad Razzouk (Sindicatum Sustainable Resources), Vincent Wierda (UNCDF), Ajaita Shah (Frontier Markets)

Discussion Points and Takeaways This panel discussion centered on how clean energy can spark growth in a clean and sustainable way. The panelists shared their respective experiences in the sector and highlighted their thoughts on the greatest challenges the clean energy sector is facing. The challenges highlighted include: distribution channels, entrepreneurial and managerial capacity, generation of demand amongst customers and access to finance for businesses. Currently, a large amount of money is being spent on energy, but there is a mismatch between what investors want the SEs to achieve and what they actually achieve. This mismatch can be partly attributed to the lack of due diligence carried out by investors prior to deciding which SEs they want to fund. Growth in this sector has also been constrained by the lack of a supportive ecosystem, which needs to exist if we want to encourage more impact investment. Additionally, finding the right products for the right markets and obtaining capital tailored to the SEs’ needs were also underlined as key challenges for SEs in this sector.

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A consensus was reached amongst the panelists that attracting commercial investors requires SEs in this sector to succeed in and showcase what they are doing. SEs should tap into opportunities for partnerships and collaborations that have the potential to grow their enterprises to achieve the most social impact. The panelists also highlighted the need for (and encouraged) those at the top of organizations to start building climate change into their risk calculations. This is likely to result in more funds channeled towards the clean energy sector, enabling SEs to create ecosystems that can spark growth in a clean and sustainable way.

Understanding Impact

Moderator: Durreen Shahnaz (Shujog/IIX) Speakers: Kelly McCarthy (IRIS), Avik Roy (Re-emerging World), Gary Dodge (SEAF)


The “hows”, rather than the “whats” of impact investment were discussed in details in this session, highlighting the challenges that impact investors continue to face. Specific topics that were discussed in this session include how to make better use of performance data and metrics, creating a good methodology to measure and collect data and integrating an impact measurement framework into the business.

The “cost” of measuring performance metrics needs to be factored and integrated into the cost of capital and not seen as an additional compliance cost to the business. The percentage of cost that one needs to set aside should vary according to the maturity of the measurement framework. The panelists put forward suggestions around taking an incremental approach to measure “just enough” to track the path and build confidence along the way, as opposed to going for a “big-bang” approach. It is also important not to confuse reporting with measurements. Measurements are a set of framework, which must be agreed and developed through active engagement with stakeholders. This requires the demonstration of qualitative/quantitative impacts, side-by-side, to provide the context and in turn generate more interest in impact investing.

Private Equity for Social Enterprises

Moderator: Mark Sayer (IIX) Speakers: Quyen Duong (Dragon Capital), Frederic Sirce (The Abraaj Group), Sandeep Farias (Elevar Equity), Hareesh Nair (Quadria Capital)


The panel discussed what defines an impact business and how private equity is a source of investment that is playing an increasingly important role in impact investing. An impact business does not necessarily equate to low or no returns.

The struggle to find a model that adequately balances the financial returns and social impact was also highlighted. In order to attract investors, SEs should present a sustainable solution to a critical issue and demonstrate their competitive advantage over existing players. Although it is important to have measurement frameworks in place that quantify social impact, investors ultimately care about commercial returns. It is important for businesses to ensure that they continue to innovate to global standards and stay relevant and competitive.

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Generations Committed to Good Moderator: Richard Ditzio (Milken Institute) Speakers: Kal Joffres (Tandem Fund), Lisa Hall (Anthos Asset Management)


The view of Philanthropy has changed over the years. The older generation equate helping with giving money, but the younger generations are proactively seeking other opportunities to help beyond providing financial aid. This provides a great opportunity to educate younger generation amongst family offices about impact investing. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to bring impact investing to the mainstream amongst family offices. In this session, the panelists shared their views on how best to do this going forward. Making impact investing mainstream amongst family offices requires a process that is efficient, simple and balances the quantification of social and financial returns. It is necessary to develop customized investment that aligns with the family’s values and encourages structured peer sharing through forums and roundtables. In addition, there have to be conversations around possible exit strategies, just like in the context of traditional capital markets. The panelists predicted that impact investing will start to go through a much more consolidated approach in South East Asia as this space begins to grow. At present family offices that are already engaging in philanthropy and impact investing are quiet about their efforts. Showcasing their success is one step that can be taken to bring impact investment from niche to mass amongst family offices.

Sustainable Food

Moderator: Juni Sul (Oxfam) Speakers: William Kwende (Agritech Group), Vie C. Reyes (Bote Central), Arnel M. Astillero (ICCO)


This session highlighted the theme that the sustainable food sector touches a large segment of the poorest of the poor. Globally, the demand for food is increasing and farmers are benefitting from this growth, however there is a long way to go in terms of improving efficiency levels, which can be addressed through the use of innovative technology.

The panel discussion brought out innovative techniques to improve food sustainability, which is a growing issue globally. Examples of these innovative techniques include rice duck farming and drip fertigation. In addition, the panelists dwelled on their business models and the use of technology in their business that has helped them create a sustainable impact in the area. There was also a consensus amongst the panelists that corporations can play a role in this sector by providing Technical Assistance in order to improve existing supply chains.

The key message of the session was the need for investors to invest in agriculture. It is a rewarding sector where there is clearly a potential for high commercial returns and the opportunity to impact a lot of lives.

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Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility

Moderator: Mabel Wong (CSR Asia) Speakers: Claire Chiang (Banyan Tree Holdings), Yulanda Chung (Standard Chartered Bank), Wenchi Yu (Banyan Advisory Group)


This panel addressed the importance of integrating impact investing and engagement of SEs within the corporation’s business structure. It is important that this integration starts from within and leaders of the organization stand behind this integration. It is necessary for corporations to always ask themselves what value their business is giving to the world.

Despite the tendency for people to associate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with philanthropy and volunteering, CSR has shifted from risk management to impact investing. The emphasis now is not on the act of giving, but on how we should give. Integrating CSR into the business structure is a long process that needs to start from within and requires engagement with the community. This process is extremely crucial and remains as important as the outcome it seeks to achieve. Focusing on the process provides opportunities to internalize the values that the corporation seeks to emphasize.

Integrating CSR into a corporation’s business structure requires engagement with the community and making it part of the overall values of the business. This may be a long process with some resistance along the way, hence it is important for the leaders of the organization to drive this integration to ensure the best results.

Adapting to Climate Change – Urban and Rural Resilience

Moderator: Karen Mahlab (Pro Bono Australia)

Speakers: Ralph Dixon (YTL Corporation Berhad), Ruby Shang (Clinton Foundation), David Sher (ERM Low Carbon Enterprise Fund), Simone Quatrini (UNCCD)

Discussion Points and Takeaways There are a number of challenges to climate change mitigation. The definition and uncertainty of climate change has prevented this field from scaling adaptation. Since climate change affects the poor and rural dwellers disproportionately, resilience differs greatly between the urban and rural population. The scale, timing of project implementation and type of project also differs.

China’s role in climate change mitigation was also extensively discussed in this session, with the panelists expressing their optimism on China’s resilience and adaptation. It was argued that the threat of climate change to its economic development would drive China to acknowledge climate change as an issue and start creating solutions to the problems. The panel highlighted the importance of the private and public sector playing their part to make climate change mitigation sustainable. The private sector has stepped in to fill the gaps governments have failed to fill, but the private sector must be consistent in its efforts to mitigate climate change. National governments can also play an important role in shaping incentives, which in turn influences the private sector. Alignment

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between private and public sector goals may be aided by regulations and subsidies; the ultimate goal is creating a win-win situation for both parties.

Widening the Circle

Moderator: Matthew Kasdin (IIX) Speakers: Peter Yang (Empact), Alfie Othman (SE Association), Sreenivas Narayanan (ASSIST Asia), Oanh Pham (CSIP)

Discussion Points and Takeaway As more and more focus is placed on SEs to become financially sustainable entities, there is a greater need to involve third parties and stakeholders to come together and share their skills to assist SEs become market-ready. This session particularly highlighted the need to nurture and encourage young people in Asia to become Social Entrepreneurs and embrace any challenges and obstacles that present themselves in the process. One panelist highlighted the gap that currently exists in Singapore, where there are many services and facilities, but no players to benefit from it. Educating young people to think about how we can replicate these services and facilities in other parts of the worlds, through an SE model, encourages creativity in the sector and creates opportunities to spur involvement from other actors. Widening the circle requires educating those parties not yet involved in the sector about its benefits and potentials. Existing Social Entrepreneurs can help with this through mentoring new SEs and helping them, where necessary, acquire the necessary level of business acumen for their SEs to be financially sustainable and achieve the maximum social impact.

Learning from the Field

Moderator: Samantha Morshed (Hathay Bunano) Speakers: Mridul Chowdhury (mPower Social Enterprises Limited), Jacob Mathew (Spring Health), Mouhsine Serrar (Prakti), John Trew (Plan International)

Discussion Points and Takeaway

Sharing experiences was the theme of this informative session. Each panelist, all players of the SE space began by giving an overview of the SE that they founded, run or currently work for.

Discussions took place on the challenges that the SEs currently face. One panelist talked about the difficulty of gaining the trust of the beneficiaries in order to sell the SE’s products. Bridging the gap between supply and demand was also identified as a challenge, and one panelist suggested that this could be mitigated by sufficient data collection. Creating community-level entrepreneurship, which requires a strong ecosystem at the ground level, was also identified as an essential but challenging aspect of running an SE. The panelists also discussed the challenge that is universal to all Social Entrepreneurs, achieving the balance of social impact against financial returns. This challenge was discussed particularly in the context of product pricing.

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The panelists concluded that in order for SEs to carry out their mission of empowering those at the “core of the pyramid”, a strong supportive ecosystem must exist that is conducive to their growth as an organization.

Innovative Financial Products

Moderator: Robert Kraybill (IIX) Speakers: VG Suchindran (IFMR Investment), Rahul Arora (Westpac Institutional Bank), Fernanda Lima (Developing World Markets)

Discussion Points and Takeaway New financial products have been and are currently being developed in the social finance sector. The panelists presented an overview of some of the financial products that their companies had developed and how these products operated. Innovation in financial products is necessary in order to attract a broad range of investors, who will help take impact investments from niche to mass. New financial products, be it funds with layered investment structure or hybrid structures to debt securitization, must be simple, transparent and easily understood by investors. It is also important to take a holistic approach and build partnerships with distributors and independent rating agencies to enhance the credibility and accessibility of these new products. This will aid in facilitating the movement of impact investing to the mainstream.

New Developments in Impact Investing Funds

Moderator: Eric Savage (Unitus Capital) Speakers: Cyrille Antignac (UBERIS Capital and Truestone – UBERIS), Valerian Fauvel (Insitor Management), Michael Fernandes (Leapfrog Investments)

Discussion Points and Takeaway

This panel session began by discussing the challenges faced in impact investing today. One challenge identified was the difficulty of attracting the right talent in countries where impact investing is still in its nascent stage and the “talent crunch” is exacerbated by competition from big businesses. Another challenge is the lack of investable businesses, which creates more obstacles in convincing board members to invest. A discussion also took place on the typical funding lifecycle of an SE – who receives initial funding through philanthropic means on the supposition that they eventually move towards becoming a commercial enterprise that is investment ready. However, evident trends illustrate that some SEs lack the necessary discipline to make this transition and become dependent on interest-free charity. To combat this, a suggestion was made for “flexible engagement” incorporating stress testing and advisory together with money.

A debate also took place around “social first finance”. Although we cannot undermine the importance of impact, we should not be blinded by the “charisma of social returns” as this could potentially swing impact

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investing into the philanthropy categorization. Any investments, to be successful, must at its core ensure that it has the potential to generate sustainable commercial returns.

IV. Impact Academies

How to be an Effective Impact Investor

Trainers: Robert Kraybill (IIX), Rashi Agrawal (IIX)


The Impact Academy began by a dissection of the concept of Impact Investing and the current trends of impact investing. By geographical region, the largest percentage of impact investments currently go to the Sub-Saharan African region, equally followed by Latin America/Caribbean and US & Canada. By sector, the largest percentage of impact investments goes to the food and agriculture sector, closely followed by healthcare. By organizational stage, the largest percentage of impact investment goes to organizations at the growth stage.

In order to be an effective impact investor, one must go through a three-stage framework. This involves setting objectives and expectations, making the investment and managing the investment including, where applicable, its risks and growth as well as exit strategies. The Impact Academy concluded that to be an effective impact investor, it is crucial for investors to consider the tradeoffs that they are prepared to make between three elements – risks, returns and impact. Determining the balance in the outset will help achieve the returns that best meet the investors’ expectations.

How to run an Effective Incubator

Trainers: Robert Kraybill (IIX), Rashi Agrawal (IIX),Paul Steele (Donkey Wheel), Bessie Graham (The Difference Incubator)


This Impact Academy on “How to Run an Effective Incubator” highlighted the importance of incubators in the SE ecosystem and set out the concrete steps that should be taken to run an effective incubator to boost the success of SEs.

An SE Incubator can provide services to support SEs through various stages of development and help them get to the next level. Incubators provide support in the way of guidance and mentoring as well as assisting with the strengthening of their business, particularly with regards to growth, financial stability and investment readiness. In addition, SE incubators also act as connectors in this space, linking SEs to investors, mentors and other service providers that will help them scale. Incubators, essentially, guide SEs in their transition from early-stage SEs to investor-ready SEs. Receiving this guidance increases an SE’s chance of success.

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SE incubators provide a range of services within the spheres of business advisory, investment, management and infrastructure and facilities. The speakers also highlighted the types of operational models that SE incubators have adopted as well as their revenue and funding sources.

This Impact Academy showcased the story of The Difference Incubator (TDI). Drawing from its experience, TDI recommended that any potential SE incubators should give careful consideration to the following: service design features, length of incubation period, financial sustainability, type and intensity of support, the incubator’s inputs and outputs, and most importantly, the screening criteria for SEs. TDI concluded the Impact Academy by stressing the necessity to focus on the method rather than the process.

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FRANCE Spurring Investments for Impact

Moderator: Louis Swistek (Groupe SOS)

Panelists: Andrew Stott (Olswang Asia LLP), Stephanie Rakels (BioMarine)

Discussion Points and Takeaways This panel discussed the different ways of maximizing impact in the impact investing space, how SEs can attract investors, and how the landscape is changing. The panelist expressed the sentiment that the impact investing market is ready for change and innovation. To be investment ready, it is necessary for SEs to be structured and innovative. It is essential for SEs to be transparent with investors and encourage investors to become stakeholders in their organizations prior to investing. This could be done through various forms of partnerships or collaboration. It is advisable to engage potential investors as stakeholders because partnerships lead to bigger networks, enabling SEs to spread the message about their value creation and their blended value returns. The panelists also highlighted the importance of an SE’s business plan. It must be concrete; clearly state the amount of capital sought and propose specific action steps regarding the utilization of capital. It was stressed that there are a lot of good ideas brewing in the SE sector, but those that succeed will be the SEs that know what to do and how to do it. The panelists hope that as time passes, the space will grow and adjust and that the government will catalyze this growth by creating a framework for promoting businesses that make a difference.

From Niche to Mass

Moderator: Caroline Ashley (Ashley Insight Ltd)

Panelists: David Korslund (GABV), Matt Robinson (Big Society Capital), Tanya Lobel (Actis)

Discussion Points and Takeaways The impact investing market has been changing over the past few years, but it is ready to advance from niche to the mass with a variety of new types of European investors exploring how to actively engage in the space. The panelists discussed how the impact investing space was evolving with greater interest from commercial banks, institutional investors, and governments. It was noted that the initial commercial trailblazer with a successful exit would be vital to unlocking mainstream capital. In addition, the panelists shared their experiences and their predictions for the future of impact investing. Panelists discussed the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in shaping impact investing and social enterprises. Panelists believed that greater grant resources would help SEs to reach a scale that they can attract and absorb mainstream capital. Panelists also noted that impact investing should include debt from commercial lenders as well as retail investment products.

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One challenge that was identified was that only a few SEs that were seeking capital could effectively communicate how they are looking to scale their business. The panelists highlighted the importance for SEs to be lucid in crafting their message to investors and to back this up with financial projections. In addition to creating social impact, SEs also need to be commercially successful and this success must be showcased to encourage more investment and grow the industry. The panelists concluded the session by expressing what they would like to see in impact investing, which were listed as: 1) sustainable banking 2) great examples of successful exits, and 3) mass retail investment product.

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Social Enterprise Showcase

Over 90 investors met with seven dynamic SEs across Asia Pacific in two special showcases during the Forum. The following SEs are pioneering a variety of innovative approaches to address a number of issues in the healthcare, waste management, food, climate change and clean energy sectors:

Bali Recycling: offers waste collection services, which diverts 70% of waste to use (excluding recycle, upcycle and compost). It is operating at a capacity and seeks funds to increase capacity by purchasing machines and vehicles.

Gerweiss Motors: build electronic tricycles to replace environmentally harmful gasoline tricycles. The government of Boracay island has designated it to be the sole source for the island’s tricycles as part of its plan to convert all tricycles into electronic tricycles. The company’s main components are battery leasing, charging stations, and service stations. It seeks funds for equipment and parts to build the tricycles as well as to purchase the batteries.

Blue Impact: produces mushrooms using only coffee waste as opposed to the traditional method, which uses sawdust. The impact of the business would be to reduce pressure on forests and to reduce carbon emission.

Glovax Biotech: attempts to cure poverty through vaccination. The business fully integrates distribution, import/white-labeling, and vaccination. It seeks funds to build inventory to provide more access in more areas, as well as to raise awareness.

Thai Biomass: uses wood chips, wood particles, and wood pellets for biomass fuel and animal bedding. The company seeks funds to raise working capital and to scale up its manufacturing business in order to capture opportunities in both the East Asia and domestic markets.

Arjuni: supplies, manufactures, and retails (online) high quality human hair extensions. They have demonstrated that there is sufficient demand for its products and is currently seeking funds to purchase inventory to meet this demand. Beneficiaries of the company’s impact are both the hair donors, who are usually women from rural villages, as well as the clients, who will benefit from increased awareness.

Frontier Markets: seeks to provide clean energy products to low-income families in rural India. It will differentiate itself by offering superior after-sales service, using latest technology to focus on data and efficient engagement.

The Showcase also gave the SEs a chance to present their products in a showcase table setting.

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Day One: Open Showcase Each of the SEs presented their business models and the impact that their business seeks to provide. Delegates had the option of “investing” in these SEs, using mock money. The SE with the greatest amount of “investment” was presented with the “Audience Choice” award during the closing ceremony. This title was conferred to Bali Recycling. Day Two: Closed Showcase (open only to accredited investors) Accredited investors gathered in this session to hear these dynamic SEs present their business case and make a positive impact in their respective communities. Building on the positive response from the Showcase, Impact Partners is pleased to announce that at least all of the featured SEs is now participating in different levels of investor engagement.

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IIX/Shujog Commitment The Impact Forum allowed global leaders, peace-builders, environmentalists, lawyers, financiers and Social Enterprises to come together and discuss innovative and pragmatic solutions to the most important issues in social capital. IIX and Shujog is committed in moving impact investing from niche to mass and setting specific goals in achieving them. In the last year IIX has facilitated $8.12 million across 10 impact investment deals impacting 7.4 million lives across Asia and creating $10.9 million of social value over the next 3 years. Shujog has impacted 1.3 million underserved people from social value creation, introduced 1,403 impact investment professionals into the ecosystem through education and training, and exposed 18,000 people to Social Enterprises and impact investing. For the year 2014, Shujog and IIX is committed to do the following in bringing social capital from niche to mass:

Originate and issue the first Retail Impact Bond on the Impact Exchange

Complete our Impact Locus project – a technology application with the vision to be the premier information portal for Social Enterprises

Close another $8 million worth of deals on Impact Partners to bring energy, clean water, education, health or agriculture to thousands of people

Grow Shujog ACTS to help bring millions of more beneficiaries into the field of impact investing

Create a fund in the impact investing space to focus on technology for development

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Post Forum Feedback Overview Following the Forum, we sent out a survey to the participants regarding thoughts and takeaways of their experience. Based on the responses we received, the delegate profile for Impact Forum 2014 consisted largely of ecosystem members and Social Entrepreneurs, the majority attending the Forum due to their active involvement in this sector. It is pleasing to see the variety of responses regarding the sessions that delegates found to be most inspiring. This illustrates a breadth of perspective and viewpoints that can be cultivated into many forms of innovation in this sector, and grow it from the margin to the mainstream. Highlights of the Forum, from the delegates’ perspective, include the quality of speakers, the broad range of topics discussed and hearing about firsthand experiences of Social Entrepreneurs. A number of delegates suggested that they would have liked to hear more from the Social Entrepreneurs and provided some suggestions on improvements that can be made, such as increasing the level of interactive discussions during the breakout sessions and providing more opportunities for networking with other Forum participants. The delegates indicated a largely positive response of the Forum, with the majority expressing their intent to attend next year.

Survey Results Question 1: Where did you hear about Impact Forum 2014? The majority heard about Impact Forum through direct Impact Forum marketing (32.1%). 21.4% heard about Impact Forum through a variety of other means, such as invitation from a colleague or speaker from the Forum. 17.9% heard about the Impact Forum through personal invitation from IIX/Shujog. Question 2: You are (what role do you most identify with?) The majority of the respondent (32.1%) were ecosystem members, such as a lawyer, consultant, accountant etc. 28.6% were entrepreneurs, 21.4% were investors, 7.1% were students/academics and 10.7% fit into other categories such as bank employee, development field and consultant and potential investor.

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Question 3: Why did you attend the Forum? The majority (50%) selected his or her active involvement in the impact-investing sector in the capacity of an ecosystem member as one reason. 39.3% selected wanting to learn about Impact Investing and Social Enterprise as a reason for attending the Forum. Question 4: On a scale from 1 [low/poor] to 5 [high/good], how would you rate networking opportunities at the Forum? Lunches were seen to be the most conducive to networking opportunities, with 53.6% giving it a rating of 4. This was followed by coffee breaks, rated 4 by 46.4% of the respondents and venue layouts, rated 4 by 42.9% of the respondents. Question 5: Please pick the sessions that inspired you the most: The response to this question varied. For Day 1, the sessions which respondents rated the most inspiring include Justice Innovation and the Debate on Whether Taxpayers should Catalyze Impact Investment. Other sessions which respondents indicated inspired them the most include Building Entrepreneurship, Keynote Speech, Unlocking Investment through Technical Assistance, Energizing the Core, Mobilizing Institutional Investors and Incubating for Success. For Day 2, respondents rated New Developments in Impact Investing Funds and Impact Academy: How to run an Effective Incubator as the sessions that inspired them the most. Other sessions that the respondents listed to be the most inspiring include Learning from the Field, Sustainable Food, Social Enterprise Showcase, the Role of Policy in Social Finance and Private Equity for Social Enterprise. Question 6: What did you think of the overall content of the Forum? The majority of the respondents answered that they learned a lot of new things (60.7%). 32.1% indicated that they were familiar with most of the discussions, and 7.1% indicated that they did not find the discussions stimulating. Question 7: Do you associate the sponsors with having socially more responsible initiatives?

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The majority of the respondents answered yes to this question (67.9%). This highlights our sponsors’ commitment to integrate corporate social responsibility into their business practice and become stakeholders in impact investing. Question 8: For our next Impact Forum in 2015 What could be improved? A number of feedback suggested the venue layout could be improved to allow for more interactions between the Forum participants and that they would have liked to hear more from Social Entrepreneurs. In addition, a number of respondents also suggested that they would like to see more discussions during the panel and less formal presentations. What should we repeat? There were a variety of responses with regards to what we should repeat, including the Impact Academies, covering a wide range of topics, getting speakers from a range of different background and inviting SEs to participate in the sessions. Question 9: Do you intend to attend next year? The majority (85.7%) indicated that they intend to attend next year. Delegates valued the opportunity to learn about a wide range of issues from a broad range of experts and players in the impact investing space, particularly in an interactive and enthusiastic environment. Question 10: Would you suggest a different location? 53.6% of the respondents answered no to this question. 14.2% suggested Yangon, Myanmar, 10.7% suggested Tokyo, Japan. There were 17.4% of respondents, respectively, who suggested Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand and Dhaka, Bangladesh as the location for Impact Forum 2015.

In the Press

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IIPC - 7th May 2014

The Practitioner Hub – 8th May 2014

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Pro Bono - 22nd May 2014

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Geeks in Cambodia - 2nd May 2014

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Eco-Business – 30th May 2014

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Devex Impact – 30th June 2014

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Pro Bono Australia – 2nd July 2014

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Asian NGO – 9 July 2014

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Testimonials "The Impact Forum has been a wonderful gathering of innovators, investors, and corporates all interested in helping social entrepreneurs like us to succeed. We appreciated the platform that the Forum provided to help showcase Frontier Market's work, and give me the opportunity to discuss the challenges in scaling clean energy efforts. IIX has done a great job bringing Asia's finest folks together under one platform to think through impact, investing, and the future of social businesses." (Ajaita Shah, Frontier Markets) "Impact Forum brought the most passionate people from around the world that could actually bring impact investing to a higher level. Impact investments and social enterprises, together, are truly a global phenomena. There is no stopping now - impact investing will soon become the primary model for investments." (Giovanni Alingog, Glovax Biotech) “I got back home inspired, with more knowledge and insights, and clearer direction on a number of things I must now do to take the next steps in justice innovation to an effective finance mechanism.” (Sam Muller, HiiL) “It was a privilege to be among like-minded professionals from varied industries at the Impact Forum 2014, where participants gathered from around the world to share best practices and promote a better understanding of social enterprises. The Forum has certainly helped to reinforce the importance and continued relevance of the role that social enterprises play. I congratulate the organizers, Shujog & IIX, for organizing and facilitating a successful seminar that brought about diverse perspectives and ideas, anchored by a common objective of making a positive difference in our respective communities." (Seah Kian Peng, NTUC Fairprice Co-operative) "Energizing, informative and very helpful. A must for Social Enterprises and funders operating in Asia." (Olivier Puillon, Bali Recycling)

"The Impact Forum highlighted the power Social Enterprises harness in changing lives for the better. The forum underscored that for impact investing to go from niche to mass, great demand must be met in finding ways to help Social Enterprises become investment ready. IIX is an ideal partner and platform to help make that happen.” (Steve Okun, KKR)

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Acknowledgment

TESTIMONIALS

We would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who made Impact Forum possible in both Singapore and France. To our Supporting Partners, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our supporting partners whose commitment and belief in impact investment made Impact Forum 2014 a reality.

impact forum 2014 from niche to mass - iix foundation€¦ · associates/deloitte consulting,...

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