Young Asians Pursue Impact Investing That Makes Profit At Home

Asia’s rich are finally getting serious about channelling more of their massive wealth into impact investing as long as they can find projects offering market rates of return in countries and industries close to their hearts.

- Laura Noonan

  Despite boasting more billionaires than any other region in the world and a raft of socio-economic and environmental challenges at home, Asia has remained a peripheral player in the impact investment world.

Just 13 per cent of the $114bn funding tracked by the Global Impact Investing Network in 2016 found its way to Asia, according to GIIN’s latest annual investor survey, which, although not exhaustive, offers the most comprehensive data available.

GIIN’s figures actually overstate Asians’ involvement in impact investing, a sector which covers everything from projects to alleviate poverty to job creation in marginalised areas, offering financial services to the unbanked and tackling environmental problems.

“Historically we’ve seen a lot of capital flow from North America and Europe towards Asia,” says Abhilash Mudaliar, GIIN’s director of research, noting that Asians themselves have shied away from the market.

Now, Mr Mudaliar and other experts say the market is changing. GIIN’s research shows impact investing in eastern and south east Asia grew by more than 25 per cent over the three years to 2016.

At Credit Suisse, the third largest private bank operating in Asia, wealthy individuals from Asia-Pacific put $55m into its maiden impact investment fund launched in partnership with UOB Venture Management in 2016. These clients are eagerly awaiting another round, according to Joost Bilkes, who is responsible for the bank’s Asia-Pacific impact investing. “I really feel that at the moment we are going through this inflection,” he says, referring to growing appetite for impact investing in the region.