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In recent years, economies around the world have grown significantly while adopting a sustainability agenda, as evident in the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and more recently, the World Economic Forum’s Davos Manifesto 2020. With this growing momentum, both investors and enterprises have become increasingly aware of the need for impact measurement as part of long-term value creation (UNDP, 2021).
A data-driven, quantitative approach to sustainable investing is a must to keep pace with an increasingly complex investment landscape.
As the demand for sustainable investments increases, more investors are turning to quantitative methods for portfolio construction and impact measurement, a move that augurs well for the industry, experts told AsianInvestor. The trend is picking up in Asia where data availability and inconsistency have long been a major challenge for players in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) space.
“13 has always been my lucky number. We take a moment to be thankful for another glorious year as we are energized by the continued support from our leadership, extended families, partners, associates, and community to connect the backstreets to Wall Street.”
– Prof. Durreen Shanaz, CEO and Founder of IIX
Barclays was proud to work with Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) to issue its fourth Women’s Livelihood Bond™ for Climate (WLB4C).
The proceeds will directly support women-led and climate-focused enterprises in India, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines, and are expected to benefit nearly 500,000 under-served women and girls in the developing markets.
We are delighted to share our 2020 Impact Report with you! We invite you to learn about our journey so far and join us as we look ahead to the next decade of change.
Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange and the Australian government have launched three innovative financing solutions for women SMEs in the Asia Pacific.
On top of the initial funding of AUD 2.75m ($2.05m) from the Australian government, IIX hopes to raise AUD 18m ($24.18m) in private sector capital in two years. READ MORE
Amid the continuing recognition for her priceless role as a financial changemaker, Durreen Shahnaz, a Bangladeshi-American investment banker-turned-entrepreneur, professor, and speaker, has now made it to the list of Forbes 50 Over 50.
The prestigious journal published what it termed the 50 Over 50: Investment list on Tuesday, highlighting the female investors and financial leaders who are leading high-growth businesses in the male-dominated spaces of Wall Street, venture capital, and impact investing. READ MORE
Born in Bangladesh and educated in the U.S., Shahnaz started her career on Wall Street in the late ’80s and saw firsthand how the financial markets can change lives—and how the vast wealth the markets were creating were not reaching the world’s women. She went on to work for microfinancier Grameen and, in 2009, founded Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a private placement platform to invest in “last-mile” female entrepreneurs around the globe. While IIX has invested $215 million across 53 countries and helped, by her estimate, millions of female small business owners, Shahnaz is most proud of a financial instrument she created on the cusp of turning 50: a women-focused bond series. READ MORE