Welcoming the new year as 2X Global - and a round-up of gender lens investing news.

- Tweet0
- 0
- Pin It 0
- 0
- Subscribe to RSS
Subscribe

Subject: Welcoming the new year as 2X Global - and a round-up of gender lens investing news.

2X Global: Unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

Dear Friend,

Welcome to our first newsletter as 2X Global. We’re excited for the year ahead as we double down on our mission of unlocking significantly more capital, more strategically, all powered by inclusive and gender-smart systems of finance.

We have a big vision of transforming those systems through the gender-smart deployment of capital and are excited to be onboarding an incredible set of new team members at 2X Global to help us get there. We are also currently hiring for two new roles to grow our team - an Associate and Communications Lead.

We are delighted to have launched the Global Gender Lens Investing Fellowship for Asia, in partnership with Australian Aid, Investing in Women, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and Value4Women, as well as the 2X Ignite Digital Academy. 2X Certification also continues to take forward strides, so please keep an eye out for more info on co-creation workshops.

See you next month. Until then, here’s a global round up of GLI news and views.

In Community,

2X Global team

The 2XI Academy provides free courses on fund management from A - Z in bite-sized modules so you can maximize your learning in record speed.

Join the 2XI Digital Academy

News from the field

Mainstreaming gender lens investing. The 2023 Impact Investing Guide looks at why smart investing should be gender-smart. During Finance Day at COP15, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) told delegates it will be defining sustainability as “inextricably” linked to nature in its disclosure standards. The story of industry pioneer Calvert Impact’s journey into gender lens investing. Better reporting on racial and ethnic equity can improve diversity and inclusion outcomes. A webinar hosted by AHL Venture Partners that explores the opportunities and challenges in gender lens investing. Seven top ESG trends to look out for in 2023, including a greater focus on social equity. Why female fund managers are the key to unlocking more inclusive capital. A McKinsey study found that gender and racial/ethnic diversity at private equity (PE) firms remain low, but institutional investors are eager to see more progress. Nordea Asset Management has launched the Nordea 1 – Global Social Bond Fund, a strategy the company says has been designed to “address the ‘S’ in ESG.”

Gender and Climate Investing. WIFCAG is a first-of-its-kind framework, which 2X Global and other partners including Aviva and Oliver Wyman helped to develop, that helps investors deliver gender-smart climate action. Climate resilience and gender equality are inextricably linked, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are an essential element of gender equality. An IDRC-commissioned publication, developed by Kate Grantham, founder and executive director of FemDev Consulting, identifies the existing research and evidence linking women's economic empowerment, care work and clean energy. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) plans to add biodiversity and just transition aspects to its climate-related disclosure standards.

Leadership and Culture. McKinsey’s 2022 Women in the Workplace report found that to accelerate progress on gender equality, companies should consider getting more women into leadership and retaining the women leaders they already have. Five practices for how companies can develop and deliver a strategy that is centered in equity. The Swedish government has recently dropped the term ‘feminist’ from its foreign policy, causing tension for what this means for both Sweden’s progressive role in the world, and for other countries advancing a feminist foreign policy. Jacinda Arden models authentic, empathetic and strong leadership in her resignation speech after announcing she is stepping down as prime minister next month.Creativity, Collaboration & Capital is a collaborative project that brings together international stakeholders who believe that art, design, culture, heritage and creativity can benefit people, communities, society and the planet - and that impact capital will be a vital tool to support this growth.

Care Economy. Why addressing the intersections between gender, care, infrastructure, and climate change is critical to achieving a broad range of social and development goals. Asia Foundation’s new report delves into issues of paid vs. unpaid care, formal vs. informal care workers, and care infrastructure. Generation Equality’s blueprint on the care economy provides analysis and suggested solutions considered most critical to unlock care economy solutions around the world. The two GenderSmart & 2X Collaborative Care Economy Working Group briefs include a primer on what the care economy spans and practical guidance to investors and employers on how to engage.

Data and Tools. The SG2X Playbook provides asset managers and entrepreneurs with a set of practical tools to aid them in building gender-smart, scalable SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa. The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF) announced that it will award approximately $3.2 million in grants to a diverse cohort of 16 organizations. Gender and JEDI focused or integrated cohorts include the World Benchmarking Alliance, the Investment Integration Project, Social Performance Task Force, As You Sow, ANDE and 60 Decibels. The Biden administration’s National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality is the country’s first-ever whole-of-government effort to mainstream gender as a cross-agency priority. The strategy centres gender data as a key pillar of success across priorities and plans for implementation. Last year, US startups with all-women teams raised 1.9% of VC funds. A percentage that skyrocketed to 17.2% when the team was mixed-gender. This trend has remained consistent for at least a decade. Value for Women’s Gender Smart Nexus survey looks at a client’s gender-inclusive practices and offers practical recommendations on how to take gender-smart actions.

JEDI, Power, and New Economic Systems. An asset owners guide to drive DEI within investment management teams and portfolios and across the asset management industry. Also ICYMI, spotlighting the JEDI Investing in Principles Action Guide that we produced in partnership with Triple C Advisory. As part of its ten-year strategy Towards an Equal World, MEDA has committed to advancing the shared voice and power of their stakeholders in all aspects of their work, with success defined by local contexts. A set of best practice examples and tools exchanges can use to play their part in promoting gender equality in their markets and within their own operations. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) plans to add biodiversity and just transition aspects to its climate-related disclosure standards. Big Society Capital (BSC) released important diversity data from their portfolio of fund managers, highlighting the need for further resource, capacity and investment in consistent and standardised diversity data collection across the sector regularly. Black startup founders in the United States raised around $264 million out of the total $33.6 billion in venture capital allocated in Q4 2022. An uptick from the $178 million the group raised in Q3.

Community Calendar

7-8 February, 2023

FinEquity’s annual meeting will provide an opportunity to explore the nexus that links financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, and climate change. See the agenda and explore presentations and materials from last year’s meeting here.

1-2 March, 2023

Tickets are now on sale for the Latin American Impact Investing Forum. Find more info and purchase tickets here.

North America’s leading event for ESG in private markets, The Responsible Investment Forum, returns for its seventh year. Find more info and purchase tickets here.

23-25 May, 2023

Women's World Banking's Making Finance Work for Women Global Summit is taking place in Mumbai, India and will be its first in-person conference since 2019. Find more info and purchase tickets here.