Washington, DC – More than 150 representatives from the private, public and nonprofit sectors attended the Royal Netherlands Embassy and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation's Global Forum on Impact Investing. The Impact Investing Forum was co-organized with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF).
From left to right: Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos, Luis Alberto Moreno, President IDB and Dirk Elsen, Chief Executive SNV
Impact investing is a targeted investment strategy designed to earn a financial return on investments while at the same time advancing positive social, economic and environmental change. While interest in impact investing has grown, this is a relatively new field, in which challenges remain. Leading experts in impact investing shared lessons learned from their organizational experience and discussed possible solutions to challenges in the field, such as the view that impact investing and making profits are mutually exclusive.
The Netherlands government and the Dutch private sector place a high importance on impact investing and sharing their investing experience with others. The Dutch are leaders in the field and many Dutch businesses such as ASN Bank, FMO Bank, Rabobank, SNS Reaal, and Triodos Bank are particularly notable for their investment practices. FMO Bank is the second largest bilateral development bank and has continued to make a profit during the financial crisis. In 2009, Triodos Bank received the Financial Times Sustainable Bank of the Year award for leadership and innovation in integrating social, environmental and corporate governance in its operations.
At the Global Forum on Impact Investing, attendees from governments, investment firms, foundations, corporations, international financial institutions and NGO’s heard remarks from Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank and Ambassador James Michel, Counselor to the United States Agency for International Development. Neil Ghosh, Director of SNV and Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos gave introductory and welcome remarks.
A key element of the Forum was a panel discussion with Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, Special Representative for Global Partnerships, United States Department of State; Dirk Elsen, Chief Executive, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation; Gil Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of MicroVest Capital Management; and Stephan Raes, Minister (Economic), Royal Netherlands Embassy. The panel discussion was moderated by Antony Bugg-Levine, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Antony Bugg-Levine stressed the critical need of the business sector to fully support impact investing. “The world’s problems are too complex, the capital needs are too large. Philanthropy and government are not enough to get the job done,” stated Bugg-Levine.
In his keynote remarks, Ambassador James Michel stressed the need for increasing impact investing and stated, “When private capital is put into global problems, then government aid is freed up for other needs in the developing world.” While acknowledging the need for more impact investing, Ambassador Michel also called attention to the challenges in the field including confusing terminology that limits the knowledge of investors and the absence of basic market infrastructure such as standards.
The Dutch commitment to investing can be seen in many countries around the world and is grounded in the fact that the Netherlands spends 0.8% of its GDP on development cooperation. And the Netherlands, also invest quite heavily in the United States, where the Dutch are the 3rd largest foreign investor.
Ambassador Jones-Bos, stated, “Impact investing unifies all of us behind a singular and ambitious purpose: to change the way business is done, so that people across the globe benefit in the fullest possible way. To demonstrate that sustainable, environmentally and socially beneficial business can at the same time be profitable.”
Dirk Elsen, Chief Executive of SNV stressed the need for the sectors to increase collaboration and noted, “The development community and the business community have not been the most intimate of friends.” While Neil Ghosh, Director of SNV-USA stated, “The economy is the key to poverty eradication and business is the key to economic growth.”
The Global Forum on Impact Investing was the second time the Royal Netherlands Embassy and SNV collaborated to organize a forum