Southeast Asia & Asia Pacific
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Southeast Asia & Asia Pacific GenderSmart Regional Brief December 2020 Thank You to Our Supporters Founding Partner Momentum Supporters Velocity Supporters Kinetic Supporters Magnifying Supporters Quantum Supporters 1 Summary Gender lens investing is still in its early stages but growing rapidly in the region, with an increasing number of investment vehicles in almost all asset classes. Snapshot Activity has surged over the last three years—with 39 gender- smart investment funds and vehicles in the region deploying $350M USD 350M in 2017-2019, compared with 33 deploying USD 43.3M in the last decade. There is also the Asian deployed (2017-2019) Development Bank’s ambitious target of “making 55% of all sovereign and non-sovereign investments meet the stringent requirements to be categorised as contributing to gender mainstreaming”. 90% Funds span from under USD 5M to over USD 500M, with the of gender lens capital in most prevalent sectors including healthcare, education and Southeast Asia has targeted agriculture. Almost 90% of capital invested using a gender MFIs lens in Southeast Asia has targeted microfinance institutions (MFIs), given that they largely serve female customers, and investments which promote women’s financial inclusion . 9% However, women-led businesses are largely underfunded: 9% of total PE and VC funding in East Asia goes to female-led of total PE and VC funding in East Asia goes to women-led companies. As for the amount of median funding, female-led companies companies received only 40% of that going to male-led companies in East Asia. A Growing Focus on Diversity and $1.2T Gender Equality the finance gap for women-led MSMEs in East Asia and Pacific Gender diverse firms and funds in East Asia are reported to have an 18% increase in internal rate of return (IRR) compared to the median, while VC/PE funds managed by 52% gender-balanced teams proved to have higher total-value to of private investment vehicles in paid-in multiples relative to firms dominated by women or Asia have a gender-balanced IC men across emerging markets. In East Asia, women have relatively better representation at 64% the senior leadership level for the private equity and venture capital sector, compared to the rest of the world. Globally, of Chinese investment only 10% of senior investment professionals are female in firms are female-led developed markets and 11% in emerging markets, yet in China, the percentage was 15% and 12% for other countries in East Asia (including Southeast Asia) 2 State of the Field Growing Gender Lens Investment Top sectors for gender- smart investing in the region* 70% of active investment vehicles were set up in or after 2017, and capital has raised by 350% from 2018, to USD 815M in 2019. 1. Healthcare This rise has been largely driven by the private market. 2. Education 3. Agriculture Many of the gender lens investment funds are still raising capital, 4. Consumer with at least 67% of the investment vehicles open to qualified 5. Femtech investors. 6. IT 7. Consumer technology 8. Financial services 9. Food 10. Fintech *source 3 Market Gaps and Potential Market Gaps and Potential Demand Side Funding challenges Better data on business types Gender inequalities have Most women-owned or and needs deepened during COVID- women-led enterprises in Little existing research 19, as women tend to be Southeast Asia are describes the preferences, “low-paid and/or casual microenterprises, often at seed needs, or objectives of workers, with greater risk of and early stages and seeking prospective recipients of wage loss and smaller amounts of capital than gender lens capital, whether unemployment, limited many investors are willing to women-led or -owned access to healthcare and invest . businesses, businesses with a protective items.” large percentage of female This financing gap is a challenge staff, or businesses that serve but also a trillion dollar female customers. opportunity. In East Asia and Pacific, the finance gap for Social norms and context women-led MSMEs (Micro, Small Gender equality in workplaces & Medium Enterprises) is $1.2 is broadly recognised, but trillion. In Indonesia and women continue to encounter Vietnam, only 23% and 29% of discriminatory attitudes and women-led firms have bank practices . For instance in loans or lines of credit, Vietnam, the perception that compared to 29% and 44% for “women should be primarily firms led by men. responsible for child and family caretaking” is a norm that influences women and managers as decision-makers in recruitment and promotion. 4 Market Gaps and Potential Market Gaps and Potential Supply Side Opportunity to widen asset classes, themes and the investor base Given the size of the population and diversity of countries in East and Southeast Asia, gender lens vehicles do not cover all asset The lack of classes for all countries. There is a need for a greater number and diversity. local investors In East and Southeast Asia, female entrepreneurs or businesses focused on products and services for women, or with women- impacts the powered value chains, are still less visible in pipelines. Investments into women-owned or women-led enterprises account for less advancement than 10% of gender lens investments in Southeast Asia, as investors reported finding it difficult to source qualified investees. of gender China is a bright spark here: 64% of Chinese firms are female-led, finance in the and 33% of these outperform the next-best emerging market (Latin America and the Caribbean). There are many examples of region female-led VC and PE firms in China, such as Asia Alternatives, GGV Capital, and Capital Today. Cambodia and Indonesia are smaller and underserved markets where women-owned and led SME's comprise the majority of unmet financing demand. The lack of local investors has several consequences for the advancement of gender finance in the region. It increases the time required for deal sourcing, decision making and due diligence, increases the perceived risks associated with investing in the region, and limits investors’ ability to provide high-touch support to their investees. Building consensus on definitions and data Gender-disaggregated data and gender specific impact metrics can be challenging to get for both early stage private companies as well as publicly-listed companies. Japan is the only country in Asia that mandates gender data disclosure from companies with over 300 employees. Despite the strong momentum, one of the biggest challenges is awareness and acceptance of gender lens investing products by public and private investors. Many funds feel the need to brand as “impact investing” as opposed to “gender lens investing” to gain buy-in. Many investors also have preconceived notions about gender lens investing and the potential for returns. 5 Regional Players: A Snapshot Types of Gender Lens Investors in the Region, and Examples Market-driven investors who leverage gender metrics to increase market value and/or reduce risk Value-driven investors who believe in commercial viability before proven success Philanthropic and mission-driven investors who are catalytic and attract commercial investors through concessional capital and their own success stories Private Market Funds and VC With a Gender Lens There are 23 active vehicles targeting East and Southeast Asia and a total AUM of USD 815M in 2019, a 350% growth from USD 180M from 13 vehicles in 2018. The average target fund size has also increased 6.7x to USD 111M in 2018. The average capital raised per investment vehicle increased to USD 39m in 2019 from USD 14M in 2018. Growth has been led by equity-based investment vehicles (USD 576M in 2019), followed by mezzanine investment vehicles (USD 131M in 2019), which have the flexibility to invest in both debt and equity. There is a snapshot of active gender-smart funds below - this is not an exhaustive list. 6 Regional Players Snapshot of active gender-smart funds The ANGIN (Angel Investment Network) Indonesia The first gender lens fund in Indonesia was established by 15 local HNWIs to support and invest in businesses led or owned by female Women Fund entrepreneurs. The fund has made five investments to date and provided training to more than 100 women-led businesses. Bamboo Capital Partners Southeast Asia Bamboo Capital Partners launched the CARE- SheTrades Fund in 2019 in partnership with CARE CARE- Enterprises Inc and The International Trade Center SheTades (ITC). The fund will invest in women-led/owned Fund: USD75M businesses in South and Southeast Asia. BIDUK Flexible debt products designed to close the funding Indonesia gap for women-owned Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) in Indonesia. Launched by Athena Loans range between Global Alliance in March 2019. USD 15k-75k BlueOrchard ASEAN region JAWEF is a three-tiered fund that leverages first-loss and mezzanine tranches to mobilize institutional Japan ASEAN Women investors in the senior tranche. Empowerment Fund: USD 241M Capital 4 Development (C4D) India, The Dutch impact investment manager launched Indonesia, and their Asia Fund in 2018, raising USD30m at the first the Philippines close in 2019. The fund supports SMEs that address and solve local challenges and/or industry Asia Fund: inefficiencies. USD30M 7 Regional Players Snapshot of gender-smart funds: continued Emerging Markets Impact Investment Fund (EMIIF) Indo-Pacific EMIIF will invest in funds that target early and growth stage SMEs using a range of non-grant financial instruments such as loans, equity and guarantees to USD 40M encourage additional investment into investee funds from private investors. Its investment strategy uses a gender lens to identify and make investments in SMEs that are women-led, provide products and services for women and girls, or promote gender equality in their workplaces. Moonshot Ventures The Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF) Southeast Asia launched in 2019 and invests in disruptive tech Indonesia Women solutions led by gender-balanced start-up teams.