My First: Natasha Garcha on why impact investing can catalyse systemic change

Aug 21, 2024

Natasha Garcha (Photo: Darren Gabriel Leow)

Cover Natasha Garcha is spearheading new strategies for gender-lens investing to create lasting impact (Photo: Darren Gabriel Leow)

Natasha Garcha is spearheading new strategies for gender-lens investing to create lasting impact (Photo: Darren Gabriel Leow)

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In this episode of Tatler Gen.T’s “My First”, Natasha Garcha, senior director at Impact Investment Exchange, delves into how women’s unique approach to global challenges can drive solutions

In the world of impact investing and innovative finance, Natasha Garcha brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role as senior director of Innovative Finance at Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). With a career spanning four continents and encompassing diverse sectors, Garcha has established herself as a versatile professional with a keen focus on gender-lens investing, impact measurement and corporate social responsibility.

A catalyst of the Orange Movement, a global initiative aimed at promoting gender equality and inclusivity, named after the colour representing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 Gender Equality, Garcha has been outspoken about the need to reshape funding flows with an intersectional, inclusive vision.

Her journey in the financial sector began at one of the world’s top hedge funds, where she honed her skills in investor relations, trade accounting and corporate social responsibility. In the latest episode of Gen.T’s My First series, Garcha, a 2024 Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow, highlights the highs and lows in her journey towards social impact and aligning success with positive global change.

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Her first mistake

“As a younger feminist many years ago, my first mistake was thinking that I needed to smash the glass ceiling and get a seat at the table. Then I realised if you don’t have a seat at the table, maybe you should be building your own table. That’s what I’m doing now.”

Her first big project

“My first big project at Impact Investment Exchange was when our founder Professor Durreen Shahnaz—a pioneer in the space—worked on and developed the world’s first gender equality bond.

“This was a big deal. In 800 years of stock exchanges, there has never been a financial instrument designed by women and for women. That project really made history here in Singapore when we finally listed it in 2017 on the Singapore Exchange.”

Above The combat of Ares and Athena by Juan Carlos Marcial (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The combat of Ares and Athena by Juan Carlos Marcial (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

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The Athenian Edge

“In Greek mythology, you have Ares and Athena, both the God and Goddess of War. Ares wins through bloodshed and Athena wins through wisdom. It really speaks to how women still fight, but we fight a lot with strategy. We fight with insights. But because we're so close to the problem, we’re close to the solution. I call this the ‘Athenian Edge’.”

The benefits of investing in women

“We need to realise that finance is not just risk and return, it is also the impact. In hedge funds, where I used to work before, if you have women as part of the leadership team, they are likely to outperform [male counterparts] by more than 6 percent which is huge in financial markets. By integrating women into the economy, you could increase global GDP by $12 trillion.”

Living by “ikigai”

“[Getting to where I am today], it was a series of four moments. I live my life by a philosophy that’s Japanese in root called ikigai. It looks at what you’re good at, for me that’s finance; what can sustain you; what you’re passionate about—I took my first bonus and started a nonprofit; and what the world needs. For me, that is gender equality and the reason I found myself here in Singapore, working for gender equality in the sustainable finance space.”

Quotes are edited for brevity and clarity.

Meet more Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow 2024 from Finance and Venture Capital.

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Topics

Singapore Impact investing Finance Women empowerment Feminist

Tatler Gen.T My First series

In Tatler Gen.T’s My First video series, we explore the milestones of the Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow who are positively influencing the region, setting a path for those who will follow in their footsteps.