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SFi October 2026 Newsletter
Hello Impact Community,
October has been a month of big questions and wide horizons, from Taipei to Geneva and, yes, all the way to outer space. As we head into the final stretch of the year, we're glad to share what caught our attention.
This month, our CEO, Katy Yung, joined the Taiwan Impact Investing Forum virtually to discuss how family capital can do more than fund. SFi member Kenneth Kwong reports back from Building Bridges in Geneva, and our latest SFi Impact Insights article asks whether space belongs in impact portfolios.
Read on for the key takeaways from each.
Beyond Funding: How Family Capital Can Catalyse Impact
Earlier this month, our CEO Katy Yung joined the Taiwan Impact Investing Forum virtually, organised by the Taiwan Impact Investing Association in Taipei. She spoke on the panel "Family Capital as Catalytic Capital: Connecting Public-Private Partnership, Corporate Capital, and Sustainable Legacy," alongside John Yang of CTBC and Peggy Chiu of Baker McKenzie Taipei, moderated by Joseph Hsieh of the Taiwan Impact Investing Association.
The discussion offered a few questions worth considering for our family office members:
What does your family bring beyond the portfolio? Operating businesses can offer procurement, supply-chain access, technical expertise and commercial partnerships, helping emerging solutions establish themselves.
Could impact open a conversation across generations? When generations have different priorities, shared social and environmental concerns can help them find common ground and give younger members a meaningful role.
Where do grants, catalytic capital and commercial investment fit together? Katy highlighted the mindset shift needed to consider opportunities that fit neither category, with each tool complementing the others under clear governance.
How will you share the value in a collaboration? When a project supported by several families becomes commercially valuable, who benefits and how? Settling responsibilities, ownership and expectations upfront helps preserve trust between partners.
Family offices bring patience, networks, industry know-how and the ability to convene partners around a shared purpose. These strengths can be just as important as funding in helping solutions take root and grow.
SFi Member Spotlight: Insights from Building Bridges, Geneva
SFi member Kenneth Kwong, CEO of DF Group and CIO of YNTRY, attended Building Bridges in Geneva earlier this month. He connected with impact leaders, foundations and asset owners, joined interactive workshops, heard from startups on the Solutions Stage, and participated in a closed-door discussion for asset owners and foundations, followed by a dinner. Speakers included the Chair of the ISSB and pension fund representatives from Europe, Asia, North America and Africa.
The Asia panel stood out most, with representatives from China and Japan sharing their climate initiatives. Discussions on water, health and education also deepened his appreciation of how closely these impact themes connect – and why investors need to consider them together.
Discussions at the summit highlighted challenges familiar to many SFi members: collecting reliable data, standardising reporting and applying taxonomies consistently across markets. Findings from our SFi Family Office Impact Survey 2026 echo these concerns: 14% of respondents cited insufficient knowledge of impact measurement and management, whilst 11% cited a lack of standardised reporting from fund managers as barriers to deploying capital.
For Kenneth, a key takeaway was the importance of investors deepening their understanding of climate and impact, bringing that knowledge into investment decisions, and continuing to support impact investing through education and advocacy.
SFi Impact Insights: The Case for Space in Impact Portfolios
Can you name a commercial space company you would back? Most investors we surveyed would struggle, and 39% dismiss the sector as a vanity project. But 41% are still listening, with one condition: prove the impact.
Our new article looks at where satellite data meets food, climate and resilience. It also explains why defence-funded growth and genuine impact are easily confused, and how to tell them apart.
Our events are exclusive to SFi members unless stated otherwise. If you’re not yet part of our community and would like to join our events – along with gaining access to other member benefits – get in touch to learn more about becoming an SFi member.
Singapore-based NEU Battery Materials raised USD 7.6 million in an oversubscribed round co-led by Shift4Good and SGInnovate to scale its lithium iron phosphate battery recycling operations.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced an investment of up to USD 100 million in TPG's Global South-focused climate solutions strategy, including USD 50 million to its Global South Initiative Fund.
Singapore-based Circulate Capital invested in Indonesian plastic recycler Bumi Baru Plastic, marking its sixth investment in Indonesia.
Hong Kong's government priced about HKD 20 billion (USD 2.6 billion) of digital green bonds across four tranches, setting a record for the largest digital bond issuance in the world to date.
South Korea launched its K-GX Strategy, a plan to mobilise 1,000 trillion won (about USD 747 billion) over ten years towards industrial decarbonisation, renewable energy and clean mobility.
Convergence's newly released State of Blended Finance 2026 report examines the blended finance market in 2025 and the outlook for scaling investment in emerging markets and developing economies.
HKEX launched HKEX Green Equity, a voluntary designation for companies with at least 50% of annual revenues from green activities, assessed by independent reviewers.
Click the links below to register or find out more about upcoming events
** denotes events where SFi are speakers
27 October: Natural Capital vs Traditional Asset Classes: A Strategic Allocation for Resilient Portfolios (Webinar)
28 October: One Earth Summit (Hong Kong)
2-6 November: Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK (Hong Kong)**
5 November: PWMA Wealth Management Summit 2026 (Hong Kong)
5 November: State of Blended Finance 2026: Asia Deep Dive (Webinar)
5 November: Catalysing global capital for the future (Hong Kong)
For members, please add events@sustainablefinance.hk to your contacts and kindly confirm your attendance via the calendar invitation for all SFi-related events.
We welcome Family Office Principals, Private Investors managing endowments or foundations, and NextGen Investors to connect with us and explore the benefits of joining the Sustainable Finance Initiative community. Become part of a network of like-minded changemakers driving impact across Asia Pacific and beyond – and gain access to member-only opportunities designed to support your sustainable investment journey.
