Empowering over 13 million underserved women across Asia
In 2017, IIX made history by launching the world’s first gender-lens, impact investing security listed on a stock exchange, the $8.5 million Women’s Livelihoods Bond™ 1 (WLB™ 1).
Supporting the successful replication of the Women’s Livelihood Bond™ (WLB™) Series, the IIX Women’s Catalyst Fund (WCF) is a de-risking facility that is catalyzing women’s access to capital markets.
The Women’s Catalyst Fund (WCF) is:
Catalyzing 10x private capital
Leveraging US $30 million in public sector funding to mobilize US $300 million in additional funding from the private sector.
Aligning subordinated investor commitment to each Bond issuance
The WCF solves crucial timing challenges with the deployment of capital to support the success of the Women’s Livelihood Bond™ issuances by providing the liquidity needed to smooth out cash flows for seamless distribution.
Accelerating the roll-out and impact of the WLB Series
The WCF significantly reduces the lead time needed to source subordinated debt capital for each WLB™ adding efficiency and enhancing the ability to scale the WLB™ Series.
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ensures commitment ahead of marketing the bond to private sector investors and
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establishes a funding channel for a series of bonds rather than a single bond.
Partners
Seeded by
Supported by
Enhanced by
IIX’s Women’s Catalyst Fund™ (WCF) is an innovative financial mechanism designed to advance gender equality by providing catalytic subordinated capital for the IIX Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB) Series™. The WCF leverages ~9X capital from private sector investors from across the world to advance the gender-lens investment movement and is currently empowering ~1 million underserved women and girls in emerging markets across South and Southeast Asia to transition to sustainable, green livelihoods. The WCF has been supported by a number of partners including the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Impact
To date, IIX has launched three SGX-listed bonds in the WLB™ Series mobilizing a total of US$48 million.
The ICMA-compliant Social Bond has established a strong track record of meeting its impact targets, having generated US$3 – 4 of social value for every US$1 invested and empowered 815,000 women across Asia-Pacific.
