And the winners are: Reuben Muhindi Wambui, Natalie Lau Hei Tung and Toan Do. They successfully wrote an essay on the topic “Is it as good as it gets? – What approach would you suggest to change the current purpose of capital?” and swept the academic and award jury off their feet with their ideas.

Reuben Muhindi Wambui (KE), Master’s Candidate in International Economics, Graduate Institute Geneva

Reuben Muhindi Wambui is an aspiring public sector leader with core interests in central banking and financial markets, public finance management, and sustainable investing. Prior to graduate school he worked at McKinsey and served diverse client teams across African countries and the UK. Prior to McKinsey he was an Economics Teaching Fellow at Strathmore University and has worked on research projects funded by the World Bank, Strathmore University, Utawala Africa and the UNICEF. Previously, he has served as an Executive in the World Youth Government Kenya Chapter and has been hosted on national radio for his economic commentary on Kenya’s first Eurobond issuance. He has published articles for the Kenya Banking Research Conference and in the Africa Policy Journal of Harvard Kennedy School.

Systemic Interventions for Sustainable Capital Financing
Companies focusing on the long-term outperform their competitors. Corporate long-termism pays off. Convinced that there are not more but less-and-efficient initiatives needed, Reuben argues for a systemic intervention to exploit the potential of sustainable financing. Due to current key initiatives entailing many challenges, four ideas of action are needed. Revamping reporting standards, realigning banking regulations, reconfiguring rating systems and dedicated sustainability board members. In order that all four work, it needs the engagement of governments, regulators, corporates, investors, academia and civil society.

Natalie Lau Hei Tung (HK), Master’s Candidate in social policy, University of Pennsylvania

Natalie Hei Tung Lau is currently pursuing a graduate degree in social policy at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a fellow at the Wharton Social Impact Initiative where she designs tailor impact measurement framework for social ventures in Philadelphia. Prior to attending the University of Pennsylvania, she worked at a lead­ing think tank in Asia on sustainable investment and impact measurement research. With extensive expe­rience in impact measurement, she hopes to bring a data and metric-driven perspective to the impact investment industry.

Reimagine the Purpose of Capital – An Open-source Impact Database for Impact Investment
The financial crisis in 2008 and the blind pursuit of profit maximisation, have opened eyes and doors to the fastest growing trend on Wall Street: Impact Investing. Despite this investment strategy having skyrocketed in the past six years, proper impact measurements are still missing. Natalie thinks out of the box by proposing an open source impact database taking (i) a global taxonomy, (ii) an impact baseline & benchmark as well as (iii) a deal share platform into account. With that, the purpose of capital has potential be revolutionised.

Toan Do (VN), Master’s Candidate in Advanced Management, Yale University

Toan Do was born and raised in a small, poor village in Vietnam, where he could witness the rapid growth of the country from a poor nation with very little access to basic facilities such as clean water and electricity to the growth engine of South East Asia. He was fortunate enough to have earned his MBA degree at Hitotsubashi University, Japan and then Master of Advanced Management at Yale School of Management, learning how developed countries use their resources strategically. His goal is to bring back such knowledge to his hometown and help Vietnam grow more sustainably.

Empowering Social Impact Businesses
Short-termism rules the world. Heavily shaped by Friedman’s doctrine, organisations have been focusing too much on their financial performance and monetary benefits. Quang’s solution towards long-termism is to reinvent the current taxation system. Influenced by the idea of impact investing, governments should incentivise corporations through an impact-based tax system. The better the answer to social issues the lower the tax rate. In the hands of for-profit firms lies the power to provide sustainable solutions to global issues.