"Dear friends of the NAB,

These days it feels very difficult to write about anything else than the war close to home, at the borders of Europe. Our hearts go to the people of Ukraine and to all others suffering around the world from war, hunger, poverty.

The Sustainable Development Goals feel at times so far from our reach. Blackrock CEO Larry Fink writes again about the acceleration of the tectonic shift of capital towards sustainability. Meanwhile, Morning Star has decided to strike 1,200 funds from their sustainable universe, highlighting the enormous risk of green washing our sector is exposed to. This echoes the findings of the Dutch AFM earlier in 2021 highlighting the challenges around the implementation of the SFDR. More than ever, we need clear norms and standards to give investors who have the sincere intention of doing good.

The NAB will keep supporting the ecosystem with its working groups, engagement and research. Here is an update about our activities and planned events.''

- Laure Wessemius-Chibrac, Managing Director

STATE OF THE DUTCH IMPACT INVESTING ECOSYSTEM 

Many stakeholders have participated in the survey and interviews conducted, allowing us to identify the stakeholders involved in the impact investing ecosystem in the Netherlands, estimate the size of the impact investing market, and define the barriers perceived by the various stakeholders to scaling up the impact investing sector.

The information and data gathered is crucial to support the highly needed growth of the impact investing sector. The aim was to establish a diagnostic of what issues will need solving to grow the impact investing sector, which is at the heart of the mission of the NAB.

The official launch and publication of the report is expected on 25 (pre-launch) and 29 (official launch) of March, 2022 (see below for details).

DIGITAL AGRI HUB

In January, Digital Agri Hub organised the first in a series of webinars designed to help accelerate private sector investment in digitalisation for agriculture (D4Ag) solutions. The event offered an opportunity for a peer-to-peer conversation among seasoned impact investors, analysing the current landscape, together with the financing gaps and solutions required to increase the pace of investments. You can now read the blog post about the key insights or watch back the full event on our YouTube channel!

2022 EVENTS AND PROGRAM

Pre-launch event Mapping report (by invitation only)

In partnership with KPMG

Date: 25th of March 

Location: TBC

Official launch event Mapping report at the Phenix Impact Summit Europe 

Date: 29th of March 
Location: The Hague

Kick-off meeting working group: Capital requirements

Date: April 

Contact us if you would like to join

NAB Members’ Meeting

Theme: 2022 Action Agenda

Date: 16th of June

NAB members-only 

GIIN Investor Forum, ImpactFest City of The Hague 

Date: 12th/13th of October

Location: The Hague

NAB Members’ Meeting

Theme: 2023 Action Agenda

Date: 13th of October

NAB members-only

CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS

One of the biggest barriers to increasing the scale of impact investing in portfolios of institutional investors is the required level of capital charge. Impact investments are often earlier-stage, illiquid or in emerging markets. The purpose of this new working group will be to engage with European policy makers and regulators on reducing capital charges for certain types of impact investments, on the basis of their actual rather than their perceived risk level. 

If you are interested in participating in the working group, please let us know at contact@nabimpactinvesting.nl

BOARD AND TEAM NEWS

Some changes took place in our board and team. First of all, Yvonne Bakkum has joined us in the Board of the NAB. She has been involved in the NAB from the very beginning and replaces Willemijn Verloop as new rotating chairperson. Willemijn will remain in the Board. Yvonne has been the Managing Director of FMO IM since its inception in 2012. We are grateful to Linda Broekhuizen and Tera Terpstra who will step down from the Board for their invaluable contribution to the start-up phase of the NAB.

You can find the full Board of the NAB on our website.

In January the team welcomed Beau Hannewijk as impact investing intern and said goodbye to Margarida Jardim, the communication intern. Margarida is now looking for a communication job, we highly recommend her. Please let her know if you see any opportunities.

VACANCY: COMMUNICATION INTERN

The NAB is looking for a new Communication intern! Do you know a Master/Bachelor student in communication (in a Dutch or European university) which is looking to change the world? Please let us know. Click on the button below to see the vacancy.

Want to become a member? For inquiries e-mail us at contact@nabimpactinvesting.nl. 

We are grateful for the support of our founding partners!