The Westpac Women’s Markets movers and shakers- Larke, Sue and Rebecca attracted a most inspiring group of women (as they always do) to share the experiences of speaker Kylie Charlton, Managing Director of Unitus Capital.
Lunch at Aria on the Quay with a few words from the chef and Larke, before Sue introduced Kylie Charlton (in pink shirt)
In 2003, after more than 10 years in conventional investment banking, Australian Kylie Charlton set out to use her background in global capital markets to solve some of the world’s most challenging social and environmental problems.
This included arranging US$100M for microfinance institutions in India and $300M for microfinance institutions and social enterprises across Asia.
In the following six years Kylie lived in the UK and then the US, joined the international not-for-profit, Unitus Inc, in Seattle and established a team that arranged capital for microfinance institutions around the world, advised banks and investment funds on their microfinance investment strategies, and developed and raised capital for specialised investment funds.
In 2008, Kylie co-founded Unitus Capital which has since arranged more than US$100M for microfinance institutions in India and is actively raising capital in excess of US$300M for microfinance institutions and social enterprises across Asia.
While “impact investing” has little profile in Australia, in the US and Europe it is forecast to grow to US$500B in 10 years. And the global financial crisis did not curb the momentum with the top 10 microfinance investment funds growing by 32% in 2008.
Kylie returned to Australia last year to focus on the development of social investment in Australia through her Heloise Waislitz Fellowship at the Asia Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy at Swinburne University and this year through her position as Social Investment Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact.
For more about Kylie and how investing can change the world, please click here
www.unituscapital.com
Tags: Business, investment, micro finance