Raising Awareness of Impact Investing Opportunities in Australia
In an Australian first, the Impact Investing Hub has today launched the Current Deals Library, listing live impact investment opportunities on one portal to connect investors and investees in this growing market.
The Australian Financial Review featured the database in both the print edition (see below) and the online edition – Impact investing database hopes to increase sector’s pulling power.
The site is open to the public, and can be used by both retail and sophisticated investors.
“The need for this resource was identified at the 2016 Impact Investment Summit, where participants noted that although information was readily available during the Summit, it was largely inaccessible during the remainder of the year,” said Director of the Social Impact Hub, Jessica Roth.
“The Australian impact investing market is forecast to exceed $32 billion by 2022, but the only way this can be unlocked is for investors to have access to information on live deals.”
“This is a ground-breaking shift in how Australians can access the impact investment market. It facilitates access to impact deals, increasing the amount of capital for good. The number of listings on launch shows the growth of the market in recent years, and this is set to accelerate especially as more superannuation funds start to impact invest, following the lead of HESTA and Christian Super.”
“The goal is to support the growth of the Australian impact investment sector, and in so doing, help finance solutions to some of our most challenging social and environmental issues.”
There are a large variety of equity and debt investments that are listed on the site and open for investment, including impact bonds involving the Queensland Government, NAB and Life Without Barriers, funds such the SVA Diversified Impact Fund, and direct equity investments in early stage impact start-ups such as MindHive.
The site summarises the basic information of current deals in the impact investing ecosystem, including the forecast financial return and social impact. Its user-friendly design makes it easy for investors to access information and contact issuers directly for more information about the deal.
Teams of UNSW Law and Business School students were involved in building the Impact Investing Hub site as part of completing a practical academic course at UNSW. The site also contains a map of past deals and the key players in the growing impact investment ecosystem.
Thank you to the Impact Investment Summit for their generous support. Impact Investing Australia and Ashurst provided valuable pro bono assistance. Thanks to our strategic partners the Responsible Investment Association of Australia and Philanthropy Australia.
The third Impact Investment Summit with the theme of Activate & Accelerate will be held at Doltone House, Sydney from 13-15 November 2017. Register now with the discount code SIH.
Click here to download the full media release.
You can also click here to see the full media coverage.