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Dear Friends of IFB, As we are approaching the end of the Start-Up year for IFB, we can only reflect in gratitude for all support we received from many individuals and many organizations that are eager to increase and improve impact finance in Belgium. In this last edition of 2023, we will highlight some of the main achievements of IFB, with the Impact Day as the most visible event. That day, IFB also shared its first Research publication and its first Impact Barometer. Both were well received and a clear incentive for us to follow up on these documents and to venture into other research topics. Outside Belgium, IFB is in good touch with other parties promoting and supporting impact finance. We also collaborated on providing input to relevant new European regulation. Just a few weeks ago the IFB board discussed and approved a strategy document for the next three years, and a separate work plan for 2024. It makes very concrete what we plan to do under the four pillars of Enable, Inspire, Connect and Catalyze. Information on these topics will constantly be updated on our brand-new website: impactfinance.be In your 2024 calendars, please mark Wednesday 17 January, when IFB will host the next Members’ Talk at the Impact House (start at 17.30). This will be followed by the IFB New Year’s drinks (as from 18.30). And, please mark Monday 11 March, when IFB will speak at the monthly Impact Monday, also at the Impact House (start at 18.30). More events will follow. Over the next days or weeks, I hope many of you will be able to take a step back and devote time to your dear-ones, to then wish you all the best for 2024. Enjoy reading and keep generating your impact! Frederik and the IFB team |
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Organization and Members
All plans and preparations that were presented at the first Belgian Impact Day in 2022 came to a start early 2023. A small team was established and the Impact House welcomed IFB as another co-inhabitant. The IFB board of six was established, later also an impressive 12-person Advisory Committee.
IFB is a membership organization, with eight parties very active at inception, many of which became crucial financial supporters of IFB. During the year, the membership group grew to over 30 organizations (portrayed in the visual below) and two associate members (Febelfin and PYM).
Both groups of members and associate members are set to further grow in 2024. We also plan to formalize the involvement of other organizations that are important at sector level (types of financiers, types of entrepreneurs), at theme level (working on sustainability or responsibility topics), providing impact services (consultants, lawyers) or academic input. We will also seek more contact with the public sector, whether at EU level or Belgian level, crucial for regulatory and legislative embedding or direct contributor to impact finance.
The Global Steering Group in Impact Investing (GSG) recognized IFB as the Belgian entity to promote impact financing. This formalized our collaboration with over 40 similar organizations at global level, of which over ten in the EU. This quickly became a group of good friends of IFB from whom we can learn and with whom we can team up for more impact.
Events: Fostering Engagement and Knowledge-Sharing
A series of events organized by IFB has successfully fostered engagement and knowledge-sharing within our community. During 2023, IFB organized or presented at Impact Mondays, Impact for Breakfast, the IFB Opening Drinks and the IFB Members’ Talk in September. IFB colleagues or board members talked multiple other events in Belgium and outside.
Early November, IFB hosted an Impact Dinner, with over 100 guests, all crucial people related to the finance sector in Belgium. The following day, IFB hosted the 2nd Belgian Impact Day at The Square in Brussels.
During the day, we hosted 425 participants engaged in 26 sessions covering various impact topics, ranging from the impact theory to gender, social housing, agriculture, green bonds to blended finance. Three notable keynote speakers opened and closed the day, providing us with inputs that should spark or support the change in finance that is badly needed.
The Impact Day featured 11 impactful pitches from start-ups and scale-ups, with insights from 78 speakers and moderators representing institutions like ABN Amro, DPAM, King Baudouin Foundation, Impact Capital, SFPIM, EVPA, Be Impact, ICHEC, ULB, Incofin, Decathlon, and more. For IFB, the full day contained a lot of ideas and guidance for our future work.
Cartoonbase drafted this picture to capture the 2nd Belgian Impact Day:
Impact Finance Belgium actively contributes to the discourse on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations and the impact finance landscape. IFB recently released two comprehensive reports, one focused on ESG and Impact, and the other delving into the recent trends of the Impact Finance market in Belgium.
ESG & Impact Report
We have released our first publication “ESG and Impact – how to navigate through these two approaches, their principles, standards, labels and tools”. As many of our partners raised the definition questions “what is impact” and “how does it relate to the many other terms used around ESG and Sustainability?” we decided to pick up the glove. The result is this document, meant to provide clarification. We provided a framework to bring a better understanding of ‘‘impact’’. It gives background and context to many relevant terms and acronyms used. It does not take a position, but it aims to clarify such that each user can determine what is relevant and useful for you.
Annual Barometer Report
What is the current state of Impact Finance in Belgium? And how has it evolved in the last year? Questions we aim to answer in the Annual Barometer. Since the first Belgian Impact Day in November of 2022, many actors in Belgium are moving towards impact finance. The Barometer illustrates clear examples and case studies of impact finance in Belgium. It provides a short overview with clear examples. IFB noted six clear trends which we illustrate in the first Annual Barometer. The barometer does not intend to offer a complete insight into the market. We are aware that next to our case studies, many more parties are making positive impact. Hence, we encourage all parties to keep doing your good work, growing and improving impact finance in Belgium!
The last days of November, IFB attended the EVPA (now Impact Europe) week in Turin, Italy. Almost 1000 persons attended this big event, with exchanges around many impact related topics. We also contributed to specific workshops with the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers, another on European collaboration and one on Innovative Fund Models. It was a good opportunity to further discuss more intense collaboration among our sibling organizations in other EU countries, among others on the topic of SFDR.
On 12 December 2023, IFB, with input from our members, collaborated with Impact Europe, The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), National Advisory Boards, and the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL) in submitting a joint letter as a response to SFDR consultation by the European Commission. It contains key recommendations on the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) with the aim to accelerate the growth of European investing for impact markets. We will continue to follow this topic and update you when appropriate.
IFB is happy to announce the launch of our new website impactfinance.be. The website is a reflection of our commitment to provide a seamless experience for our visitors and our members. Discover the latest news, research and updates on impact finance.
On this website, you will find the following two events (and more to follow)
On Wednesday 17 January, IFB organizes the next Members’ Talk with two of our members sharing their inputs on one topic. This time, we are honored that outgoing CEO of the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), Luuk Zonneveld, along with the CEO of Kampani, Wouter Vandersypen, will address the topic of Moral Dilemmas in (development) Finance. Venue: the IFB offices, Impact House. Doors open at 17.00. Presentations start at 17.30, followed by Q&A. At 18.30, we finalize to the join…
The IFB New Year’s drinks, for all IFB members, prospect members and other partners: on 17 January, starting at 18.30, right after the Members’ Talk.
For the Members’ Talk and/or New Year’s drinks, please register via our email address: hello@impactfinance.be
Then, on Monday 11 March, as from 18.30, IFB will present at the Impact Monday (at the Impact House), the publication Impact Unraveled. The document is available online. Several members and partners already used the two diagrams shown above.
For the Impact Monday, please register via their website through this LINK
Read the latest news, insights and studies from our members:
Alterfin – Better Together Initiative
Alterfin is working towards an investment model that puts the planet first and supports the people who live on it. Without compromise. As a member of the Alterfin cooperative, you are part of a community of people who share your values of solidarity and social justice, a community that fosters the development of social enterprises. To consolidate our results, take them to the next level and ensure an even greater positive impact with our partners and the countless families we help through them, we must continue to expand our movement. Are you ready to strengthen your commitment and inspire your loved ones to become part of our community? Our Better Together campaign is the perfect opportunity.
Crédal is currently raising funds 💥 Today, the cooperative has nearly 4,000 members, grants 60 million euros loans to 3,000 people, associations and businesses active in the social and sustainable economy 🌱Their activities are constantly expanding and in order to support even more impact projects, they need to extend their community! They’ve already raised 1.2 million and their goal is to reach 2 million euros by 31th December in order to fund a further 100 projects 👊 If you’re interested in becoming a cooperator or if you think your friends might be, don’t hesitate to pass on the information, contact cooperateurs@credal.be for direct human contact, or visit their website to find out more
finance&invest.brussels – the Silver Economy
finance&invest.brussels introduced a study on the Silver Economy in Belgium. With the growing need for care due to the aging population, the Silver Economy plays a pivotal role not only influencing the healthcare system but also the greater societal concern.
Incofin has been honoured with the prestigious title of Belgian Asset Management Company of the Year for the third consecutive year in 2023, as awarded by Global Banking & Finance Review. Read more below.
Phitrust – Eighth Phitrust Entrepreneurs seminar
With a youth unemployment rate of almost 15% in Brussels and in many other regions of Europe, youth unemployment is one of the most pressing challenges facing European decision-makers. Getting young people into work is a major issue for equal opportunities and social cohesion. How can we meet this challenge, and what are the solutions? was the subject of the eighth Phitrust Entrepreneurs seminar. Ericka Cogne, Managing Director of Télémaque and Béatrice de Mahieu, Managing director of BeCode shared some answers. For those who missed the event, the replay is available below.
Trividend – Place-Based Impact Investing
As a refection of the 2nd Belgian Impact Day, Trividend wrote further details about one of the event’s topics on Place-based finance. Learn more about Place-based impact investing below.
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