I recently had the pleasure of visiting Guernsey to meet with some business-leaders, money managers, and speak with the media about FINCA. I’ve not been to the Channel Islands before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the first things that hit me when I landed were how beautiful the island is, and how welcoming the people are. I made a point of telling BBC Guernsey Radio how jealous I am of the people who live there! I said it reminds me of Bermuda — just less pink!
Sadly, it was a very short visit. It was a particular pleasure to be on BBC Guernsey Radio and the interview was perhaps one of the most satisfying I have ever done. If you want to listen to it then you can do so HERE! (The interview starts at 1 hour 43!)
The interviewer was fantastic – we chatted about everything from corruption to the American election, as well as (of course), FINCA, microfinance and the progress that we’ve made all around the world, alleviating poverty and providing people with the resources they need to create sustainable sources of income for themselves.
The highlight of my trip though has to be a private breakfast I held about impact investment. Guernsey is a well-known financial centre, and I wanted to talk to some experts about what their experience was of impact investing. In particular, I was interested to hear about the growing number of their clients who were starting to think about using their money in socially responsible and positively impactful ways, such as microfinance.
I have to confess, I was at first a little anxious about the appetite for this type of discussion. But I came away feeling very positive. Many of the people who attended sent me very kind emails after, saying that, although they hadn’t thought about impact investing before, it was something that they now would. And some even said it was a topic they wanted to bring up with their clients!
I know this won’t be my last trip to Guernsey. It’s a place I definitely want to visit again. There’s so much more of the island to explore. Thank you Guernsey – I’ll be back!
Rupert