Gender lens investing report launches

Gender lens investing report launches

It’s a big week for IIA

We’re thrilled to be launching our gender lens investing (GLI) report tomorrow with Capital Human at the Impact Investment Summit in Sydney. This significant report is set to help more investors adopt a gender lens approach and help close the gender equality gap here in Australia and our region.

We congratulate the report’s co-authors for their great insight and detailed research in compiling such a comprehensive resource. Thank you Manita Ray and Theresa Rajah (Capital Human) and Sabina Curatolo and Sally McCutchan (IIA) – your work in leading Australian investors towards a gender equitable world is greatly appreciated.

IIA is proud to be a supporter of the Impact Investment Summit, which is set to be a fantastic Festival of Impact (as the event’s theme suggests). We’re thrilled to be joining our sector colleagues and supporters, and meeting in person for the first time in a very long time. We’ve highlighted below some of the sessions we’ll be attending and invite you to join us.

Lastly, it’s budget week, and we at IIA remain hopeful that the Federal Government will take the opportunity to drive positive and inclusive economic growth with funding for impact investing initiatives. You can read our budget pre-submission and funding recommendations here. The recommendations have been informed by the work of the Government’s Social Impact Taskforce, which comprised members of our Board. We’ll be sharing our response to the budget on Wednesday, via our LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.

Have a great week!

Best wishes

Bruce

Bruce Campbell, Chief Operating Officer
Impact Investing Australia

Helping improve business and investment performance with a gender lens approach

Impact Investment Summit attendees are set for a valuable session with Capital Human and Impact Investing Australia tomorrow, as we officially launch ‘A Roadmap for Australian Investors – How to invest to achieve gender equity, racial equity, diversity and inclusion’.

The report is a valuable resource to help investors reduce risks, improve investment performance and uncover investment opportunities, while positively contributing to gender and racial equity, and diversity and inclusion outcomes.

This first-of-its-kind report includes roadmaps for investors (including asset owners, fund managers, wealth managers, family offices and foundations), offering practical steps to start or strengthen a gender lens approach. Building on successful practice around the world, the roadmaps outline how Australian investors can most effectively integrate gender into their investment frameworks and decision-making processes using a whole-of-organisation approach through a new 3i Framework:

  1. Internal operations: How to consider gender within an organisation’s governance, policies, people and processes
  2. Investment processes: How to consider gender within investment processes (specific to investor type, for investing in Australia or from Australia into South and South East Asia and the Pacific)
  3. Influence on system: How an investor can use their influence to achieve gender equality beyond their own core work.

The unique investor roadmaps are:

  • categorised by investor types and stage in their GLI journey
  • considering of different asset classes
  • intersectional, integrating gender and racial equity as well as other forms of social equity to ensure different and intersecting forms of discrimination and disadvantage are addressed
  • modular, with approaches and strategies able to be implemented individually, sequentially or in combination.

You can read the report here.

GLI report launch – Wednesday

At the report’s official launch, co-authors Manita Ray (Capital Human) and Sabina Curatolo (Impact Investing Australia) will showcase the importance of this work for Australia with panel members, who include leaders in the field of GLI and racial equity investing. They are Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management, Kim Farrant, GM of Responsible Investment at HESTA and Alison Pyott, Chief Client Service Officer, Partner & Senior Wealth Manager from Veris Wealth Partners. We encourage you to join us, as Manita, Sabina and the panel unpack ways to improve gender and diversity outcomes.

Time: 1.45pm Venue: Cockle Bay Room.

Two GLI breakout sessions – Thursday

Manita and Sabina will host breakout sessions on Thursday, diving deeper into the GLI topic. Manita will moderate a discussion, Gender, Climate and Intersectionality: An investment showcase for impact across gender and climate, bringing a focus to intersectionality, where the problems lie, and the opportunities they present.

Time: 12noon Venue: Cockle Bay Room

Later in the afternoon, Sabina will be joined by report co-author and IIA Director, Sally McCutchan, to moderate a session on The 3i approach to impact investing: Gender lens investing in practice. Research for the report helped identify this unique framework that uses a whole-of-organisation approach to GLI, incorporating a company’s (1) internal operations, (2) investment processes and (3) influence on the system.

Time: 3.45pm Venue: Room C3.4

Impact Investment Sessions not to be missed

We’ve compiled this list of sessions we’re most looking forward to attending at the Impact Investment Summit (in addition to the GLI sessions mentioned above).

Wednesday 30 March

Our Founding Chair, Rosemary Addis AM will host two discussions: the first with Ford Foundation President, Darren Walker (from the US), followed by Nigel Kershaw OBE, Chair of The Big Issue Group (in the UK). These two conversations will highlight the role impact investing has in addressing the deep inequities across the globe, amplified by the pandemic, and to mobilise the billions of dollars in endowments for impact.

Time: 9.50am Venue: Cockle Bay Room

Thursday 31 March

IIA Director, Sally McCutchan, will moderate a discussion following Joel Solomon’s keynote address on The Clean Money Revolution. Sally will lead the panel’s discussion on the impact revolution and clean money, how far Australia has progressed and what’s next. She’ll be joined on the panel by IIA Board member and Executive Director at For Purpose Investment Partners, Michael Traill.

Time: 9.20am Venue: Cockle Bay Room

The SDG Impact Standards: Setting the Bar for Impact Measurement and Management session will be moderated by Rosemary Addis, following a live presentation from the US by Cathy Clarke, from the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University.

Time: 11am Venue: Cockle Bay Room