The financial industry exists to allocate society’s capital — its dollars and cents — more efficiently.
Thus has said many a Princeton graduate entering the heady world of high finance, including Robert Kraybill ’89, a former banker at Wasserstein Perella in New York and, later, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Singapore.
Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange has successfully closed the bond targeted at improving women’s livelihood in Asia – the second such debt issuance of its kind.
The bond is part of the «Women’s Livelihood Bond» (WLB) series which aims to «create sustainable livelihoods» for over 2 million women across Asia. The WLBs are the first «gender lens bonds» for several countries in Asia including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) – a Singapore-based bourse focused on issuing securities that generate both returns and real social or environmental impact – issued its first WLB in 2017 and its latest issuance raised $12 million.
January 15, 2020 – SINGAPORE – Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) has successfully closed the US$12 million Women’s Livelihood BondTM 2 (WLB2), the Asia-Pacific’s second multi-country gender bond to be listed on a stock exchange (the Singapore Exchange), creating sustainable livelihoods for 250,000+ underserved women in the region. The WLB2 is the second bond in the award-winning Women’s Livelihood Bond Series (WLB Series), which has gained new support from The Rockefeller Foundation, The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), Standard Chartered Bank, Latham & Watkins, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, and UN Women.
Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)’s award-winning Women’s Livelihood BondTM Series (WLB Series) – Asia-Pacific’s first-ever multi-country gender bond series to be listed on a stock exchange – has gained new support the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Investors in IIX’s second Women’s Livelihood Bond include US institutional investor Nuveen, European institutional investor Blue Orchard, and others from across Asia, Australia and New Zealand.SINGAPORE-BASED capital firm Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) on Wednesday closed its second Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB).
SINGAPORE, 6 March 2019 – IIX – a global organization dedicated to building a more inclusive world through innovative finance and support for impact enterprises – has announced partnering with the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for the Women’s Livelihood BondTM Program (WLB2). The WLB2 is a US$100M bond series empowering one million underserved women in Asia with sustainable livelihoods. The WLB2 will be sold in three tranches. With the support from the Australian government, the first bond in the WLB2 series is on track to launch Q2 2019. Other partners include DBS Bank, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 – NEW YORK & SINGAPORE – Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a global organization dedicated to building a more inclusive world through innovative finance and support for high-impact enterprises, has won the 2019 UN Global Climate Action Award for its Women’s Livelihood BondTM Series (WLB Series). The Award, given by the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) in the backdrop of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in New York, recognizes the most innovative, scalable and replicable solutions across the globe that are tackling climate change alongside other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WASHINGTON – 23 SEPTEMBER— P4G, the Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 Initiative, selected The Women’s Livelihood Bond Series, a partnership-driven project addressing SDG 2: Zero Hunger, as the 2019 P4G State-of-the-Art Partnership of the Year. The winner was announced at the P4G Awards Luncheon, hosted by SAP, on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit today. The Women’s Livelihood Bond Series, led by Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), represents the top partnership from nearly one hundred applicants and five finalists selected to represent each of P4G’s focal Sustainable Development Goal areas: food and agriculture, water, energy, cities and the circular economy.
Durreen Shahnaz | Asia City Publishing
Low-income women in South and Southeast Asia face a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Few have a formal bank account. Women farmers in Asia work more hours per week in the field than men, but earn much less. With little or no access to electricity, they’re exposed to toxic fumes from kerosene lamps and stoves. The list goes on.
AUGUST 28, 2019 – WASHINGTON DC & SINGAPORE– Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) – a global organization dedicated to building a more inclusive world through innovative finance and support for high-impact enterprises – has won the 2019 P4G State-of-the-Art Partnerships Award for advancing progress in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture through its pioneering Women’s Livelihood BondTM Series (WLB Series).