Impact Investment Exchange Asia

IIX's investment activities are led by its senior management team alongside the firm's investment committee, under the leadership of Founder and CEO Durreen Shahnaz. Shahnaz brings experience from Morgan Stanley and the World Bank. The firm's board includes senior figures from finance and development, including members with backgrounds at Temasek and institutional development banks.

IIX operates as a multi-entity platform. Its core commercial activities include managing the Impact Partners private-placement platform, structuring the Women's Livelihood Bond series, and running advisory mandates. A separate non-profit affiliate, IIX Foundation, handles capacity-building, impact measurement training under the IIX Values methodology, and a women-focused accelerator program. This hybrid architecture allows grant-funded technical assistance and philanthropic guarantees to de-risk the bond series, while the commercial entity manages direct investments.

The Women's Livelihood Bonds are listed debt instruments that aggregate loans to social enterprises serving women in South and Southeast Asia. The bonds use a blended-capital structure with first-loss protection from development finance institutions and foundations, attracting senior tranche buyers such as commercial banks and institutional asset managers. WLB 5, closed in March 2023, was a US$100M issuance listed on the Singapore Exchange (per the firm, March 2023).

IIX deploys capital through both debt and equity. Its Impact Partners platform facilitates direct equity investments into early-stage and growth-stage social enterprises, primarily in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. The bond series represents the debt channel. The firm previously managed the IIX Growth Fund, an equity vehicle focused on women-led enterprises, though current active equity fund commitments are not publicly detailed.

IIX sources through a regional network built over 15 years, including partnerships with local accelerators, microfinance networks, and development finance institutions. The affiliated IIX Foundation's accelerator programs—which have trained over 1,000 entrepreneurs—serve as an early-stage pipeline. The firm also leverages its on-the-ground presence and relationships with banks that originate loans from their own small-enterprise portfolios for the bond series.

IIX concentrates on South and Southeast Asia, with India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh representing core markets. Sectors align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals the bonds price against: financial inclusion, sustainable agriculture, clean energy, education, and healthcare. The firm's credit methodology requires measurable impact indicators tied to women's economic participation or climate resilience.

IIX commonly co-invests through its bond structure, where development finance institutions like the US International Development Finance Corporation provide credit guarantees alongside commercial buyers. On the equity side, IIX has historically syndicated rounds with regional impact funds and family offices, though it does not operate a formal co-investment club. The firm's public disclosures treat each structured product as a distinct vehicle rather than a single pooled fund.