AVPN, formerly known as the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, has appointed finance veteran Vikas Arora to a new role heading up its impact investing function.
The position has been created to drive the organisation’s impact investing strategy across focus areas: climate action, gender equality, youth and health.
Arora will be based in AVPN’s Singapore office and will oversee a team operating in 33 markets around the region.
Arora said in a statement that social investments have “only scratched the surface” of creating impact in a region that is home to over 50 per cent of the world’s population.
The Asia Pacific region is not on track to achieve any of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, sustainability targets that will require an estimated additional annual investment of US$1.5 trillion to achieve. Globally, Asia receives only 14 per cent of global impact funds.
“I see many opportunities to further increase the efficiency and impact of knowledge, human, and financial capital deployed towards addressing the systemic social and environmental challenges Asia Pacific is facing,” he said.
Arora joins the organisation from Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), where he was managing director and head of sales for the Asia transaction banking office.
Before joining MUFG, Arora spent 25 years with Deutsche Bank. Currently, he
