IMPACT INVESTMENT EXCHANGE

CONNECTING THE BACK STREETS OF UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES 
TO THE WALL STREETS OF THE WORLD

2019
IMPACT
REPORT

www.iixglobal.com
ABOUT IIX
WHO WE ARE

We are defiant optimists

transforming the world by
mobilizing capital for social and
environmental change. We believe
that a more inclusive world must
be built by valuing and
empowering everyone—especially
those excluded from existing
systems—to be a part of the
solution for a sustainable future.

WHAT WE DO

We are dedicated to changing

financial systems and innovating
solutions for women's
empowerment, climate action, and
community resilience.

CONTENTS
03 FOREWORD

04 IMPACT SNAPSHOT

05 IT TAKES A VILLAGE

12 STORIES FROM THE GROUND

18 MOVING FORWARD

19 GLOBAL COMMUNITY

01
FOREWORD

Specifically, who is willing to take on the risk of

Durreen Shahnaz innovation? Who is willing to take on the risk of
Founder and CEO valuing women and the underserved in financial
markets? And who is willing to take on the risk of
giving a voice to the voiceless?  
IIX began ten years ago to address a gap. A gap
between men and women. A gap between the Through IIX’s multi-stakeholder, inclusive
back streets of the world and Wall Street. A gap ecosystem approach, we’re seeing glimpses of
between those who have a voice, and those the way forward with partners and fellow
who continue to be voiceless. After a decade of travellers. Rather than eye-catching statistics
impact investing, what is the report card on the like market size and deal flows, we invite you to
space and its mission to build a more inclusive listen to those who were excluded from the
world?  latest member survey or conference. Rather
than give in to impact-lite, we invite you
The results are mixed.  to dive deeper into
transformative change "What is
Issues like climate change, collapsing oceans, from below. Rather
income disparity, and gender inequality have than rush to label preventing impact
become increasingly pronounced, rallying
widespread support for impact and gender lens
everything as impact, investment from
we invite you to
investing. While the figures around the growth redefine the world’s delivering greater
of the space are promising, it is far from enough.
Developing economies still face astonishing,
very understanding of change? The key
risk-return-impact. 
trillion-dollar, annual financing gaps to meet lies in one
0 their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Even the bravest of impact enterprises
IIX began with these question: who is
gaps, but we also
delivering last-mile services continue struggling began with a vision – willing to take on
to access the finance they need to scale.
Meanwhile, the needs of women and other
to embrace risk and
drive system-wide
risk?"
underserved communities continue to be change so that we
neglected by financial markets, a cold
awakening on the eve of the 25th anniversary of can build financial markets that work for
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action everyone. As the year 2019 - IIX’s ten-year
for women’s empowerment (Beijing +25).  anniversary – comes to a close, we invite you to
think bigger and bolder as we commit to
What is preventing impact investment from transform the lives of half a billion women by
delivering greater change? The key lies in one 2030.
question: who is willing to take on risk?

02
OUR IMPACT TO DATE

$159M+ 150+ 79M+ 63%

CAPITAL ENTERPRISES DIRECT AND WOMEN
UNLOCKED SUPPORTED HOUSEHOLD LIVES BENEFICIARIES
IMPACTED

55 1.1M+ 46
DEALS METRIC TONS COUNTRIES
CLOSED C02 AVOIDED

03
OUR IMPACT IN 2019

IMPACT PARTNERS
22 420K+
EDUCATION
6.7%

CLEAN ENERGY
26.7%
ENTERPRISES WOMEN
HEALTHCARE SUPPORTED BENEFICIARIES
26.7%

AGRICULTURE
6.7%
477K+ 345K+
FINANCIAL INCLUSION PEOPLE ACCESSING PEOPLE RECEIVING
CIRCULAR ECONOMY 6.7% CLEAN ENERGY AFFORDABLE
13.3% OTHERS HEALTHCARE
13.3%

INNOVATIVE FINANCE IMPACT

WOMEN'S LIVELIHOOD BOND™ SERIES (WLB) INSTITUTE

4 40+
KNOWLEDGE-
AWARDS
SHARING EVENTS

6 $150M+
COUNTRIES PRIVATE CAPITAL

1135
MOBILIZED

12 TRAINEES

SDGs
ADDRESSED

25+ 2M+ 10M+

PARTNERS WOMEN BENEFICIARIES STAKEHOLDERS
REACHED

04
IT TAKES A VILLAGE

In order for women and underserved Through this approach, IIX has been able
communities to be brought to the to address risk and find solutions at
forefront of capital markets, we must multiple levels of the social capital
change the very system that produced markets value chain. Specifically, we have
inequalities in the first place, and get to embraced the risk of innovation, the risk of
the root of underlying causes. IIX valuing women and the underserved in
developed our inclusive, multi- financial markets, and the risk of giving a
stakeholder ecosystem approach in order voice to the voiceless.
to do precisely that—to catalyze society-
wide participation and effect system-wide At IIX, we believe "We have embraced the
change. addressing these risk of innovation, the
three dimensions of risk of valuing women
For the past decade, IIX has been going on risk form the and the underserved in
the ground measuring and giving a value blueprint for a new financial markets, and
to our most vulnerable communities; kind of financial the risk of giving a
supporting trailblazers with impact instrument: one voice to the voiceless."
assessments, technical assistance, and designed to deliver
our award-winning accelerator program sustainable impact
ACTS; connecting them to investors
through our Impact Partners for both investors and investees. IIX’s WLB
crowdfunding platform; creating Series is a powerful example of how
innovative financial products such as the innovative financial instruments can
Women's Livelihood Bond™ (WLB) embrace risk, spur catalytic change for
Series that unlock greater private capital women, and drive system-wide
and amplify public resources; and sharing participation and change. Learn more
our experiences and methodologies with about how we achieved this in 2019.
the next generation of leaders. 

05
IMPACT MEASUREMENT
www.iixvalues.com

TOP BARRIERS TO IMPACT

MEASUREMENT IIX IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
At the core of all our work is our proprietary Impact
LACK OF Assessment Framework, which measures what matters to
TRANSPARENCY AND
REPORTING
those most vulnerable in society; gives value to the impact
that businesses may not yet comprehend; and ensures long-
term sustainability to those investing in positive change.

With a decade of experience conducting Impact Assessments

UNSTANDARDIZED
METHODS OF and aligned to the Impact Management Project (IMP) for
MEASUREMENT enterprises across 46 countries, IIX has collected +25,000 data
points to analyze impact and integrate a gender lens across
the investment process.

In order to scale and enable impact investing to truly close the

LACK OF INTEGRATION
OF RISK-RETURN- sustainable development gap, we need to make real-time,
IMPACT verified Impact Assessments accessible to every
community.

GIIN, 2017

IIX VALUES: A RESPONSE TO IIX VALUES

GLOBAL CHALLENGES
SK

RE
RI

TU

Launched in 2019, IIX

RN

DEMOCRATIZE Values is a technology-

BRINGS NEW LEVEL OF powered, data-driven
DEMOCRATIZATION TO impact measurement
SUSTAINABLE
IMPACT
DEVELOPMENT WHERE
tool that gives end
VOICE IS VALUED beneficiaries a voice; EXAMPLE OF RISK-RETURN-IMPACT
allows them to verify ANALYSIS OF INVESTMENTS IN
the positive impacts of AGRICULTURE VALUE CHAIN
DIGITIZE ACROSS REGIONS
programs on their lives;
USES TECHNOLOGY TO
COLLECT DATA IN A and gives their voice a value in the market. We are calling all
SCALABLE AND COST- businesses, big or small, and from across all sectors and
EFFECTIVE MANNER
geographies, to measure their business impact today and give
a voice to their beneficiaries.
DATA ANALYTICS
SHOWS CORRELATION OF
RISK, RETURN AND IMPACT
THROUGH EXTENSIVE
DATABASE ANALYSIS
06
IMPACT PARTNERS
www.impactpartners.iixglobal.com

BARRIERS TO ACCESSING CAPITAL FOR WOMEN IIX ACTS ACCELERATOR

70% SUCCESS RATE OF

CAPITAL RAISE FOR
WOMEN-LED, WOMEN-
FOCUSED ENTERPRISES
UNDERGOING ACTS
2.2% 60% 38%
OF VENTURE CAPITAL MEN ARE 60% LIKELIER TO OF WOMEN-LED 14X PRIVATE CAPITAL
RAISED FOR EVERY $1
WENT TO WOMEN-LED SECURE FUNDING THAN ENTERPRISES EXPERIENCED OF GRANT FUNDING
ENTERPRISES, VS 79% WOMEN PITCHING THE NEGATIVE CHANGE IN

63%
RAISED BY MALE-LED SAME PRODUCT OR EQUITY INVESTMENT RAISED
ENTERPRISES IN 2018 SERVICE AFTER ACCELERATION WOMEN BENEFICIARIES
PITCHBOOK, 2018 KAUFFMAN REPORT, 2019 GALI, 2019

KRAKAKOA
IMPACT PARTNERS AND ACTS INDONESIA
IIX started the Impact Partners platform in 2011, an equity
and debt crowdfunding platform for impact investing. 1,000 smallholder farmers and 20 female
factory workers impacted
Combined with our award-winning Acceleration and 62% increase in farmer income
Customized Technical Services (ACTS) program and 64,000 kg of farming chemicals avoided
Impact Assessments, Impact Partners is able to raise 14x the 65% increase in average crop yield due to
capital for every dollar of grant funding received. improved farming practices

Impact Partners integrates a gender lens across the

investment process, from actively screening for women-led
or women-focused enterprises, providing bespoke SALUTAT
technical assistance, facilitating capital raise to enable their THAILAND
growth, and ensuring women are accounted for as end
Tech-based solution enabling financial
beneficiaries. institutions to improve lending to women
entrepreneurs
Today, Impact Partners has successfully closed 55 deals, Increased income, health, and well-being
unlocked over US$159 million of private capital, and is the for women and men micro-entrepreneurs
50% increase in productivity using
largest equity and debt crowd-funding platform in the world automation tools
with over 1,200 impact investors representing US$12
billion in assets under management.

ATEC* BIODIGESTERS
CAMBODIA
IIX GROWTH FUND
7,500 farmer households access clean
In 2019, the IIX Growth Fund (IGF) made three investments energy
into women-led or women-focused impact enterprises, Up to 3 hours freed up for women from
cooking and fuel gathering
demonstrating how investors can play a catalytic role in 33,000 metric tons of CO2 avoided
women's economic empowerment. The IGF is targeting to Increase savings of $521 per average
raise US$25 million to fill critical gaps in the gender lens household per year
investing ecosystem and enable innovative, high-impact Access to cleaner, healthier air
enterprises to grow.
07
INNOVATIVE FINANCE
www.iixglobal.com/womens-livelihood-bond-series

STATE OF BLENDED FINANCE

31%
REST OF BLENDED
THE FINANCE
WORLD TRANSACTIONS
IN ASIA

9%
TRANSACTIONS
TARGET WOMEN
AND GIRLS

The Women's Livelihood Bond™ (WLB) Series highlights the different

ways we embrace risk through innovative finance and how we can
4x AVG. BLENDED
FINANCE CAPITAL 
MULTIPLIER
create more resilient financial systems by placing women front and
center of capital markets. CONVERGENCE, 2019

In 2019, the WLB was the recipient of several awards, proving that the
WLB Series is a top-of-class instrument moving private capital to
empower millions of underserved women in Asia.
22x WLB1
BLENDED FINANCE
CAPITAL MULTIPLIER
AWARDS

~20x WLB2
BLENDED FINANCE
CAPITAL MULTIPLIER
UN Global Climate Action Award P4G State-of-the-Art Best Impact Bond Series in
2019 Partnership of the Year Indonesia from The Global
Award 2019 Wealth & Society
State-of-the-Art Award for
Addressing Zero Hunger

WOMEN'S LIVELIHOOD IIX partnered with diverse IIX is leading the movement to
BOND™ SERIES stakeholders such as Shearman & harness private sector capital
Sterling, Hogan Lovells, Latham & to empower high-impact
In 2017, IIX made history by Watkins LLP, Cyril Amarchand enterprises and microfinance
launching the award-winning US$8 Mangaldas, The Rockefeller institutions that significantly
million Women's Livelihood Foundation, the United States benefit women.
Bond™ 1 (WLB1), the first Agency for International
instrument in a series of innovative Development (USAID), the WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE
debt securities to empower Australian Department of Foreign
women through capital markets, Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Global IIX is taking our expertise to
and is on track to impacting Affairs Canada (GAC), UNESCAP, tackle women's health in the
385,000 women across Southeast UNCDF, Standard Chartered, and US. While the world is waking
Asia by 2021. DBS to effectively address risk up to women taking a stand
and speaking up, their voices
Building on the success of WLB1, remain elusive as ever in
the US$150 million Women's ORANGE BONDS healthcare. In 2018, IIX launched
Livelihood Bond™ 2 (WLB2) is the Women's Health Initiative
bigger and bolder. Aiming to IIX is partnering with UN Women in
to bring women to the forefront
create sustainable livelihoods for creating the Orange Bonds Series,
of change, with support from
over 2 million underserved a series of innovative financial
the Medtronic Foundation. IIX is
women across Asia, WLB2 instruments which aims to unlock
continuing that work through
provides a greater diversification of billions to accelerate progress
the Women's Health Impact
portfolio and stronger credit toward 17 SDGs and unleash the
Assessment Toolkit to drive
profile, contributing towards US$28 trillion potential of women
patient-centered, values-based
achieving 12 Sustainable and girls worldwide.
healthcare.
Development Goals (SDGs).
08
IIX FOUNDATION
www.iixfoundation.org/donate

LAST MILE
SUPPORT FOR
4% 10% 55%
WOMEN & GIRLS WOMEN & GIRLS
 ARE MORE LIKELY TO
WOMEN & GIRLS 
FACE HIGHER RISK OF
WOMEN & GIRLS 
BETWEEN 25-54 PARTICIPATE
LIVE IN EXTREME EXPERIENCING FOOD IN THE LABOR FORCE VS
UN WOMEN, 2019
POVERTY THAN MEN INSECURITY THAN MEN 94% OF MEN 

LONGEVITY
IIX FOUNDATION Danielle Solk

IIX Foundation is a registered 501(c)3

organization dedicated to building a more
inclusive world. As a community of defiant
optimists, we work to celebrate, value, and
empower underserved women as solution-
builders to address the pressing problems
300+
of today. ENTRIES
GATHERING

SHE IS MORE 30 WOOD

Lianne Buswell

To enable everyone to be an advocate for

women's empowerment, IIX Foundation COUNTRIES
launched the inaugural SHE IS MORE
initiative in 2019: a Global Youth Art
INVENTORS
Competition for young adults to celebrate Fiona
the value of women through art, culminating United States
in an Opening Night Celebration and
Fundraiser on May 9, 2019, at the renowned
Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore.

We were able to raise some S$60,000 to

empower women to take their livelihoods
into their own hands, and enable them to
become entrepreneurs, better caregivers,
and leaders in their communities.

SHE IS COURAGE
Empowering women and girls isn’t a one-off
initiative. For us, it means sparking a EMERGE GIRL,
movement that celebrates the different CONQUER WOMAN
Nisya
roles women play in society. Singapore

That is why we are proud to launch the

second edition of SHE IS MORE in 2020,
shining the spotlight on women and girls
who are leading the revolution to create a
better tomorrow for all.

The theme for 2020 will be SHE IS

COURAGE, which celebrates the women
who have the courage to lead, the courage
to explore, the courage to innovate, and the
courage to change the world! GLORIOUS
Jeanette
www.iixglobal.com/sheismore GIVE ME MORE TIME Indonesia
FOR MY FAMILY
Karolinia
Czechia 09
 IMPACT INSTITUTE
www.institute.iixfoundation.org

INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE GAPS MAINSTREAMING IMPACT

39% FOUNDATIONS
DO NOT KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT
DEEP EXPERTISE ACROSS SECTORS
DECADE OF EXPERTISE ACROSS 46 COUNTRIES
IMPACT INVESTING

IMPACT INVESTORS
81% PERCEIVE A CHALLENGE WITH THE LACK
OF INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS WITH
EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN
IDENTIFY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
IMPACT INVESTING, DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE
RELEVANT SKILLS FINANCIAL MECHANISMS, BUILDING AN ENABLING
ENVIRONMENT, AND GENDER LENS INVESTING
4% ODA INVESTMENTS DIRECTLY TARGET
GENDER EQUALITY
INVESTORS ARE STILL CONFUSED NETWORK OF OVER 50,000+ PARTNERS
ABOUT HOW TO APPLY A GENDER NETWORK ACROSS PUBLIC SECTOR, PRIVATE
LENS SECTOR, CIVIL SOCIETY SPACE, AND IMPACT
ENTERPRISES.
FOUNDATION SOURCE 2019, GIIN 2017; OECD 2018

BUILDING LEADERS OF TOMORROW INSPIRING SOCIETY AT LARGE

IIX is committed to empowering everyone to play a IIX continues to play a role in sparking powerful
role in building a more sustainable future. dialogues across international audiences, reaching
10M+ through thought leadership pieces, webinars,
In Spring of 2019, IIX ran the 4th edition of Impact Chats, podcasts and forums such as the
our Executive Certificate Program—training a Financial Times, The Economist, AVPN, the GIIN
diverse cohort of students from 7 countries, Investor Forum, Bank Indonesia Institute
professions from impact enterprises to investors, Leadership Summit, Impact Investment Summit
and global organizations like UN Women, Bank Asia-Pacific, UNESCAP's Beijing+25 Asia-Pacific
Indonesia, Singapore Exchange, and Deloitte. Regional Review Conference, and more.

The program took students on a thought-provoking Our advocacy efforts extend to our own in-house
journey that explored impact investing as a tool to webinars and Impact Chats, where we shared
finance the SDGs. Guided by high-profile industry insights and best practices with family
professionals in the field, students dived into offices, foundations, law firms, investment firms and
modules, including: banks from around the globe, all of whom hold
Impact Investing and the SDGs Current significant bearing on the future of impact investing.
Landscape
The Fundamentals of Raising Capital for IIX wrapped up the second season of our podcast
Impact Enterprises series From Back Streets to Wall Street jointly
Measuring Impact produced by Knowledge@Wharton-the online
Innovative Finance business journal of the Wharton School. With the
Creating an Enabling Environment for the series theme of Women, Peace and Parity, we
SDGs dived deeper into impact with Morgan Stanley,
Global Affairs Canada and Nonprofit Finance Fund.

10
 EQUITY@SCALE
www.equityatscale.com

Q1 IMPACT
IT TAKES A VILLAGE, IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM
It takes a village to close the gender gap. At IIX we believe that
anyone, anywhere can become part of this village, a part of the
much-needed ecosystem infrastructure in the impact investing

10x space.

RAISING 10X NEW PRIVATE In partnership with the Australian Government under the Scaling
CAPITAL FOR EVERY $1 OF Frontier Innovation initiative, IIX launched Equity@Scale - a two-
GRANT FUNDING year program that aims to unlock US$10 million of new private
sector capital for high-impact enterprises across Asia-Pacific at
scale, while placing an emphasis on shifting gender dynamics in
1200+ favor of women entrepreneurs and accelerating the growth of
gender lens investing.
INDIVIDUALS ACCESSED
TRAINING ON GENDER LENS Equity@Scale provides:
INVESTING
World-class investment The Future 500 Network, a
readiness education with a global community of like-
gender lens offered through IIX minded professionals and
Impact Institute, in partnership corporates who are looking
with the Miller Center for Social to rise up to the leadership
INSIGHTS FROM Q1 Entrepreneurship, with access challenge and become a
to digital Impact Assessment mentor to impact
reports via IIX Values enterprises

The Future 500 Fellowship Investors are invited to join

157 Program, an immersive

leadership development
Impact Partners and
access a deep pipeline of
%
1
87.5
Item

FELLOWSHIP program providing Fellows with pre-screened impact

SIGN UPS access to advanced training, investment opportunities
technical assistance and capital with standardized impact
raising opportunities as well as assessments and reporting
networks to impact players such
12%
%
2
12.5
Item

as mentors and investors

APPLICANTS
Through Equity@Scale, IIX is proving that everyone—from private to
INVESTMENT

37%
READY public sectors and civil society—has a role to play in advancing
women’s empowerment and the SDGs. Equity@Scale is your go-to
ENTERPRISES platform to learn more about your role in the impact economy.
FROM INDONESIA  

11
STORIES FROM
THE GROUND

12
 CHANGING HOW
SOCIETY VALUES
WOMEN
She Is More

Singapore Dhanmondi and Mirpur, Bangladesh

Finding your voice can start with a simple drawing. Access to technology means access to
In Singapore, 1 in 10 women have suffered physical opportunities. In today’s hyperconnected
violence, harassment, or abuse from a male in their world, with the proliferation of personal
lifetime. However, most women like Wei Ling* suffer computers, mobile devices, and internet
in silence given a prevalent culture of victim-blaming connectivity—it is easy to forget that many
and other stigmas. An overwhelming majority of people across the world still do not have
sexual harassment and domestic violence cases go access to a computer. For many people like
unreported. Rani*, who live in hard-to-reach, underserved
communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh, access to
“I want women to know With the proceeds from technology—and the myriad opportunities it
SHE IS MORE 2019, IIX brings—remain out of reach.
that in each one of us is providing 20
lies the strength, disadvantaged women With the proceeds from SHE IS MORE 2019, IIX
courage, and in Singapore with PTSD is providing over 120 underserved women in
determination to rehabilitation through Bangladesh with access to 17,280 hours of
240 hours of art therapy of computer literacy training, improving their
survive. I want every
sessions, under the confidence to access new and better-paying
woman to know this.” supervision of a employment opportunities, and build better
- Wei Ling credentialed art lives for their families.
therapist. We are
empowering women Together, we want to help women like Rani to
to rehabilitate themselves after suffering from abuse, move from low-paid, low-productivity jobs to
anxiety, grief, and depression, and enabling them to better opportunities, and give her the courage
heal and restore their sense of well-being through and confidence to change her life and make a
the creative arts. better future for herself and her family.
*Names and identifying details have been changed to
Together, we can give women like Wei Ling the protect the privacy of individuals
courage to find her voice.
Give the gift of courage today:
www.iixfoundation.org/donate

13
GIVING A VALUE
AND VOICE TO
BENEFICIARIES Impact
Assessments
BEYOND ONE-OFF INTERVENTIONS
At IIX, we have committed to ensuring that our
Impact Assessments bring a dynamic view to
women’s empowerment - that the borrower, the
entrepreneur, and the investor are all capable of
growing, and being nurtured from one
transformational role to another to increase their
participation in, contribution to, and benefit of
economic opportunities.

When IIX conducted Impact Assessments for the

Women's Livelihood Bond™ Series, our team of
evaluators travelled to the fields and interviewed
over 450 women beneficiaries, collecting a robust
set of data and allowing the women to speak up
about what impact matters to them, as well as
what positive impacts are occurring in their lives.
BEYOND ACCESS TO CREDIT
To increase the scalability of our Impact
Assessments and intelligence of our data The WLB Series brings a gender lens to
collection method, we are rolling out IIX Values climate finance. By unlocking capital for
across a spectrum of industries and geographies women-focused enterprises, the WLB Series
in the coming year. By making it easy and cost- enables women to capitalize on opportunities
effective to verify impact, IIX Values aims to break for a sustainable livelihood, to take the lead in
down the barriers that prevent enterprises and environmentally focused enterprises or to
underserved communities from accessing capital, adopt climate-friendly solutions to community
while making it simpler for businesses and resilience. In this way, we are repositioning
investors to measure their impact. women to become a part of the solution to
climate action.

While green bonds exist on the market, their

measurable impact on underserved
communities remains in question, and crucial
sectors like forestry and agriculture continue
to be underfinanced due to their relatively low
profitability. There were no gender lens
financial instruments listed on a stock
exchange before the WLB Series that
addressed women’s livelihoods as a
foundation for climate resilience.

By mobilizing large scale private investments,

the WLB Series enables impact enterprises to
scale their operations in a way that was
previously impossible.

14
ON THE GROUND:
CHANGING LIVES Women's
PHILIPPINES Livelihood
Bond™ 1

The Women's Livelihood Bond™ Series includes the WLB1—the world's first impact investment product
listed on a stock exchange (SGX) and quoted on Bloomberg reporting both social and financial returns. The
WLB1 empowers underserved women by enhancing access to finance, income-generating assets, and skills
so that they can invest in themselves and their families' long-term well-being.

Two years since its launch in 2017, the WLB1 is making all the coupon payments and exceeding its yearly
impact targets. The WLB1 on track to reach its goal of empowering over 385,000 women across Southeast
Asia—including the Philippines. Despite the Philippines demonstrating relative progress in women in
leadership, women entrepreneurs still struggle with limited access to capital and credit. The Women's
Livelihood Bond is changing that for underserved women in Negros Island, and in the process, empowering
communities and creating better futures.

MARIA ESTHER JOSEPHINA

For women like Maria in Through the WLB1, Esther was For Josephina, the WLB1
provincial Philippines, access to able to secure a small loan, and enabled her to take out an
loans and insurance means was then able to kick-start her education loan for her
access to security. Through the grocery business. Her good daughter. Josephina was able
support of WLB1, she was able track record enabled her to to cover expenses such as
to access loans and micro- access larger loans, which she tuition fees, and was able to
insurance.  used to expand her business enroll her daughter in a private
and increase her income by school.
Beyond access to credit, Maria 70%. She was able to upgrade
was able to expand her small her home and support her "I believe the best way to
business, support the education children's education, both of secure her future is through a
of her two children, and access whom have graduated to find strong foundation in
affordable health and life employment overseas.  education. That way, she's
insurance—enabling her to able to gain skills and
become more resilient to She's paying it forward. "I have knowledge," she said.
economic shocks and stresses, benefited so much. Now I am Josephina dreamed for her
giving her family peace of mind. committed to giving back by daughter to participate in the
“Without it, I would have turned helping others,” said Esther. She formal job market.
to informal loans which usually created a market channel for
comes with higher interest poor farmers to sell their Now her daughter is on the
rates, threatening my household products at her shop, and now way to a brighter future,
income,” said Maria. Her future employs over 20 people. studying to become a
has never looked more secure. pediatrician.

15
ON THE GROUND:
CHANGING LIVES
CAMBODIA ATEC*
Biodigesters
seasonally-flooded countries like Cambodia. It
turns manure into biofuel, enabling farming
households to produce reliable and free energy.
They can now replace traditional wood stoves
with cleaner forms of energy.

The ATEC* biodigester also produces a high-

quality organic fertilizer, enabling farmers to
increase their crop yields, eventually replacing
chemical fertilizers entirely. Each household can
look forward to saving up to $521 a year.

IIX supported ATEC* Biodigesters through its

award-winning accelerator program ACTS, and
Impact Partners. In 2019, IIX supported ATEC*
Biodigesters in securing $1.6 million in a Series B
funding to roll out the world's first PAYGO (pay-
A significant portion of household expenditure for as-you-go) model for biodigesters, making clean
low-income families in countries like Cambodia is for energy even more accessible to underserved
cooking fuel. Traditional forms of fuel such as wood communities. The investment was made by a
and charcoal are becoming scarce and expensive consortium of investors led by ENGIE
due to deforestation. They also present several Rassembleurs d’Energies and including Fondation
health hazards, such as toxic fumes when inhaled. In Ensemble, the IIX Growth Fund, and Phitrust Asia.
Cambodia, smoke inhalation kills some 14,000
people a year, mostly women and children. Now, 7,500 households can look forward to a
breath of fresh air. Women, who are usually in
Aside from this, the excessive use of chemical charge of gathering fuel and cooking, can look
fertilizers for farming has led to the depletion of soil forward to freeing up to 3 hours to engage in
fertility and declining crop yield. Cambodia poses more meaningful activities—such as looking after
some of the lowest rice yields in Southeast Asia. their children, or engaging in activities that earn
more income.
Enter ATEC* Biodigesters, whose unique biodigester
technology was developed specifically for

16
SHAPING IMPACT
LEADERS: FROM IDEAS Executive
TO ACTION Certificate
Program

With a financing gap of US$2.5 trillion a year in activities - including building ‘Orange’ standards
developing countries, impact investing is turned to and metrics and creating an ‘Orange’ enabling
as the solution to unlocking capital for good and environment by bringing multiple ecosystem
spurring innovation for sustainable development. actors together through webinars and other
platforms.
Recognizing the need to accelerate financing for
the 2030 Agenda, IIX’s CEO and Founder Durreen Students enrolled in IIX Impact Institute's
Shahnaz and UN Women’s Executive Director Executive Certificate Program become part of an
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka signed an MOU in 2019 exclusive global network of impact leaders who
to unlock billions in private capital for together can share ideas, inspiration, and
underserved women through the Orange Bond resources for innovative solutions to sustainable
Series. development both during and after the course.

The Orange Bond Series will be the first of its kind Read more about how students have applied
to identify scalable gender lens investment course concepts to their respective fields:
opportunities by aggregating a group of
investments across developed and developing Craig Fitzgerald - General Manager, Aspen
markets of a significant size ranging from Medical and CEO, Aspen Foundation (IIX
US$2.5-$20 million. Institute Alumni, 2016) presented a proposal
about how to improve healthcare through a
Drawing from IIX's Executive Certificate Program social impact investment fund in remote
on Financing the SDGs, Khetsiwe Dlamini (Chief Australian Indigenous communities. This project,
once only an idea, is now a reality.
of Staff, UN
Women, IIX
Mark Leahy - Head of Fixed Income, SGX (IIX
Institute Alumni,
Impact Institute Alumni, 2019) went through the
2019) initiated and
Executive Certificate Program to drive progress
is now driving the
towards the SDGs in Singapore. Upon
Orange Bond at
completing the program and learning about
UN Women,
innovative financial products, Mark went on to
collaborating with
spearhead a topic on how green bonds can
IIX on a series of
finance climate action at SGX. 

17
MOVING FORWARD

The industry is starting to see the limitations of its current trajectory – a

series of convenings and broad membership surveys which capture only a
snapshot of perspectives among privileged voices. What we need are
innovative actions that shift investor, enterprise, and consumer behavior
from where we are, to where we want to be. And knowing where we want to
be requires a commitment to changing systemic inequalities. 

Despite a growing market for gender lens investing and "What we need are
a widespread commitment to measuring impact, only innovative actions that
20% of assessment methods systematically involve end
beneficiaries. Not only is this unacceptable, it poses shift investor, enterprise,
systemic risk for all stakeholders involved. It is crucial and consumer behaviour
that impact investing stakeholders measure impact by from where we are, to
hearing from end beneficiaries, because they are the where we want to be. And
best placed to know whether their lives have improved
and suggest ways in which their needs could be better
knowing where we want to
met. be requires a commitment
to changing systemic
The work is already underway to make deep impact inequalities."
practical and accessible to everyone. Data and
technology-driven impact measurement will be key
for industry-wide change. For that reason, IIX is throwing its weight behind IIX
Values, so that any business, large or small, can better identify, measure and
analyze their impact.

Looking ahead to the next ten years, and the countdown to the last decade
of the Sustainable Development Goals, we will require courage. One
possible path is to maintain the status quo, repackaging other investments as
impact investments and ignoring the numerous barriers that still prevent
underserved communities, especially women, from accessing capital
markets. 

Instead, let us reflect on the original vision of impact investing – to create

fairer and more inclusive financial markets – and ask how we can steer the
industry to achieve this. Taking this alternative path means taking on some
risk, but as IIX has shown, every risk hides an opportunity to grow the space
in new and innovative ways.

18
GLOBAL COMMUNITY

ADVISORY BOARD DAVID K. MUSTO

RONALD O. PERELMAN PROFESSOR IN FINANCE
ANTONY BUGG-LEVINE AND CHAIR OF THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT
CEO, NONPROFIT FINANCE FUND THE WHARTON SCHOOL

HELAINE DRYDEN AL NJOO

PRINCIPAL GENERAL COUNSEL AND CHIEF PRINCIPAL, THE BENCHMARK GROUP
COMPLIANCE OFFICER, EPISTEME CAPITAL
JONG NAM OH
MELANIE EDWARDS SENIOR ADVISOR, KIM & CHANG
FOUNDER, MOBILE METRIX
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, STANFORD AND COLUMBIA MUHIT RAHMAN
BUSINESS SCHOOL PARTNER, LWPARTNERS

TRAVIS GIGGY RORY RIGGS

CO-FOUNDER, A·KIN AI FOUNDER AND CEO, LOCUS ANALYTICS

CELSO GRECCO MANI SABAPATHI

SYNERGOS SENIOR FELLOW & FOUNDER PRINCIPAL, PRUDENTIAL FINANCE
ATTITUDE CONSULTING
MICHIEL VERHOEVEN
GEORGE GREEN † HEAD OF DIGITAL BUSINESS SERVICES
FOUNDER AND INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL, SAP ASIA PACIFIC & JAPAN
PLURIBUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
EDNA WONG
JEANETTE GURUNG SENIOR CONSULTANT, UBM ASIA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOMEN ORGANIZING FOR
CHANGE IN AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT (WOCAN)
FOUNDATION BOARD
SALEEM HAQUE
VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVANCED CUSTOMER
SUPPORT GLOBAL DELIVERY EDWARD HARTMAN
ORACLE CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF ATTORNEY
SERVICES, LEGALZOOM
OMAR ISHRAK
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, KALPANA RAINA
MEDTRONIC MANAGING PARTNER, 252 SOLUTIONS

LINDA JONES JOSEPH T. YURCIK

VICE PRESIDENT, PARTNERSHIPS AND INNOVATION, COO & CFO, THEATERMANIA.COM
MEDA

KATHERINE KLEIN
VICE DEAN AND DIRECTOR, SHE IS MORE 2019
WHARTON SOCIAL IMPACT INITIATIVE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
THE WHARTON SCHOOL

ALIZA KNOX CHRISTINE AMOUR-LEVAR

HEAD OF APAC, CLOUDFLARE, INC SOPHIE BECK
NICOLE CHANG
FRANK LEVINSON PRITI DEVI
VENTURE PARTNER AND CO-FOUNDER HELAINE DRYDEN
PHOENIX VENTURE PARTNERS GINA KOH
INGRID WARNA MCCONNELL
STEVE MELHUISH EDNA WONG
CO-FOUNDER AND VICE CHAIRMAN
PROPERTYGURU

SAM MULLER
CEO AND FOUNDING DIRECTOR, HIIL

19
PARTNERS 2019

Alfie Browns The Economist

American Club The Financial Times
American Women's Association The Red Pencil
Asian Development Bank The Rockefeller Foundation
ATEC* Biodigesters UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Australia Deparment of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) UN Women
Bank of Indonesia UNESCAP
Banyan Tree Hotels United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Center for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP) Vital Voices
Cleantech Forum Asia WEConnect International
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas WOCAN
DBS Bank Women on a Mission
Earth Company YCAB Foundation
East Bali Cashews
Enterprise Singapore
Eunice Olsen Media
Fine Palette
German Association
Global Affairs Canada
Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)
Greenlight
Her Planet Earth
HerWorld Magazine
Hogan Lovells
Impact Hub Phnom Penh
Impact Investment Summit Asia-Pacific
Impact Measurement Project
Innovation Xchange
Japan Airlines
Knowledge@Wharton
Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)
Krakakoa
La Petite Journal
Latham & Watkins LLP
Lightfoot Travel
Lo & Behold Group
LUSH Cosmetics
Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
Mouwad
NUWA
Pacific Trade Invest Australia
Platform Usaha Sosial (PLUS) Indonesia
SE Thailand
Shearman & Sterling
Singapore Council for Women's Organizations
Singapore Tatler
Social Values International
SOW Asia
SPS Travel
Standard Chartered Bank
Studio Fine Arts
Sundaram Tagore Gallery
Swiss Club
Tan Chin Tuan Foundation
TBLI
Telunas Resorts
The Cellar
The Datai Langkawi

20
IIX is a global organization dedicated to building GET IN TOUCH
a more inclusive world by changing financial
systems and innovating solutions for women
empowerment, climate action, and community Impact Investment Exchange
resilience. Over the past decade, we have built 1 King George's Avenue
the world’s largest crowdfunding platform for #05-00 Rehau Building
impact investing (Impact Partners), created Singapore 208557
innovative financial products such as the
Women's Livelihood Bond, operated award-
winning enterprise technical assistance [email protected]
programs such as IIX ACTS, and established an
Impact Institute for training and education.

To date, our work has spanned 46 countries, www.iixglobal.com

unlocked US$159+ million of private sector
capital to support 150+ enterprises, avoided
over a million tons of carbon and impacted over
79 million direct and household lives. The
foundation of IIX's work is its proprietary Impact
Assessment which effectively measures the
social and environmental impact of the
investment and gives value to the voices of the FOLLOW US
underserved. IIX has received numerous awards
for its work including the Oslo Business for
Peace Award, the ‘Nobel Prize for Business’, as @iixglobal
well as two global awards for the WLB series:
the P4G State-of-the-Art Partnership of the Year
award (for advancing the UN SDGs) and the
UNFCC Climate Action Award.