About Us

ABOUT ASIA WOMEN IMPACT FUND (AWIF)

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) is a Japanese private foundation established in 1986 with an endowment from the Nippon Foundation to enhance international cooperation. After merging with the Ocean Policy Research Foundation in 2015, SPF has set its focus on five key areas: to address a variety of societal challenges that fast-emerging Asian countries currently face, to stimulate greater socioeconomic progress through women's empowerment, to promote understanding and strengthen relationships with Muslim-majority countries, to further strengthen Japan-U.S. relations and, lastly, to develop programs to promote the long-term sustainability of the world's oceans. In 2017, SPF created the Asia Women Impact Fund, an initiative to invest up to 100 million USD to support women's economic empowerment and gender equality.

WHY DO WE SUPPORT WOMEN

WOMEN'S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
BENEFITS US ALL

Studies by McKinsey, the UN and APEC show that

Increased gender parity in the workforce can add ~28 trillion USD to global GDP by 2025. --McKinsey

Women re-invest more of their income in their households, multiplying impact locally. --UN

Southeast Asian female business owners hire 17% more female employees than male owners, creating trickle-down impact. --APEC

WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT IS NOT ONLY THE RIGHT INVESTMENT, IT IS THE SMART INVESTMENT

Research from CTI, The World Bank and Deloitte show that

For companies tasked with understanding female consumers, having women among the firm's innovators improves the likelihood of success by 144%. --CTI

Women are a reliable investment, with a lower average default rate with microfinance institutions than men. --World Bank

Fortune 500 companies in the top quartile for female board-level representation enjoy 53% higher return on equity than those in the lowest quartile. --Deloitte

HOW DO WE INVEST IN WOMEN

Generate financial returns and improve outcomes for women

Over the next few years, AWIF will invest about 100 million USD of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation's endowment in opportunities that both improve gender outcomes for women and generate competitive financial returns.

Develop an ecosystem for gender lens investing

AWIF will raise awareness of how gender impact metrics can be applied throughout the investment process, develop women-focused investment pipelines and convene collaborative forums for gender lens investment practitioners.

BE A
DRIVING FORCE
FOR WOMEN

Collective action has the power to accelerate the advancement of women’s economic empowerment and gender equality across Asia. We are actively seeking innovative solutions and models, knowledge sharing opportunities and partnerships with like-minded leaders.

Please contact us at awif@spf.or.jp to learn more and explore opportunities.