Justin Sykes 2016 Speaker

Managing Director and Founder

Innovest Advisory

Biography

Justin Sykes is a social investment specialist with over 15 years experience in structuring, financing and implementation of innovative and large-scale impact investments for clients including private wealth structures,  international charities, multilateral and bilateral development agencies as well as innovative investees such as social enteprises and microfinance institutions. These investments have positively impacted thousands of lives across a diverse range countries in Africa and the Middle East. Justin is the Founder and Managing Director of Innovest Advisory, a boutique consultancy company which works at the nexus between innovation and social impact and seeks to link socially minded investors with impact investment opportunities globally.

Innovest client engagements include the design and set up of a number of impact investment vehicles for private clients, the design of a credit guarantee scheme to stimulate private investment into the SMEs in East Africa, a governance role on a major new private equity impact investment fund and advisory and brokering support to link a range innovative social enterprises with interested social investors. Innovest is working with a number of FSPs across Africa to enable them to be “impact investment ready” and assist them access to appropriate sources of capital.

Prior to starting Innovest Advisory Justin structured and managed a substantial impact investment portfolio for a private foundation of the Qatari royal family. He serves as a board member and adviser to a number of international charities and local grassroots microfinance organisations engaged in supporting the livelihoods of low income communities. Justin is a regular speaker at international conferences. Recent speaking engagements include Tedx St Peter Port 2016 where he proposed the concept of the offshore financial center of Guernsey becoming a global hub for ethical finance, and the 2016 Microcredit Summit, held this year in Abu Dhabi, where he spoke to his experience of facilitating impact investments into microfinance in fragile states in Africa and the Middle East.