Panel Discussion: Investment through an impact lens

The Young AICC is excited to announce our first major event for the year - a panel discussion on Investment with An Impact Lens.

Our panellists hail from leading Australian impact investment organisations and will share insights from the impact investment sector. Topics will include:

• An overview of the different asset classes, including Venture Capital investment.
• Different approaches to balancing impact and financial returns.
• How to measure impact.
• Is green the new black?
• Current market opportunities.
• Building a career path in sustainable investment

Our panellists are:

Alex Oppes, Director Impact Investing, Social Ventures Australia

Rachel Yang, Investment Manager, Giant Leap Fund, Impact Investment Group

Matthew Tominic, Chief Investment Officer, The Impact Fund, Light Warrior Group

With the world's largest fund manager, Blackrock recently unveiling a plan to increase its sustainable assets from $90bn today to $1tn within a decade; Goldman Sachs announcing they won’t take companies public if they have all-male corporate boards; and ever-increasing divestment from fossil fuels, investment with an environmental, social and governance focus has been increasing at rapid rate over the last few years. Impact investment is the next evolution in responsible investment and this event will highlight the market opportunity for impact investment and potential for scale.

Alex Oppes, Director Impact Investing, Social Ventures Australia

Alex’s main responsibility is building and financing social enterprises and businesses that make a positive impact. He joined SVA’s Impact Investing team in 2013 and is responsible for SVA's $15M Diversified Impact Fund. In addition to this, he lead SVA's work supporting social enterprises to win and deliver large social procurement contracts that create employment opportunities for disadvantaged Australians.

Alex also helped establish and is a founding director of Purpose Enterprises Ltd (trading as Vanguard Laundry Services) – a leading Australian social enterprise. Previously, he managed SVA's $9m Social Impact Fund and established the $30m HESTA/SVA Social Impact Investment Trust.

Prior to SVA, Alex worked as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. across Australia, Asia and Europe, specialising in due diligence for major mergers and acquisitions. He holds a dual BA/LLB (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and I am a CFA charterholder.

Rachel Yang, Investment Manager, Giant Leap Fund, Impact Investment Group

Rachel is the Investment Manager at Giant Leap, a venture capital fund backing founders using business to drive positive social and environmental change across three themes: health and wellbeing, sustainable living and empowering people. The fund is backed by the Impact Investment Group, a leading Australian funds manager whose mission is to shift capital towards impact investments.

Rachel is also on the Board of Startup Victoria, a not-for-profit organisation supporting founder success, and the Victorian Government’s Innovation Taskforce to help shape Victoria’s innovation agenda. Rachel’s background is in management consulting and corporate finance.

Matthew Tominic, Chief Investment Officer, The Impact Fund

Founder and chief investment officer at The Impact Fund.Former head of investments at Light Warrior Group (a Melbourne based family office), responsible for the impact and non-impact investment portfolio.

Prior to that worked at Goldman Sachs in investment banking and Melbourne University as a finance tutor. Holds Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degrees from The University of Melbourne.

This is event is proudly hosted and sponsored by NAB.