Impact Investing – How the Ecosystem Works

Japan’s ESG and sustainable investing are entering a new stage – impact investing, which seeks to generate measurable social impact alongside financial returns. Government-led initiatives and working groups involving investors, asset managers, corporations and academia are working to establish the framework of new investing schemes and increase its scale in Japan. In this episode of ESG Currents, Yuka Ogasawara, Director of the Fujimura Research Institute and co-author of the book Impact Investing, speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence ESG analyst Yasutake Homma about how it differs from conventional ESG investing, and why it matters. This episode was recorded on October 23.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
ESG is constantly evolving. Over the years, it has shifted
from socially responsible investing to impact to sustainable finance. While
the terminology is to change, what hasn't changed are the
underlying science, market pressures, tangible, physical, and the financial impacts
of the climate crisis, as well as increasing regularly scrutiny

(00:29):
and a rising consumer expectations. Were able to feed the
out the noise by speaking with industry experts to identify
what is rarely driving value. Welcome to ESG Currents, amyas
Takeahoma via ESG Analyst. Today we honored to be joined
by Miss Yuka Ogasawara, Deputy Director of the Secretariat of
the Japan Impact Driven Financing Initiative, Board of director of

(00:53):
three I listed Farms, and couthor of a book Impact
Financing published in the last June be discussing current frustration
of impact financing in Japan and global implications. Als Arasan
thank you so much for joining us today.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Thank you very much. It's a pleasure speaking with you today.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
To start, I like to go back to the basics
of impact financing. Could you explain what impact financing is
and how it differs from traditional ESG and assustainble of finance.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Okay, so what is impact investing and impact financing? Simply put,
impact financing is about making investment with an intention to
generate impact, not just pursuing financial return. Here, impact means
positive measurable social or environmental change. For example, it is

(01:44):
so global challenges like providing affordable housing or clean energy
while still being financially viable. According to Global Impacting Investing
Network gi GIN, which is a leading player in this field,
the core characteristics of impact financing is our intentionality, financial return,

(02:06):
and measurable impact. So how it differs from EESD and
sustainable finance. While sustainable finance is the broad umbrella that
includes all responsible investing, the key difference is in the
objective ESG. Environmental Social governance is primarily a freework for

(02:33):
risk management, risk mitigation and that's better financial return in
the long run. It focuses on how a company operates policies, governance,
and practices. The goal is to use esc factors to
determine which company is a better run, risk risky and

(02:55):
as a result, more likely to succeed financially in the
long run. In short, est is about avoiding harm to
the investment financial value. Impact financing, on the other hand,
is fundamentally different because the positive impact is one of
the primary objectives, not just risk factor negative screening. It

(03:21):
focuses on what the company produces, the product, services, or
project that directly creates change of the beneficiaries and environment
and society. The goal is to actively place capital to
generate a specific measurable outcome.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Great, thank you. As a follow up, I'd like to
ask about recent trends. Globally, the size of impact financing
is about one point six trillion usallows, which accounts for
only five percent of sustamble finance. In Japan, the market
is smaller, around the zero point one trillion US or
three percent of sussamble finance, but it has grown thirty

(04:03):
four times over the past four years. Why do you
see such a gap between global and Japanese markets?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
This is a fascinating and extremely relevant question that gets
to the heart of the evolution of finance in Japan.
In terms of the gap between global and Japanese market,
you're correct. The global inpock financing market is large, representing
five percent of all such neable finance asset, while japan

(04:31):
market is smaller at about three percent. Why the gap.
As for ees finance in Japan, there is a major
catalytic event. In twenty fifteen, the Japanese Government Pension Investment
Fund GPIF signed on the Principles for Responsible Investment PRIRI,

(04:52):
which led to a surge in ESD investing in Japan.
During that period, the first trials of impact finance begun
in Japan. While the rise of impact financing is in
Europe and the US market started in RI two tens,
so simply the rise of impact finance market lugged about

(05:14):
ten to fifteen years in Japan. Other factors come down
to a structural differences within the financial market themselves. Globally,
impact finance has historically been led and driven by the
private market, particularly private equity and venture capital. However, the
Japanese financial market itself operates under a different structure. It

(05:39):
is heavily characterized by the dominant role of indirect finance
meaning commercial bank lending, and a private equity and venture
market has been relatively very small. I believe these structural
characteristics is a key reason why the proportion of impact
finance in Japan remains comparatively smaller than sustainable finance. On

(06:06):
the rabid rise of impact financing in Japan. First, Japan
faces various worsening social issues, local economic decline, rapid gauzing,
and middle class stress extending far beyond just the environmental problems.
Awareness of these complex challenges is escalating across post public

(06:28):
sector and clusuary private sectors, and then financial sectors is
also taking a lead to tackle these issues. Second, Historically,
a private equity based impact investment was small here in
Japan as a result of financial market structure. However, since
the early twenty twenties, impact finance has searched driven primarily

(06:52):
by listed agreities and debt, particularly commercial loans, which are
unique characteristics of Jazzanese impact financing. While no strict apple
to apple market comparison exists, dbt and listed equities account
for about two thirds of outstanding balance in Japanese impact

(07:13):
investing market. Private equity, on the other hand, are at
just three percent, plays a much smaller role than the
global average of twenty six percent. This highlights a bank
and a public market centric approach. Third, the government policy catalyst.
The momentum is largely fueled by strong government policies. Since

(07:37):
twenty twenty, IMPAC finance is now embedded in some policy
document like Basic Policy on Economic and Physical Management and
Reform hunebutnohusin, which is a key policy document that announces
the administration's economic policy. Furthermore, the established a public private
platforms such as Impact Consultium led by FSA Financial Service

(08:02):
Agency and Methidministry, Economy, Trade and Industry is creating a
powerful tailwind accelerating national adoption. So those are the reasons
why the impact financing in Japan has searched very rapidly
these days.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Great, thank you so much for your comprehensive explanation. So
with that, could you share your outlook for impact of
financing going forward?

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Okay, turning a focus now to the perspectives impact finance
in Japan following the policy shift under the Trump administration
in the United States. There are various viewpoints, but personally
I remain consciously optimistic about the future of investing in

(08:49):
Japan and in Asia. First, the current players engaged in
the impact finance in Japan are still a minority, unlike
the broad adoption of conventional ESG. Even for large financial
institutions who are engaged in impact finance, the outstanding balance
remains a very small fraction of their total asset, So

(09:14):
the number of centuries to the impact driven finance initiative
that our lead is a platform is steady increasing. Moreover,
when we speak to our Asian counterparts, there is no
indication that interesting ESG or impact is warning. The center
is often the United States and United States Asia is Asia.

(09:38):
In fact, you might say that Japanese impact finance is
currently too small to be affected by the mainstream movement
abroad and more critically, within Japanese market. Local and regional
financial institutions in particular understand that their business fate is

(09:58):
intrinsically linked with the health and sustainability of the local economies.
Providing funds to support the communities is strategically the most
vital objective for these players. Impact and business are not
two separate activities, they are integrated. And also from the

(10:21):
perspective of asset owners, there is also a growing awareness
rooted in the concept of universal ownership. The belief is
that resolving major social issues such as environmental degradation and
poverty is critical to ensuring long term market stability and

(10:42):
consequently long time financial returns. While there may be a
debate about whether these efforts strictly qualified as a narrow
impact finance. The underlying discussion is robust. We must create
capital allocation capital close towards solving social challenges because it

(11:03):
directly leads to a better medium to long term returns. Therefore,
despite external political currents, the local imperatives and long term
strategic view held by regional banks and asset owners suggests
a continued independent tragically of impact finance grows in Japan.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
Great, thank you. Let's shift to some cases studies in
your network, which entities are proactively engaged in impact financing?
Could you walk us through the ecosystem of improt financing
in Japan.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
So key platforms and neutral networks From an ecosystem perspective,
Japan features robusts, neutral networks and platforms. For example, Impact
Driven Financing Initiative, which I mentioned before, is a major
platform of financial institutions currently counting seventy four signatories in Japan.

(12:02):
We also have Impact Startup Association, a gathering of ventures
focused on specifically on creating impact. Furthermore, the Impact Conscium,
which I also mentioned before, was established to bring together
all key players the government, local municipalities, financial institutions and

(12:24):
large corporations and startups it exists serves as a clear
signal or the government's strong support for the sector. What
is particularly interesting is that because the market and community
is relatively small, it is a high visibility environment. You
know people you're working with when nice peak with colleagues

(12:48):
in the United States or Europe, I often notice a
distance between the traditional impact finance community and pri community,
which is focused on asset owners. In Japan, however, these
groups actively claborate because people are the same. Approximity to
the government is also very close, which is often cited

(13:11):
as a highly distinct feature of the Japanese ecosystem. Okay,
then let's highlight who is actively driving the impact from
the private sector. Among the asset owners, major players include
japan Post Insurance, Composeeme, Nippon Life, and Dieity Life. In

(13:32):
the banking sector, the three major megabanks MFG, SMBC, and
Misuho are all very active. However, the Sumitomo MITSI Trust
Bunk SMTG has been a pioneer, engaging in a wide
range of inititips from the very beginning, and also Resona

(13:56):
Holdings and SBI shinse Bank are also very active members. Finally,
while smaller in scale, the Japanese venture capital industry expanding,
particularly thanks to the government support policies. A number of
players within this structor are now actively pursuing impact investing.

(14:17):
In conclusion, this interconnected, globalative and highly supported ecosystem provides
a solid foundation for the current and future growth of
impact finance.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
A close Japan, great thank you. I understand many parties
are involved in the impact finance in Japan, so when
we talk about green bonds, issuers bear costs for structuring, monitoring,
and reporting. They also need to pay thought parties verify
the green user process. Some issues have stayed to issue

(14:47):
doubled bonds because of these costs in impact financing, since
impacts must also be measured and the reported to investors,
how do companies manage these financing costs in practice?

Speaker 2 (15:00):
That's a very critical question to impact financing. The first
of all, let's be clear impact measurement and management is
absolutely mandatory for impact finance. However, there is ongoing debate
about the depths and the rigor required. A wide range
of approach is currently accepted, provided they guard against impact washing.

(15:25):
For instance, a small venture with a focused impact may
only require a proportionally lighter, simpler im and framework impact
measurement and management. The more political factor is that continuous
validation of the theory of change, which is a pass

(15:45):
and hypothssis to create impact and a consistent application the
PDC cyghcle of this impact management plan and do and
check and act to ensure the impact goes continue yels
remained and refined and regarding the third party valification. While
it is recommended by the principles like the Opium Operating

(16:09):
Principles or Impact Management, it is not a mandatory requirement
across all forms of impact finance, at least now. Ideally,
we envision a scenario where impact conservations are fully integrated
into a financial institutions existing due diligence and creadit review process.

(16:31):
If that happens, the cost will be very minimized. In
this integration would allow impact finance to be executed without
demanding significant additional resources. And another component often cited as
a major cost impact measurement itself. People often say it's
very difficult to find the data, baseline data and also

(16:54):
the outcome of the data. Unfortunately, we are seeing a
significant progress here. The adaption of AI and other technologies
is advancing really rapidly. Solutions are beginning to emerge that
allow the benefits to be beneficiaries to be trucked in
real time and at a much lower cost. This innovative technology,

(17:19):
which reduces the cost of obtaining direct evidence of impact,
is a major area of future expectation and investment. In short,
while the cost challenge is real, market practices are evolving
towards smarter, integrated, and technology driven solutions to the market.
Riga's imm both feasible and affordable.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Great, Thank you so much for us our sound for
your percess time today. That's all for me today.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Great. You can find more information by going to BIESG
go on the Bloomberg terminal. If you have an ECG
querries or bondingquestions you'd like to ask via analysts, send
us an email at ESG Currents at Bloomberg dot net.
Thank you,