Investors, business leaders, and philanthropists brought together to shape the growth of impact investing in Vietnam
Over 40 investors, business and finance leaders, and representatives of family offices and foundations took part in an exclusive discussion on impact investing, defined as investing with the intent to create positive social impact alongside financial return. The event, called “Impact Investing in Asia – a Diverse and Dynamic Market – Vietnam,” brought together prominent members of the business, philanthropic, and investing community to discuss the future of impact investing in South East Asia. It was organised by Investing in Women, in partnership with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), and co-hosted by Standard Chartered.
Over the past five years, the Asia Pacific region has been the fastest-growing impact investing market globally. Private impact investors (PIIs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) are drawn to the region, with especially high activity in the dynamic economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. According to a recent GIIN-Intellecap report, Vietnam reveals increasing market interest in impact investment, with nearly half of such impact deals made since 2015. However, given limited seed-stage impact capital and few impact-focused intermediaries, sourcing investable deals remains challenging.
Overall, since 2007, 10 PIIs have deployed close to USD 26 million into 23 deals. Six DFIs made direct investments of some USD 1.4 billion into 50 deals over the same period. Importantly, moving capital with a gender lens can support a significant underserved market and create additional social impacts. Three PIIs have deployed USD 3.3 million into four gender lens investments.
This Ho Chi Minh City event featured an overview by the GIIN of the global and regional impact investing market; reflections on opportunities for impact investing from leading investors in Vietnam; and a networking reception with peers from the Vietnamese impact investing and wider financial communities.
According to Ms. Rebecca Bryant, Deputy Head of Mission of the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, “The Australian Government is looking to build lasting partnerships with local, regional, and global impact investors that bring market-based approaches to solving the world’s most intractable development problems, particularly in addressing gender inequality. If impact investors want to create stronger social impact – reaching deeper into untapped markets of developing countries like Vietnam, then they need to incorporate a gender lens into their investment strategy.”
According to GIIN Research Director Abhilash Mudaliar, “Vietnam is a fast-emerging impact investing market, with nearly half the deals over the past decade taking place since 2015. Going forward, opportunities exist in financial services, healthcare, and education – reflecting the need for investments in basic services for the local population. Promisingly, the government has created a series of incentives for firms to register as ‘social enterprises’ and it will be important to continue to refine the regulation so that more start-ups are encouraged to do so.”
“AVPN is excited to be catalyzing strategic and outcome-oriented gender-lens investment in Asia through our partnerships with Investing in Women and GIIN," says Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO and Chairwoman of AVPN, a unique Pan-Asian network that helps social investors deploy capital effectively into the social sector. "With a membership of more than 500 social investors, 40% of which are supporting gender-related solutions, AVPN is in a promising position to break down silos across foundations, impact funds, corporates, and intermediaries, to share knowledge and best practices. Building an ecosystem for gender equality has never been more promising in Asia, and it is only through multi-sector collaboration that we can achieve this at scale.”
“We are proud to be the local partner of AVPN to help promote impact investing in Vietnam”, said Nirukt Sapru, CEO for Vietnam and ASEAN & South Asia Cluster Markets of Standard Chartered. “As a leading international bank which will celebrate 115 years of presence in Vietnam in 2019, we ourselves are committed to driving commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity. We have invested strongly in local communities from the North to the South through various programmes that promote social and economic development. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with AVPN and other like-minded sponsors to bring even more impactful investment to the people and communities in Vietnam.”
Ho Chi Minh is one of several South East Asian cities to host these impact investing roadshows. Investing in Women recently sponsored events in the Philippines (Makati City) on 12 November and Indonesia (Jakarta) on 14 November.
Over the past five years, the Asia Pacific region has been the fastest-growing impact investing market globally. Private impact investors (PIIs) and development finance institutions (DFIs) are drawn to the region, with especially high activity in the dynamic economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. According to a recent GIIN-Intellecap report, Vietnam reveals increasing market interest in impact investment, with nearly half of such impact deals made since 2015. However, given limited seed-stage impact capital and few impact-focused intermediaries, sourcing investable deals remains challenging.
Overall, since 2007, 10 PIIs have deployed close to USD 26 million into 23 deals. Six DFIs made direct investments of some USD 1.4 billion into 50 deals over the same period. Importantly, moving capital with a gender lens can support a significant underserved market and create additional social impacts. Three PIIs have deployed USD 3.3 million into four gender lens investments.
This Ho Chi Minh City event featured an overview by the GIIN of the global and regional impact investing market; reflections on opportunities for impact investing from leading investors in Vietnam; and a networking reception with peers from the Vietnamese impact investing and wider financial communities.
According to Ms. Rebecca Bryant, Deputy Head of Mission of the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, “The Australian Government is looking to build lasting partnerships with local, regional, and global impact investors that bring market-based approaches to solving the world’s most intractable development problems, particularly in addressing gender inequality. If impact investors want to create stronger social impact – reaching deeper into untapped markets of developing countries like Vietnam, then they need to incorporate a gender lens into their investment strategy.”
According to GIIN Research Director Abhilash Mudaliar, “Vietnam is a fast-emerging impact investing market, with nearly half the deals over the past decade taking place since 2015. Going forward, opportunities exist in financial services, healthcare, and education – reflecting the need for investments in basic services for the local population. Promisingly, the government has created a series of incentives for firms to register as ‘social enterprises’ and it will be important to continue to refine the regulation so that more start-ups are encouraged to do so.”
“AVPN is excited to be catalyzing strategic and outcome-oriented gender-lens investment in Asia through our partnerships with Investing in Women and GIIN," says Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO and Chairwoman of AVPN, a unique Pan-Asian network that helps social investors deploy capital effectively into the social sector. "With a membership of more than 500 social investors, 40% of which are supporting gender-related solutions, AVPN is in a promising position to break down silos across foundations, impact funds, corporates, and intermediaries, to share knowledge and best practices. Building an ecosystem for gender equality has never been more promising in Asia, and it is only through multi-sector collaboration that we can achieve this at scale.”
“We are proud to be the local partner of AVPN to help promote impact investing in Vietnam”, said Nirukt Sapru, CEO for Vietnam and ASEAN & South Asia Cluster Markets of Standard Chartered. “As a leading international bank which will celebrate 115 years of presence in Vietnam in 2019, we ourselves are committed to driving commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity. We have invested strongly in local communities from the North to the South through various programmes that promote social and economic development. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration with AVPN and other like-minded sponsors to bring even more impactful investment to the people and communities in Vietnam.”
Ho Chi Minh is one of several South East Asian cities to host these impact investing roadshows. Investing in Women recently sponsored events in the Philippines (Makati City) on 12 November and Indonesia (Jakarta) on 14 November.
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