Asia’s first social stock exchange - Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX), which is a social enterprise (SE), is expected to be set up and operational by early next year.
While details of the IIX have yet to be ironed out, the organisation behind IIX, Impact Partners will be launching an online portal by the end of the month to bring together investors with socially impactful investments.
According to IIX managing director Robert Kraybill, impact investing may be new in Asia but is was fast gaining traction in the United States and Europe.
IIX directors believe there is much potential for impact investments in Asia as social issues such as poverty, deprivation and environment become more relevant.
“Impact investing is not philantrophy. It’s not meant to replace philantrophy but supplement it,” he said.
He said SE adopted market methods to sustain social or environmental missions, which may be perceived by some people as a charitable goal.
IIX has been reaching out to SEs in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Thailand.
He said IIX’s sister company, IIX Shujog, with support from the Asian Development Bank, was conducting a mapping exercise in Thailand to identify relevant firms in various sectors with the aim of building up sufficient capability to get them onto Impact Partners.
It is learnt that IIX is in talks with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, exchange operators and other key parties to finalise its listing.
Impact Partners director En Lee said the exchange did not target retail investors but institutions.
“Insurance companies, pension funds, foundations and sovereign wealth funds are some of the potential investors we are getting in touch with now,” he noted.
Kraybill was formerly an investment banker and private equity investor with two decades of experience in the capital markets, especially in emerging markets in Asia.
Lee was a former corporate lawyer and former executive director at Goldman Sachs.
