Building the Ecosystem for
Impact Investing
Why It Matters
P. Ming Wong
Hong Kong
November 4, 2014
About Asia Community Ventures
Independent Hong Kong-registered charity incorporated in September 2012.
Mission
 To help entrepreneurs build and scale social businesses that improve the
livelihood of vulnerable communities in healthcare, education and
environment.
Core Programs
 Research on ecosystem building, policy innovation and impact investing
 Incubation services for entrepreneurs and their social startups
 Advisory services for philanthropic funders
Major Projects Completed
Encourage
Enabling Role of
Government
 Organized and hosted Impact Investing Forum 2013: Accelerating the
Industry Regionally. 350 participants from 10 Asian countries - March
2013.
 Administered, on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation, a US$400,000
Impact Economy Innovations Grant Fund for intermediaries. 40
applications from 9 Asian countries – April to November 2013.
Report #1: EngageHK
Objectives
1. Map Hong Kong’s social ecosystem
2. Identify stakeholders’ needs & priorities
3. Propose ways forward for Hong Kong
EngageHK - The Seven Sub-Sectors
EngageHK: Key Recommendations
Encourage
Enabling Role of
Government
What is Impact Investing?
… much more than just investing in social enterprises.
Source: G8 Task Force on
Social Impact Investing
Why Impact Investing?
 De-risk social innovation
 Crowd-in private sector
support
 Attract new capital to grow
social ecosystem
 Leverage business
approaches and impact
measurement tools
 Recycle capital for future
investments
Social Impact Investment Taskforce Report
Summary Objectives for Policymakers
Government has three important roles:

Market Builder
 Increase resources and support for impact-driven organizations
 Increase flow of talent
 Develop impact investment culture with a range of
intermediaries
 Encourage new investors to enter social impact investment

Market Participant
 Increase effectiveness as purchaser of social outcomes
 Increase investment from mainstream investors

Market Steward
 Design appropriate regulatory & legal framework for impact
driven organizations
 Reduce legal & regulatory barriers for impact investors
G8 National Advisory Board Reports
UK
USA
Japan
France
Australia
Italy
Canada
Germany
Report #2: Adopting the London Principles
Objectives
1. Analyze Hong Kong’s social funds
2. Introduce the London Principles
3. Propose policy innovations for Hong Kong
Observations on Existing Social Funds
 Different Approaches, Rather Disconnected
 Variations of Government Social Subventions
 Lacks Intentionality for Sustainability and Scalability
 Our HK$500 million Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Development (“SEI”) Fund has potential to address these gaps
and be different from existing funds.
The London Principles of Impact Investing
Preamble
… a set of guidelines intended to assist governments considering impact
investing as a tool to address social objectives,
… offer guideposts that ideally point to better strategy and policy development,
… are drawn from a multitude of political, economic, and cultural contexts.
… support a reflective approach that drives learning and innovation.
Summary Recommendations for Policymakers

Clarity of Purpose
 Create an impact investing agenda
 Establish an Office of Social Innovation
 Conduct needs-based assessment of social funds as linked to
longer-term social issues

Stakeholder Engagement
 Provide a public platform for impact investing policy review
 Provide incentives to foster an enabling environment for impact
investing and social innovation
 Engage with global impact investing community

Market Stewardship
 Demand-side through partnerships
 Supply-side through further research initiatives
 Intermediary development via targeted funding at scale
 Policy and legal infrastructure
Summary Recommendations for Policymakers

Institutional Capacity
 Review departmental and policy focus to be responsive to
addressing structural social challenges
 Commission internal review of existing institutional capacities
and policies

Universal Transparency
 Funder – support ideas and initiatives addressing structural
issues
 Regulator – foster policy transparency and reliability
 Enabler – leverage on open data approaches to spur social
innovation via technology
About Giinseng
 Learning by Doing
 Engage with Social Entrepreneurs
 Invest in Social Businesses
 Crowd Funding
Going Forward
 Impact investing is moving into the mainstream and will be
a potent force for social good to supplement government
funding.
 Creating an ecosystem to promote social innovation and
impact investing is the way forward..
Photo Credit: Eddie Kwong/WMA Open Photo Contest 2013
One More Thing
Photo Credit: Dale de la Ray/AFP/ Getty Images