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ABN AMRO Private Banking is flagship partner of the Impact Week

Banking for better
Oekraine_heather

22/11/2022 • 3 minute read

The very first Impact Week will start in Brussels on Monday 28 November. ABN AMRO Private Banking is the main sponsor of this event, which is all about creating an impact. The week will kick off with the launch of Impact Finance Belgium, a new and independent not-for-profit institution for impact investors. The brains behind this organisation? Piet Colruyt, from the grocery store family of the same name and an impact investor of many years' standing, and Steven Serneels, former Head of the European Venture Philanthropy Association.

How do you go about creating an impact?

Impact financing is still relatively unknown in Belgium today. However, it is crucially important to give it greater support if we are to complete the transition to a sustainable and circular economy. It differs from traditional investments in the fact that impact takes precedence over profit. Capital is not deployed primarily for the generation of more income. Instead, funds are selected within sectors such as environmental technology, renewable energy and water. However, this does not necessarily mean the long-term returns will always be lower than those for regular investments. So far, impact financing has not won (enough) recognition. It is important to cast a wider net in order to be in a position to achieve certain Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

Transitioning to sustainability

At ABN AMRO, we are aware of our huge responsibility as a financial institution to contribute to a better world for future generations. Sustainability is embedded in what we are. It is our bank's purpose: Banking for better, for generations to come. 

Our clients can choose between a wide range of sustainable or ESG investment products. We even have a detailed Impact Mandate that covers important exclusion criteria (i.e. companies with a negative impact on sustainability factors). We go further, though. Within this mandate, companies receiving investments must also contribute actively to an environmental or social target, not have any adverse impact on other social or environmental objectives and have ethical governance.

"If one thing is clear, it is that we need to take action now and combine our efforts if we want to make a real difference. That’s why supporting Impact Finance Belgium is so important to us: we are surrounding ourselves with like-minded people who dare to think differently, to have new ideas and to set the right priorities," says Solange Rouschop, CEO at ABN AMRO Private Banking Belgium.

Impact Week

As the event's flagship partner, ABN AMRO Private Banking has a well-filled calendar. For example, we will be present at the opening on Monday evening, attend the Belgium Impact Dinner, a collaboration between PYM, Triodos Bank and BNP Paribas Fortis, and are organising one of the sessions on Belgium Impact Day. 

Impact Week will take place from Monday 28 November to Friday 2 December. For more information, please visit: What IF Belgium_Impact Week - The Impact Week (if-belgium.be)

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Banking for better
Event
Partnerships
Impact investing
Sustainability

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