Excellence in Impact Investing Recognised at the 2021 Australian Impact Investment Awards
Some of the best and brightest leaders in Australia’s impact investment sector were honoured at the annual Australian Impact Investment Awards last night. A collaboration between the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific and the Impact Investing Hub, the awards recognise outstanding activity and individuals in the Australian impact investing ecosystem. Supported by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, the Awards are designed around similar criteria and categories to the Global Steering Group’s (GSG).
This year’s awards were judged by a panel of experts comprised of Libby Cremen (Branch Manager, Community Cohesion Branch, Department of Social Services), Zarmeen Pavri, (Senior Advisor, Australia and New Zealand, Global Impact Investing Network) and Rosemary Addis AM (Executive Director, Impact Strategist). They were very impressed by the calibre of this year's nominations, especially in the Impact Asset Manager and Impact Enterprise categories. The quality and quantity of nominations received reflects the passion and dedication of those working to advance impact investing in Australia, as well as the growth of the ecosystem itself.
“Given the challenges of COVID-19 this year, it is especially important to recognise achievement in the impact investment ecosystem. It is wonderful to have something to celebrate at the end of such a difficult year,” said Jessica Roth, Founder and Director of the Social Impact Hub, who manages the Impact Investing Hub.
The winners of the 2021 awards are:
Impact Asset Manager of the Year
Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) is one of the world’s first dedicated Impact Fixed Income Fund Managers. They solely manage fixed income portfolios which have an environmental and/or social impact and seek to deliver mainstream returns. Founded in 2014, AIM is a team of 23 people based in London, Tokyo and Melbourne, currently managing over A$1.5bn assets for clients globally with over A$280m of this on behalf of Australian institutional and retail clients. AIM promotes robust verification, active portfolio management, engagement and reporting to generate consistent performance and sustainable impact in accordance with international climate agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to now being the 2021 Impact Asset Manager of the Year, they have been recognised as an ESG leader by both Morningstar and RIAA and have received awards for their process, funds and impact reports.
Impact Market Builder of the Year
Good Return is an international development agency that works across the Asia Pacific region to alleviate poverty by delivering economic and social development programs for the financially and socially excluded. They partner with bilateral and multilateral organisations, central banks, financial institutions, government agencies, and other development agencies in the Asia Pacific region to ensure our work to advance economic inclusion creates systems for long-lasting change. Good Return is also Network Convenor for the Frontier Brokers Network, an international group of investment firms adopting a gender lens in their projects. In November 2021 they released a 6-episode podcast called “Investing in Gender Equality” where social entrepreneurs from Asia-Pacific share their fascinating stories of the impact of gender lens investing on their business.
Impact Enterprise of the Year
Jigsaw is a social enterprise that trains and transitions people with disability into mainstream employment. Jigsaw’s vision for the future is an Australia where people with disability are fully included in the workforce. Jigsaw successfully undertook a capital raise during 2020/2021, assisted by Impact Generation Partners, to fund its national expansion and to further develop Jigsaw Connect (which facilitates transitions into mainstream employment at scale), with the aim of creating 1000 traineeships and 600 award-wage jobs for people with disability by 2023, and transitioning 300 people with disability into mainstream employment each year. The impact investment has been used so far to open a new hub in Melbourne, with a hub in Adelaide to be opened in early 2022, followed by hubs in Canberra and Perth.
Individual Outstanding Achievement Award
There were four individuals who stood out to the judges going above and beyond, at times making personal or professional sacrifices to provide significant contributions to the impact investment ecosystem. These individuals, who were each presented with an Individual Outstanding Achievement Award, are Jo Barraket (Founding Director at Swinburne University of Technology), Kylie Charlton (Managing Director at Australian Impact Investments), Daniel Madhavan (Partner at Ecotone Partners and previously CEO of Impact Investment Group and Impact Investing Australia) and Kerry Series (Founder and Partner at Inspire Australian Equities).
A recording of the 2021 Impact Investment Awards is available here.
Press who would like to interview any of the award winners should contact Jay Boolkin at jay@socialimpacthub.org.