High-Level Meeting of Future Capital Leaders

April 18, 2019

Overview

The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals faces a profound challenge across Asia and the Pacific. One of the key players in supporting that implementation is the private sector, and the importance of aligning private sector finance for SDGs cannot be over-stressed.

UNDP SDG Innovative Finance (UNSIF) recognizes the potential of asset owners to use their capital to catalyse change for sustainable development. To facilitate this change UNSIF organized a “Future Capital Leaders” meeting in Asia’s financial center Hong Kong, in partnership with Global Philanthropy Circle, China Global Philanthropy Institute, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

This invitation-only event, also supported by China Philanthropist and GoImpact, targeted prominent families in the region, and attracted around 50 representatives of “Future Capital Leaders.” They included Ultra-High-Net-Worth families, successful entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and thought leaders. Participants revisited the purpose and value of capital, and explored possibilities of the future of capital and finance.

The group discussed the potential of a co-designed Future of Capital Platform, aiming to bring together asset owners, financial institutions and thought leaders to collectively support the SDG implementation and catalyse systemic changes on future society and the environment. The Hong Kong event served as the first step for such a platform.

Highlights

In his opening remarks, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Director Haoliang Xu spoke about limited international aid and public resources for the SDGs. And he encouraged participants to come up with innovative and ambitious solutions to help achieve the goals.

Judith Karl, Executive Secretary of UNCDF, emphasized that financing for SDGs encompasses all resources. She challenged participants to examine how the world could optimize resources to drive a more equal development pathway towards the SDGs, and how to ensure that capital is really serving community needs.

Thought leaders and business champions shared their experiences and insights. In his keynote speech, Dr. Peter Lee Ka Kit, renowned business leader and philanthropist, shared personal stories of what motivates him to strive for humanity, justice and kindness, and called for collective action. Dr. Lee is the among the next generation of Hong Kong’s richest families. (Watch the video of his full speech).

Jed Emerson, pioneer of impact investing and strategic advisor to family offices and wealth management firms, encouraged the group to not only address the “how” – the tools, instruments, and measurement frameworks -- but to go in-depth to discuss the “why.” Emerson emphasized that capital should pave the way to sustainable human development.

Principals and representatives from various families shared their experience and visions. Annie Chen, Founder and Chair of RS Group, a Hong Kong-based family office focusing on sustainability, called people to manage the unintended consequences that our investment practices are bringing to the earth.

Elliott Donnelley, Founding Partner of White Sand Investor Group, a fifth-generation investment partnership of the Chicago-based RR Donnelley family, advocated that institutional investors, including large insurance and pension funds, should allocate a certain percentage of funds for “impact”, and that family offices can play the lead role in allocating asset for SDG.

Left: Laurence Li Lu-jen, Chairman of Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council; Right: He Jie, Director-General of Shenzhen Financial Regulatory Bureau

Technology and innovation took centre stage. China’s iconic philanthropy leader Mr. Xu Yongguang emphasized that science, technology and innovation can be a universal driving force for the future of civilization. Policy-makers such as Laurence Li Lu-jen, Chairman of Hong Kong’s Financial Services Development Council, and He Jie, Director-General of Shenzhen Financial Regulatory Bureau, recognized technology and innovation as the real game-changer, citing recent development of FinTech and Artificial Intelligence in the Greater Bay Area, a project under Chinese government to link Hong Kong, Macau and nine other cities in southern China to foster growth in the region.

He Jie introduced the latest development in Shenzhen, a major city in China dubbed by media as the next Silicon Valley. He explained that fintech, AI and blockchain has already been applied to voting, facial recognition, loan disbursement, and personal credit management, providing personalized and intelligent service, and serving the marginalized and the disadvantaged groups, with reduced cost and higher efficiency. He used the example of Ping An, China's biggest insurer, who has deployed many of these applications in its insurance and financial services, which made serving the bottom of the pyramid possible.

The discussion concluded with the consensus that the fundamental value and purpose of capital should be deeply reflected, as the future of finance is rapidly changing with new technology. Participants agreed that it is necessary to innovate at the system level, adopt integrated and holistic value, and ensure that new technologies work to benefit humanity and the planet.

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