NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

One reason why impact investing in Asia is challenging to understand, let alone invest in, is the lack of impact investing choices to be had in Asia. That’s slowly starting to change for Asia’s ultra-rich as wealth managers focus on finding investments that can bring societal or environmental benefits while at the same time earning a financial return.

Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific and Singapore’s UOB Venture Management have joined forces to launch a new fund based on a textbook definition of what impact investing means. A first round of funding recently closed for an impact investing venture capital fund supporting small- and medium-sized businesses in Asia.

The fund, which will close at the end of the year, is only open to Credit Suisse’s ultra-wealthy clients, although clients in both Asia and elsewhere can invest.