Support great vision

Reimagining the power of investing. Connecting people for a better world. That’s our purpose and it’s what’s behind the UBS Global Visionaries program. And we’re also committed to sharing our learnings behind how we do it.

We’re thrilled to share our evaluation report of the UBS Global Visionaries program, offering valuable insights into the pivotal role of social entrepreneurs and the transformative power of impactful connections.

Independently produced by impact measurement experts, this report provides a deeper understanding of how leading social entrepreneurs are driving change in critical areas like health, education, inequality, and climate action with our support. It highlights the opportunities for changemakers to forge meaningful connections with these visionaries. It also offers insights into how firms like ours can support the visions of social entrepreneurs.

Our vision at UBS is to convene the global ecosystem for investing – where thought leadership is impactful, people and ideas are connected, and opportunities are brought to life. We’re building an impact economy where investors, businesses, social enterprises, NGOs, philanthropists, communities, academic institutions and governments worldwide partner together for a better world.

We believe social entrepreneurs working to tackle the most pressing social and environmental issues have incredible potential to deliver change and create a better world. That’s why we launched the UBS Global Visionaries program with two goals: to create opportunities for clients to connect with leading social entrepreneurs and to help the best social entrepreneurs scale their solutions.

Global Visionaries are chosen because their work illustrates the power of investing in the impact economy. We’re particularly interested in changemakers with solutions to improve health, education, inequality and climate (SDGs 3, 4, 10 and 13).

Since creating the program in 2016, and at the time of the evaluation, we’ve supported 68 Global Visionaries across four key pillars:

1. Network access to UBS clients, employees and experts through events, roundtables and direct introductions
2. Raising awareness through our website, social media, publications and speaking engagements
3. Capacity building through coaching and training from internal and external experts
4. Advice from our experts on issues such as how to structure deals or raise funds.

We recently conducted an independent third-party review of the program, in collaboration with Wasafiri Consulting, to make sure we’re on track. Here’s what the review found after getting feedback from over two-thirds of the Global Visionaries who participated in the program between 2016 and 2022:

As the program evolves, we look to achieve even greater impact by leveraging current strengths. We plan to further streamline the engagement of Global Visionaries, promote peer-to-peer learning and continue curating events that raise awareness. Our employees play a pivotal role, with mentor relationships responsible for several valuable introductions. And our clients are critical to helping these Global Visionaries get the exposure and support they need.

What the review showed us is that by bringing together UBS employees, UBS clients and UBS Global Visionaries, we can contribute to the world of investing and social entrepreneurship. Global Visionaries are inspiring our employees and clients – as well as others – to engage. Whether that leads to support for their solutions, inspiration to pursue their own innovative solution or just greater awareness, the program is helping to catalyze the kind of impact economy we need where well-being of people and planet is part of all investment decisions.