Investing for Change: Why the AlTi Global Social Progress Index Helps Align Investments With Purpose
By Mike Tiedemann
Impact Investing, Social Progress
The “Pact” in Impact: How UHNW Families Can Leverage Singapore’s Ecosystem for Collaborative Philanthropy
Published August 26, 2025
In today’s rapidly changing world, wealth is no longer just a measure of success, it’s a tool for significance. Among ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families there’s a marked shift from preserving capital to deploying it with purpose.
But purpose-driven philanthropy cannot thrive in isolation. The most pressing challenges of our time i.e., climate change, inequality, public health, are too complex, too interconnected, to be addressed by single actors working alone. Sustained impact demands a collaborative approach: a pact for impact.
This is more than a mindset, it’s a movement. And Singapore, with its sophisticated financial infrastructure and expanding ecosystem for social good, is emerging as a hub for this kind of coordinated, cross-border giving.
Singapore: From Wealth Hub to Purpose Platform
Long known for its stability, transparency, and investor-friendly policies, Singapore is now establishing itself as a launchpad for purpose-led capital. With over 2,000 single family offices and growing, the city-state is becoming a magnet not just for wealth, but for those who want to use that wealth to effect change.
One standout initiative is the Asia Community Foundation (ACF), launched in 2023. As Southeast Asia’s first regional community foundation, ACF was built to serve UHNW and high-net-worth families eager to give strategically across borders. It provides a trusted platform for pooled giving, multi-family collaboration, and long-term engagement on critical regional issues, from education equity to climate resilience.
By offering structures like Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), ACF and other local institutions allow families to deploy capital collectively while retaining influence over how it's used. These vehicles offer flexibility and efficiency, minimizing administrative complexity and maximizing thematic alignment.
This is philanthropy not just as an act of generosity, but as infrastructure: durable, scalable, and built for systemic impact.
Why the Siloed Approach Falls Short
Traditionally, many UHNW families have taken a bespoke route e.g., setting up private foundations, choosing causes close to their hearts, and independently funding programs. While this offers control, it often leads to duplicated efforts, disconnected projects, and missed opportunities for greater impact.
Social and environmental issues do not operate within neat boundaries. Ocean plastics don’t respect borders. Neither does poverty, or AI ethics, or biodiversity loss. Addressing these requires collective intelligence, shared resources, and aligned agendas.
In this context, a collaborative model, also known as “philanthropic syndicate”, offers a way forward. Like investment syndicates in venture capital, families can co-invest in causes where one brings capital, another brings insight, and a third contributes networks or influence.
Singapore’s infrastructure, ranging from Variable Capital Companies (VCCs) to blended finance platforms, makes these collaborations both viable and efficient.
Case in Point: Regional Climate Action
Consider the challenge of climate resilience in Southeast Asia. Rather than fund fragmented efforts like scattered reforestation projects or isolated green tech pilots, a group of families could come together under ACF to form an “Impact or thematic” Fund/DAF focused on regenerative agriculture.
By pooling resources and aligning on a shared mission, they can support social enterprises, work with public institutions, and drive region-wide programs in SEA countries like that of Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines etc. Together, they reduce risk, accelerate innovation, and achieve the kind of scale that influences policy and attracts further investment. All coordinated from Singapore, leveraging its strong governance, philanthropic know-how, and regional positioning.
The Emerging Role of the Wealth Manager
As collaborative philanthropy gains traction, wealth managers, especially those with an impact mindset and focus, are being called to play a far more expansive role. No longer confined to managing portfolios for pure financial return, they are increasingly becoming purpose architects, helping families articulate a clear mission that unites their investment strategies with their philanthropic goals. This involves designing structures that enable scaled collaboration, such as Donor-Advised Funds, co-investment platforms, or mission-aligned trusts.
Beyond structuring, they are also responsible for curating meaningful partnerships, connecting clients with other like-minded families, vetted NGOs, impact-driven funds, and even government initiatives. Critically, they must also guide families in measuring the outcomes of their giving. This means moving beyond traditional financial returns and embracing new metrics such as Social Return on Investment (SROI) and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In Singapore, a growing ecosystem of sustainability advisors, legal experts, and philanthropy consultants, bolstered by initiatives like the Wealth Management Institute’s new certification in philanthropic and social impact, is empowering wealth managers to embrace this expanded mandate with greater confidence and clarity.
From Legacy to Leverage: A New Generation Leads
For the next generation of wealth holders, often globally educated, digitally native, and deeply impact-conscious, legacy is not about having a name on a building. It’s about building ecosystems that last. It’s not about giving back; it’s about giving forward.
They are less interested in charity and more invested in systems change. They value collaboration over competition. And they’re increasingly finding in Singapore the tools, partners, and platforms to turn aspiration into action.
A Closing Thought: From Capital to Covenant
Ultimately, the “pact” in impact is more than strategy, it’s a covenant. A covenant between families, across generations, and beyond borders. One that signals a shift from reactive charity to proactive systems change. From individual giving to collective transformation.
In a fragmented world, coordinated action isn’t just beneficial, it’s essential. Singapore, with its unique convergence of trust, infrastructure, and purpose, stands ready to lead this next era of philanthropic collaboration.
For families of wealth, the call is clear: mobilize, not just manage. And do it together.
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