New Members, Point of View and The 2nd Belgian Impact Day!

IFB is welcoming six new members! As of October Kampani, LITA.co, Co-Housing Projects, PhiTrust, Telos Impact and Alterfin have joined the IFB network.

A little bit about our new joiners; Kampani is a social impact investment fund working to unlock the potential of entrepreneurial farming in the South. Kampani is a pioneering way to fight poverty and promote development. Connect with Wouter Vandersypen if you’d like to find out more about their activities!

Next up is LITA.co, a platform where the individual can decide for themselves how their savings get invested. You can choose to invest directly into companies that focus on the social-ecological transition. With 67,409 investments, 16,956 jobs created or safeguarded and 132,7 million euro raised, they have an impressive track record. Connect with Vincent de Brouwer to find out more.

Our member Co-Housing Projects creates “residential projects for and by people”. Their mission is to create more cohousing in Flanders by guiding groups of interested parties in developing their cohousing projects. With 10 projects, with in total 163 houses, they are making a difference. Connect with Marie-Eline Vandeurzen to learn more.

PhiTrust is a French asset management company that has been promoting impact finance for many years. They offer their clients investment solutions that combine environmental and social impact with the search for long-term financial performance. With patience and stringency, they exercise their responsibility as shareholders committed to making finance a lever for transforming our economy, with both listed and unlisted companies. They are a concept amongst the impact investing community, and definitely a party to learn from. Connect with Gaëtan Herinckx to see how you can learn from them.

Telos Impact is a leading actor in impact management and consulting: Impact Investing, Venture Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. Faced with major societal challenges, Telos Impact contributes to the implementation of existing solutions to create a more sustainable and resilient world. Through its expertise, Telos Impact supports its clients in the effective deployment of their ambitions. Another expert in their field, we’re very glad to have them on board. Connect with Marc Flammang to find out more.

Lastly the international organization Alterfin, Financing the development of social enterprises around the world to provide a sustainable income for the most vulnerable people. With the financial support of over 6,000 co-op members, they help more than 4 million families make a decent living, all while having a positive impact on our planet. Alterfin is a Belgian social cooperative that offers everyone an investment opportunity to generate a positive social, environmental and economic impact. Connect with Jean-Marc Debricon to find out more.

IFB now holds twenty-eight members and two associate members, and counting… Thanks to the newly joined members, IFB has become more diversified with a network of financiers, fund managers, impact investors, development financers, family offices, social enterprises and other network organisations. We aim to continue the diversification of our membership base to enable cross-sectoral collaboration and accelerate the transformation to an impact-driven economy.

In this new Point of View (PoV) article series, we will introduce the stories of the IFB Board of Directors and the IFB Advisory Committee. These PoV’s will be periodically shared in the newsletters in the next few months. Responding to three questions, each of them will talk about how and why they got into impact finance, what observations they have made and some of their advice or lessons they have learned along the way. Through these articles, we hope that you will get to know our board members and advisory committee members and that you will be inspired by their stories!

Aline Buysschaert – Blended Finance Lead at Univercells

What was the drive for you to start in the field of impact finance?

“Two major experiences led me to impact finance.

The first one was working in a business incubator in Johannesburg, South Africa focused on supporting entrepreneurs from townships. I witnessed the multiplier effect of capital directed towards impactful projects. This experience made me decide to work in impact finance and help bring additional capital towards projects supporting the SDGs.

The second one was when I first heard about Social Impact Bonds 10 years ago.  I was fascinated by how this instrument leveraged different actors to catalyze social innovation.  I decided to write my thesis in Economic & Social Ethics on Social Impact Bonds, analyzing their potential and challenges, which led me to start working in the innovative finance space.”

How do you want to include the voice of the next generation in IFB?

“I want to bring more young people into the conversation about impact finance. The younger generation wants action at scale and IFB is a unique platform to bring change to finance. My aim is for IFB to be connected & aligned with the voice of the younger generation & give them their own floor as well.”

Do you have a learning you would like to share with the impact finance public? Advice for someone starting out in the field of impact finance, useful tools and insights that could be of value?

“It’s an exciting time as impact finance needs to be bold in the years to come, taking the necessary risks in an increasingly uncertain environment to meet the Paris Agreement goals.  This will require unprecedented collaboration, bringing additional actors on board and focusing on achieving outcomes.   My advice for someone starting is to think about the scale of action needed and to work step by step towards that objective.”

Steven Serneels – Impact Investor and Chair of the IFB Board

What was the drive for you to start in the field of impact finance?

“My background is primarily in business, I’ve been working with corporates for nearly 25 years and later with social entrepreneurs. I’ve seen over the years how many of these organisations have been embracing the ‘sustainability’-journey, also through innovative business models. But I also noticed that financiers were important decision makers in defining the future of these organisations. Realising that finance could be a driving force in creating change I started to steer towards impact finance more than 10 years ago.”

What is your link between impact investing and IFB?

“My first experience with ‘money as a force for good’ was more on a European, and even global level. When shifting back my attention to Belgium some years ago, I could see great examples, but many of them were often under the radar and isolated. Moreover, the different capital providers such as philanthropists, impact investors and mainstream providers of sustainable finance were operating in silo’s. At the same time, I observed that in some neighbouring countries, where they created a go-to place for the different financial players looking for impact, they benefited greatly from this coming together. Inspired by these examples, I thought Belgium could also benefit from an impact finance community as a way to join forces to create more impact.”

Do you have learnings you would like to share with the impact finance public? Advice for someone starting out in the field of impact finance, useful tools and insights that could be of value?

“My most important learning about impact finance is that you best start from the societal challenge you want to address, from the position of the potential beneficiary. And then re-engineer back to the required business model and most appropriate financing tool. This often results in inclusive and impactful solutions. Finance as a means to an end.

I also think, and hope, that bringing together the Belgian capital providers in this impact ecosystem can accelerate the amount and type of impact capital we need to create more sustainable solutions. The diversity of players in this eco-system might create certain tensions, but in the end we need them all to build a thriving impact economy and an inclusive, well-functioning (and safe) society.

We are proud to share that all sessions for the 2nd Belgian Impact Day are confirmed and it’s going to be incredible. We cannot wait to show what our guest speakers have prepared. Throughout the day, participants will be able to choose from 26 Sessions spread over 4 Break-out Slots. The sessions cover a wide range of topics and will be led by experts in their field. Check out the programme for a detailed overview of what the day has to offer! A big thank you to the event’s Main Sponsors ABN AMRO and the National Lottery and the Co-Sponsor KBC Bank. If you haven’t yet, register now via the website, and we look forward to seeing you there!