Andrew Kuper | |
---|---|
Born | South Africa |
Nationality | South African, Australian |
Alma mater | Harvard University Witwatersrand University University of Cambridge (PhD) |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, businessman, investor and author |
Known for | CEO, founder, LeapFrog Investments [1] |
Andrew Kuper AO is a South African-Australian serial entrepreneur and investor in emerging markets. [2] As a pioneer of Profit with Purpose business, [3] Kuper has been credited with the birth of a virtuous new asset class. [4] He is the founder and CEO of LeapFrog Investments, a specialist investor in emerging markets, investing in financial services and healthcare. [5]
Former United States President Bill Clinton announced the launch of the company in 2008, recognising it for opening new frontiers in alternative investing. [6] LeapFrog has since attracted more than US$2 billion from global investors. [7] In 2017, Fortune ranked LeapFrog Investments as one of the top 5 Companies to Change the World, alongside Apple and Novartis. [8] Originally from South Africa, Kuper now resides in Sydney, Australia [9] and spends time in LeapFrog's offices in Europe, Africa and Asia.
Kuper was born in South Africa and brought up on a farm outside of Johannesburg. He is the son of anti-apartheid campaigners. [10] He began investing at the age of 10 and took on his first clients at age 13. [11] He attended the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg [12] followed by Harvard University where he won the Henry Fellowship. He later graduated from Cambridge University with a PhD in social science and political science supervised by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. [2] [13]
In 2004, Kuper was appointed to managing director at Ashoka, an organisation that finances thousands of social entrepreneurs. [14] Among other roles, he ran the Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship, working with Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank and Fazle Abed of BRAC. [15] [16]
In 2007, Kuper founded LeapFrog Investments. Using a distinctive 'profit with a purpose' approach, LeapFrog invests in companies that provide access to financial services, healthcare and climate solutions to underserved people in emerging markets. [10] [2] [17] [18] Since its establishment, as chief executive, Kuper has helped attract over $2 billion from global investors including Temasek, [19] AIA, [20] American International Group Inc. (AIG), Swiss Re AG, AXA SA and Prudential Financial. [21] [22] The companies in which the firm has invested have had an annual growth rate of more than 24% and reach 492 million people in 30 countries.
LeapFrog launched its Climate Investing Strategy in 2022, [23] marking a natural extension of the firm’s journey as a pioneer of impact investing, backing companies that deliver essential services and products that enable lower-income consumers to build better lives.
In 2018, Kuper was awarded the John S. Bickley Founders Award Gold Medal for Excellence by the International Insurance Society recognised for his pioneering work in profit with purpose investment. [24] Earlier in his career, Kuper received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. [25] He was also named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, [26] and received the Young Presidents' Organization's Social Engagement Network Award. Kuper has delivered keynote addresses to the Clinton Global Initiative, Geneva Association CEO Meetings, the IFC/Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) summits, and the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year event. [17] He is a board member of GPCA. [27]
In 2022, Kuper was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to the impact investing industry, to global business leadership, and to financial inclusion". [28]
Kuper is the editor and lead author of one book on governance and globalisation, Global Responsibilities (Routledge, 2005) and the author of another, Democracy Beyond Borders (Oxford, 2004). [29]
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a global investment company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek has a net portfolio of US$287 billion as of 2023, with S$27 billion divested and S$31 billion invested during the year.
Prudential plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people.
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 40 other countries. In 2019, Prudential was the largest insurance provider in the United States with $815.1 billion in total assets.
Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance company headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services.
M&G plc is a global investment manager headquartered in the City of London. Since its de-merger from Prudential plc, it has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Hollard Group is a privately owned insurance group based in South Africa that operates under two insurance licences: short term and life. The company was established in 1980 by Robert Enthoven, and the Enthoven family retains the majority share, locally through The Enthoven Family Trust (EFT) and internationally through Capricorn Ventures International (CVI).
Legatum Limited, also known as Legatum, is a private investment firm, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Legatum is a partnership that uses its own funds to invest globally. The firm also invests in activities to promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise as well as anti-slavery, health and education initiatives.
IDFC Bharat Ltd is a microfinance bank, operating in the Tamil Nadu area of South India. Since 1993, it has provided small loans to women without access to formal credit and who typically have daily incomes of less than INR 80 (US$2) per day.
PGIM, Inc. (PGIM), formerly known as Prudential Investment Management, functions as the asset management arm of Prudential Financial, an American life insurance company.
Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an alignment of an investor's beliefs and values with the allocation of capital to address social and/or environmental issues.
Prudential Securities, also formerly known as Prudential Securities Incorporated (PSI), was the financial services arm of the insurer, Prudential Financial. In 2003, Prudential Securities was merged into Wachovia Securities, a division of Wachovia Bank.
Dominic Barton, known as Bao Damin in China, is a Ugandan-born Canadian business executive, author, and diplomat. He is the current chairman of the private investment firm LeapFrog Investments as well as the chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He served as the Canadian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 2019 to 2021. Prior to this, Barton was the Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm, from 2009 to 2018 and has previously served as Chairman of Teck Resources and as Non-Executive Director at the Singtel Group in Singapore and Investor AB in Sweden.
Poonawalla Fincorp Limited is an Indian non-banking financial company (NBFC) engaged in consumer and MSME financing. It is headquartered in Pune and is part of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group.
Alexander Forbes Group Holdings, commonly referred to as Alexforbes is a diversified financial services organisation. The company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with a presence in two other countries on the African continent: Namibia and Botswana and in the Channel Islands through an offshore Jersey operation.
Fintech, a clipped compound of "financial technology", refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing, borrowing services, and cryptocurrency are examples of technologies designed to make financial services more accessible to the general public. Fintech companies consist of both startups and established financial institutions and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial companies.
LeapFrog Investments is a private investment firm that invests in high-growth financial services, healthcare and climate solutions companies in emerging markets. Since inception, LeapFrog has attracted over $2 billion USD from global investors. The firm's investments have grown at more than 24% annually over the life of the firm and its companies reach approximately 492 million consumers, primarily in Africa and Asia. LeapFrog was ranked by Fortune as one of the top five Companies to Change the World in 2017, the first private investment firm ever listed and made the list for a second time in 2023.
Riovic Capital Group, or simply Riovic, is a financial technology and investment company that specializes in emerging technologies.
IFM Investors is a provider of investment services, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
Blue Haven Initiative (BHI) is an impact investment organization based in the United States and is one of the largest investment funds in the world dedicated solely to impact investing. Blue Haven's venture capital fund invests in early-stage, innovative businesses that improve standards of living, create economic opportunity and deliver products and services cleanly and efficiently to underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jim Roth is a businessman, social entrepreneur and author. He is the co-founder of LeapFrog Investments, a social finance and impact investment firm that manages investments of more than $1 billion.