Australian impact investing heroes recognised

Christian Super, Impact Investing Australia, and Xceptional are among some of the winners of this year’s Impact Investing Awards 

In what has been a testing year for all, some of the country’s best and brightest impact investors have been recognised for their achievements and contributions to growing the movement.

The Australian Impact Investment Awards 2020 were held virtually on Wednesday with Alan Schwartz AM delivering the keynote address on the future of impact investing.  

Outstanding organisations and individuals were recognised across five award categories.  

Christian Super, which currently has $1.6 billion under management and 10 per cent of funds within investments that generate both financial and social or environmental outcomes, took out the top spot for impact asset owner of the year.  

SEFA, who was the only lender to focus wholly on lending to purpose-driven organisations chosen in the federal government’s Coronavirus Guarantee Scheme, was crowned impact asset manager of the year.

Impact Investing Australia (IIA) and Red Hat both took home the impact market builder of the year award. 

IIA was recognised for its pivotal role in setting up a first meeting between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the former British prime minister David Cameron to discuss the contribution impact investing can make to a post-COVID recovery. 

Red Hat Impact along with other partners Lotus Impact, Pacific RISE and Criterion Institute came together to launch a trade finance vehicle expanding access to appropriate and affordable products in the Pacific to help local impact enterprises operate confidently in the area. 

And Xceptional, a tech platform harnessing the unique strengths of people with autism and channelling those skills into business technology positions, took out impact enterprise of the year for securing impact investment through a linked financing model called the Beneficial Outcomes Linked Debt contract. 

John McKinnon, the co-founder of McKinnon Family Foundation; Sven Stenvers, the founder and director of Impact Seed; and Nigel Sharp, the CEO of Tiverton Rothwell Partners were also awarded with individual achievement awards for going above and beyond to contribute to the impact investment ecosystem.

Now in their third year, the awards are hosted in partnership by the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific and the Impact Investing Hub, and were judged by an all-star panel including Teena Blewitt (group manager, communities group, Department of Social Services), Zarmeen Pavri, (senior advisor, Australia and New Zealand, Global Impact Investing Network) and Rosemary Addis AM (executive director, Impact Strategist).

Jessica Roth, founder and director of the Social Impact Hub, said that given the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020, it was especially important to recognise achievement in the impact investment space. 

“It is wonderful to have something to celebrate at the end of such a difficult year,” Roth said.

Alex Feher, the founder and CEO of Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific, added that the more organisations and individuals were nominated for awards, the more the movement would grow. 

“This just adds fuel to the growth in the movement for transformational change we would all like to see,” Feher said. 

More information on the awards can be found here.