Impact Investing Exchange (IIX) is a pioneer in impact investing, founded by Professor Durreen Shahnaz. In 2017, it launched its first Women’s Livelihood Bond, focusing on financial inclusion enterprises in Southeast Asia. Since then, the series has expanded to include new sectors in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India. READ MORE
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EMPOWERING WOMEN-FOCUSED BUSINESSES BY TYING INVESTMENT TO IMPACT ASSESSMENT – InclusiveBusiness.net
Some 60 million women work in the fishing industry, making up nearly half that global workforce. But women often do the least recognized and lowest paid jobs – collecting fish on the beach or working side-by-side in processing plants – and have little access to capital to start or grow their own businesses.
They face discrimination, hold few management positions and are underrepresented in decision-making groups about investments for sustainable fisheries. And yet evidence shows that when we invest in women, they are empowered to conserve and manage natural resources like our oceans, which yields better results than when they are excluded. READ MORE
The ocean, which regulates climate and supports vital ecosystem services, is crucial to our Earth system and livelihoods. Yet, it is threatened by anthropogenic pressures and climate change. A healthy ocean that supports a sustainable ocean economy requires adequate financing vehicles that generate, invest, align, and account for financial capital to achieve sustained ocean health and governance. However, the current finance gap is large; we identify key barriers to financing a sustainable ocean economy and suggest how to mitigate them, to incentivize the kind of public and private investments needed for top-notch science and management in support of a sustainable ocean economy. READ MORE
Press Releases
July 6, 2021 – SINGAPORE – Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)’s Women’s Livelihood BondTM 1 (WLB1), the world’s first gender lens and impact investing instrument to be listed on a stock exchange (the Singapore Exchange), matured on July 6, 2021. With all coupon payments and principal payments made on time, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bond provided investors with an annual return of 5.65% from 2017-2021. The WLB1 is the first issuance of the US$150M Women’s Livelihood Bond Series, a series of innovative debt securities that creates sustainable livelihoods for over 3 million underserved women across the Asia-Pacific and other emerging markets. In addition to its strong financial performance, all social performance targets, including targets for increased financial inclusion and financial resilience, were met or exceeded, demonstrating the sustainability of the bond’s underlying portfolio throughout the pandemic.
April 14, 2021 – SINGAPORE – IIX has announced the relaunch of IIX Institute, a unique and innovative learning and training program that offers a full suite of online, interactive learning courses that will equip investors, professionals, and enterprises with the knowledge they need to be leaders in sustainable finance and impact investing. For the last 12 years, the IIX Institute has been the premier, go-to training center to equip professionals and practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to play a catalytic role in the sustainability space.
This space is growing exponentially with the sustainable investing market reaching $30 trillion, yet the number of trained and qualified professionals who are ready to support this growth is lacking. Between all the acronyms, jargon, and varied approaches floating around, it’s no wonder that businesses, funders, and governments are scratching their heads when it comes to sustainability.
To help close this gap, IIX Institute launched three online masterclasses last year, bringing together more than 200 students from over 50 countries and featuring seven guest lecturers from the Wharton Business School, Stanford University, Social Value International, DSB Bank, Nuveen, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
The Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) has successfully closed its US$27.7 million Women’s Livelihood Bond TM 3 (WLB3), the third bond in the award-winning Women’s Livelihood Bond TM Series. Advancing 13 Sustainable Development Goals, the WLB3 complies with the International Capital Markets Association Social Bond Principles and will support 180,000 underserved women and women entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region to respond, recover from, and to build resilience in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. READ MORE