In the far north of Schleswig-Holstein our network met for the BBA year-end event. The newly opened Flensburg hotel The James was our venue.
After a small welcome snack and a warm welcome, Friday started with a cozy fireside chat – even if the fire was only virtual. Our board member Claas Nieraad spoke with Jens Schumann, founder of Tipp24, about the difficult path to the exit. It gave exciting insights into the founding history and was sympathetic and entertaining to listen to.
After a joint lunch, the focus was on impact investing. Christoph Rohde from the Munich Financing Agency for Social Entrepreneurship (FASE) and Patric Wilhelm, Branch Manager at Bethmann Bank AG, talked about how their companies deal with impact investments. These are investments that, in addition to a financial return, also make a positive contribution to solving ecological and/or social problems.
The increasing importance of impact investments for investors can be observed in the dynamic development of the market. In recent years in particular, the volume of impact investments has grown strongly. In Germany, too, billions are already being invested in impact investments. The Forum for Sustainable Investments (FNG) has calculated a market volume of 16.6 billion euros in Germany alone in its market survey for 2020. This corresponds to growth of over 100% compared to the previous year.