Impact Investment Summit + Impact Deal Tracker + climate finance
Momentum in impact investing
This month, we’re keen to share several developments that highlight how impact investing is evolving in Australia and beyond.
We’re proud to co-host the opening night dinner at the 2026 Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific, where we will lead Impact Unplugged, an interactive discussion with panellists and dinner guests exploring what it will take to accelerate Australia’s impact investing market.
On the investment and deal front, one of our latest Impact Deal Tracker listings is a $235 million social loan to support residential aged care homes, particularly in regional communities – demonstrating how mainstream debt markets can deliver measurable social outcomes.
Finally, we highlight a new report on catalytic capital in climate finance and a podcast on why paying for outcomes, not activity, can unlock investor action at scale.
We look forward to seeing you at the Summit later this month!
David
David Hetherington, CEO
Impact Investing Australia
Interactive dinner conversation at the 2026 Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific
Join us for dinner on the opening night dinner of the 2026 Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific – an evening we are pleased to co-host with Creative Australia, which is designed to spark honest conversation and meaningful connection across the market.
IIA will lead the evening’s feature discussion, Impact Unplugged – a dynamic, interactive panel that invites the audience into the conversation.
Chaired by our CEO, David Hetherington, the panel will explore where Australia’s impact investing market is heading and what it will take to accelerate progress. Panellists include:
- Rachel Halpern, Founder and CEO of Cairncross Capital
- Gillian Gordon, Head of Alternative Investments & Responsible Investing, JB Were
- Richard Brandweiner, Chair of Impact Investing Australia and Non-executive Director at Australian Ethical
Dinner guests will be encouraged to contribute their perspectives and questions, making this a candid and engaging conversation.
WHEN: 6pm Wednesday 25 March
WHERE: Sydney’s Australian National Maritime Museum
Details and register
Use the IIA Summit supporter code 2026IISIIA to receive 10% off the Summit tickets.
Note: Summit Dinner tickets are sold separately
Beyond the dinner, IIA will be active throughout the two-day Summit. Michelle Di Fabio, who leads our institutional engagement, will serve as Summit MC. Michelle will host a conversation with IIA COO, Bruce Campbell, on the success of the inaugural Endowments for Impact Challenge (EFIC), which saw six philanthropic trusts and foundations allocate a combined $170 million to innovative, mission-driven investment strategies.
The Summit remains the premier gathering for impact investors in the Asia-Pacific region – from advisers, foundations, family offices, major funds, super funds and government. We hope to see you there!
$235 million to support the delivery of residential aged care across Australia
A major new transaction has been added to our Impact Deal Tracker – a $235 million social loan supporting the expansion of For Purpose Aged Care Australia (FPACA).
The not-for-profit aged care provider, part of For Purpose Investment Partners (FPIP), has secured the senior debt facility with backing from Bank Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank. The funding will support the development and operation of residential aged care homes across Australia, with a particular focus on regional communities where access to quality care remains limited.
This marks the group’s first senior debt social loan. FPIP and FPACA have previously entered into social loan arrangements with Qantas Super and Australian Ethical Investments. The latest transaction reflects growing momentum in using mainstream debt markets to deliver measurable social outcomes.
What is a social loan?
A social loan links financing directly to the achievement of defined social benefits – in this case, expanding access to aged care. Success is measured not only by financial performance, but also by the delivery of positive community outcomes.
With more than 150 listings, our Impact Deal Tracker captures significant impact investing commitments and transactions across Australia, helping build transparency and momentum in the market.
Submit an impact investing commitment (for inclusion in the Tracker, via email): Deals@impactinvestingaustralia.com
New report highlights the catalytic role of impact-driven investors in climate finance
A new report by Professor Catherine Brown OAM, Enterprise Professor at Melbourne Business School and IIA Board Member, explores how catalytic investors can accelerate climate finance through blended approaches.
Unlocking climate finance – the role of impact driven catalytic investors captures insights from the fifth Blended Finance for Climate Roundtable, hosted by the Sustainable Value Creation Institute at Melbourne Business School. The roundtable brought together leaders from philanthropy, impact investment and government to identify practical actions to grow blended finance for Australia and the region’s climate transition.
The report highlights how catalytic capital – from philanthropy, impact investors and specialist government vehicles – can help projects become investment-ready, de-risk early stages and crowd in private and institutional capital. Tools may include concessional loans, guarantees, early-stage equity and technical assistance.
The report includes case studies from the Gaia Fund (19 emerging market countries in Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Asia); the ACLF Feeder Fund (Indonesia); and Wilyun Pools by Transition Accelerator (Indonesia), as well as insights and potential actions.
Importantly, the report reinforces that different sources of capital play different roles across the financing continuum and that aligning risk, return and impact objectives is key to scaling climate solutions.
International news
Alpha from inertia: How paying for outcomes unlocks impact investing returns
“We can’t continue to invest and generate economic activity without regard for social and environmental impacts, because we now have growing evidence of the costs and systemic risks created by ignoring them for decades … Unless you transform the landscape of information and incentives, inertia will prevail,” says GSG Impact Chair, Nick Hurd.
In his interview with the SRI360° podcast, Nick explains that investors aren’t making bad choices – they’re making easy ones. They:
- follow default settings
- earn acceptable returns
- have no strong reason to move
but until data, incentives and rules shift, money keeps flowing where it always has.
In the conversation, Nick breaks down:
- what it takes to move capital at scale
- how governments can pay for outcomes, not just activity
- why impact data – not good intentions – is what finally changes investor behaviour
