GGSF Reflects on First Year of Advancing Gender Finance Globally

On Tuesday 17 June 2025, the Global Gender-Smart Fund (GGSF), the world’s largest gender-lens investment fund based in Luxembourg, marked its one-year anniversary with an event at Hotel Le Royal in Luxembourg-Ville.

Attended by around 70 participants, the event was held under the theme "Investing in Gender Equality: Insights & Action" and featured a range of high-level speakers. Keynote addresses were delivered by Laetitia Hamon, Head of Sustainable Finance at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LGX) and Jen Braswell, Founding Director of 2X Global.

“Gender equality isn’t just a human issue - it’s an economic issue and a matter of social justice,” noted Laetitia Hamon, before outlining the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s evolving approach to gender finance. She explained how the LGX, launched in 2016, initially focused on green bonds, but expanded to social and gender-focused finance from 2020 onwards. In 2022, the Stock Exchange partnered with UN Women and began displaying gender-focused bonds on LGX. “Today, more than 100 such bonds are visible on the platform,” she said, adding that clear reporting on real-world impact is essential.

The second keynote, delivered by Jen Braswell, focused on the broader impact of gender finance and the systemic barriers that continue to limit access to capital for women-led businesses, particularly in emerging markets. She underlined the importance of intentional investment strategies and institutional change. “This fund is not just moving capital - it’s moving systems,” Braswell said, highlighting how GGSF works with financial institutions to adapt their products, shift internal cultures and set concrete targets. She referred to GGSF’s ambition to reach a 50/50 gender balance across partner institutions by 2033 and grow to over €700 million by 2026. “When you finance a woman, you don’t just fund a business - you finance a future,” she added, calling on stakeholders to continue scaling gender-smart investing efforts across regions and sectors.

Ruurd Brouwer, Chair of the GGSF Board, reflected on the fund’s role in the broader historical and moral context of advancing equality. He described GGSF as part of a long global movement towards social justice. “Having the winning number in life comes with responsibility,” he noted, referring to unequal starting conditions and the duty to support those with fewer opportunities. He highlighted the fund’s practical reach after one year, with nearly 300 gender action items now in place across financial institutions worldwide. “One single fund can and will impact hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people,” he added. Brouwer also emphasised the importance of small but steady steps, such as putting gender topics on board agendas, and concluded by stating the board’s commitment to expanding the fund’s impact in the years ahead.

Continuing the presentation of the fund’s operations, Etienne de Belloy, Associate Director at Innpact and GGSF Fund Manager, shared key figures from the fund’s first year. “We are very proud to have invested €312 million in 52 institutions across 24 countries in 2024,” he said, noting that most disbursements took place in the second half of the year. He referred to a “huge pipeline” and “very strong demand for that type of financing.” Based on baseline data from partner financial institutions (PFIs), women represent 30% of board members and 35% of senior management, which de Belloy described as “already quite an impressive result,” especially when compared to the 11% average for investment professionals in emerging markets. He added that institutions supported by the fund now employ over 70,000 women and reach more than 320,000 women clients. “This would never have been possible without the power of collaboration,” he concluded.

The programme was set to also feature contributions from Cherryl Dentzer, Advisor at the Ministry of Finance and member of the Gender Finance Task Force, and Hedda Pahlson-Moller, Founder and CEO of TIIME.org and Independent Director at Innpact. Panel discussions explored the themes of “Luxembourg Gender Initiatives” and “GGSF Overview & Insights”, with input from representatives of the Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund (LMDF), the International Social Finance Accelerator (ISFA), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Incofin, Triple Jump, responsAbility and Niras International Consulting.

The formal programme was followed by a networking reception, offering participants an opportunity to exchange ideas and reconnect with peers over drinks and light refreshments.

Established on 1 January 2024, the GGSF builds on the fifteen-year track record of the Microfinance Enhancement Facility (MEF), originally launched in 2009. The fund’s revised strategy focuses on addressing the estimated $1.7 trillion global gender finance gap by providing responsible financial services to underserved women, as well as women-owned and women-led businesses in developing markets. It also aims to improve livelihoods, strengthen women’s leadership and promote gender balance within financial institutions.