New strategies for a changing world
Among UHNW families in Singapore, there is clear appetite for sophisticated sustainable investing strategies, including in green and sustainability-linked bonds, and climate-related fintech solutions.
According to Raj Vaswani, Board and Investment Committee member of the IshK Tolaram Foundation and a member of the Tolaram family, applying environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to evaluate investments has long been mainstream.
“We have seen public equities, exchange-traded funds and green bonds for some time,” he says. “Recently, we have seen more offerings by alternative asset-management firms offering ESG- and impact-themed funds.”
Mette Ekeroth, Chief Legacy Officer of North-East Family Office, which represents several generations of the family that set up the Pandora jewellery brand, believes that Singapore is becoming a hub for like-minded partners in sustainable investing. “We see a shift from traditional grant-making towards innovative methods that are open to co-creating and co-funding,” she says. “You see ESG and impact ideas reflected in university courses and in how government is partnering in innovative finance models.
The symbiotic relationship
Sustainably minded UHNW families are embracing Singapore’s drive towards net zero goals, while forward-thinking entities are enabling those families to make the most impact. Many of these entities, such as the Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) and Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), have built collaborative giving models centred on climate and healthcare.
Today, MAS, EDB, and other local organisations continue to explore how Singapore can channel wealthy families’ sustainability interests to do good, whether through impact investing or philanthropy. Ongoing initiatives include supporting donor-advised funds (DAFs) to help donors better manage their contributions and working with industry partners to help donors identify causes that align with their interests and passions and measure the impact their investments are having.
As one UHNWI in the research noted, capital will make most impact if there is a network in place to make connections. “I’m constantly asking myself, ‘How are we going to achieve everything we want to achieve?’” she says. “I believe it comes down to partnerships and collaboration.” In Singapore, just such a collaborative network is thriving.
