LONDON & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LeapFrog Investments, the Profit with Purpose investment group, has appointed Sacha Romanovitch to its management board as a non-executive director. This follows the recent appointment of Julia Gillard, the first female prime minister of Australia, to LeapFrog’s peak advisory body, the Global Leadership Council.
Founded in 2007, LeapFrog and its companies now reach 188 million people with healthcare or financial tools – and the firm has been ranked by Fortune as one of the top 5 companies to change the world, alongside Apple and Novartis. The management board oversees the firm’s growth and performance.
As the first female CEO of a major accounting firm in the United Kingdom, Sacha introduced ground-breaking changes to embed “profits with purpose,” diversity and future fit leadership, which saw the firm exceed £500m in revenues. As member of Grant Thornton’s global board, she led oversight of the development of member firms employing over 40,000 people across 140 countries. In 2018 the firm was honoured at the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility. Sacha was also the inaugural chair of Access Accountancy.
Sacha is currently CEO of Fair4All Finance, the new institution created after the UK government committed dormant assets to fund financial inclusion. Fair4All Finance exists to increase the financial well-being of people in vulnerable circumstances through access to fair and affordable financial products and services and through investing to create a transformational change at scale.
Sacha is also co-chair of the Inclusive Economy Partnership, convened by the UK Cabinet Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This brings together business, government and social sectors around three initial challenge areas of financial inclusion, mental health and transition to work.
Dr Andrew Kuper, founder and CEO of LeapFrog investments, said: “I am delighted to welcome Sacha to the management board, following an extensive global search. Her proven track record in governance and stakeholder engagement at the highest level, and focus on rigorous impact investing in financial inclusion businesses, make her incredibly well-placed to support LeapFrog’s growth and success.”
Sacha Romanovitch, non-executive director at LeapFrog Investments, said: “LeapFrog is demonstrating the outsize results that a serious commitment to its methodology of Profit with Purpose can achieve. I am proud to be joining this leading global impact investor. And I look forward to sharing my experience with its management board, leadership and community. Access to financial services and healthcare – LeapFrog’s areas of investment focus – is vital to increase prosperity, improve opportunities and foster economic development.”
LeapFrog’s recent record-breaking $744 million impact investing fund presents a strategic opportunity to expand the firm’s impact while generating strong returns for investors. Over the decade since launch, LeapFrog companies have grown on average at 35 per cent a year. Several have been acquired or invested in by industry leaders including Prudential PLC, Allianz, AXA XL, Standard Chartered, Goldman Sachs and Fidelity. At the same time, over 155 million of the 188 million people reached by LeapFrog’s companies live on under $10 per day per person.
The appointments of both Ms. Romanovitch and Ms. Gillard will support the leading impact investment firm in meeting its ambitious targets: to generate top tier investment returns while reaching 1 billion lower-income people with essential services by 2030.
About LeapFrog Investments
LeapFrog invests in exceptional businesses in Africa and Asia, partnering with their leaders to achieve leaps of growth, profitability and impact. Founded in 2007, LeapFrog’s companies now reach 188 million people across 35 countries with healthcare or financial services. LeapFrog companies have also grown on average at over 30 per cent a year from the time of investment. 155 million of the people reached by LeapFrog companies are emerging consumers, living on less than $10 per day. LeapFrog’s companies now provide jobs or livelihoods to over 128,000 people. Inspired by LeapFrog’s strategy of Profit with Purpose, global institutional investors have committed over US $1.5 billion to the group’s private equity funds. LeapFrog was ranked recently by Fortune as one of the top five Companies to Change the World, alongside Apple and Novartis, becoming the first private investment firm ever listed.
