Jack Brown from Invest Islands or the rise of a real estate investor: A born entrepreneur, Jack founded his first company at 19. His self-starter attitude paired with invaluable experience as a sales and marketing professional for brands like OCS Cannon Hygiene and Marriott made him the perfect business partner for Kevin Deisser at Invest Islands. Impressed by the substantial returns Kevin was seeing with Invest Islands, he foresaw the potential of the business and what he could bring, and that is how Kevin Deisser and Jack Brown’s Invest Islands project came to life.

“Inspired by Kevin’s vision, I saw an incredible opportunity to build something special with Invest Islands”, Jack says, “Together with our motivated, educated and passionate team, we believe Indonesia is an incredibly exciting market for the right kind of responsible and respectful development.” The role of Jack Brown in Invest Islands is a truly valuable one. Jack is as diligent with the documentation as he is passionate about championing sustainable development in Indonesia, which he sees as Asia’s most profitable and worthwhile investment opportunity. Working out of the office in Hong Kong, he happily makes regular trips to Lombok to development projects and sites like the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani, which supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the company’s resort in Torok Bay and other developments.

Invest Islands Jack Brown on investment opportunities in Indonesia : Indonesia’s economy is on the rise, helping the country take its rightful position as a major destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Indonesia is entering a “sweet spot” as a convergence of its young, working population with that of relatively stable inflation and sustained economic growth which in turn is fuelling overall consumer spending. Finally, the country’s resilience during the global financial crisis illustrates the merits of its immense population and economic self-reliance, demonstrating how these factors buck the trend of most other G20 economies.

Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world and the largest economy in Southeast Asia with a 2014 nominal GDP of $888.6 billion. With strong economic growth and a young population, many economists have argued that it should be added to the so-called BRIC economies as an up-and-coming emerging market. Those looking to invest in Indonesia should start with the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI). While the rest of the world was in a recession between 2009 and 2012, the country’s primary equity index jumped from a low of around 1140 to a high of around 4100. And it was one of the only emerging markets in the world to come out of 2011 with any real economic growth.

“Operating across the Asia Pacific region, Invest Islands is a land brokerage company based in Lombok Indonesia, with strategic offices in Hong Kong under Asian Island Group. I currently oversee all of the aspects of the Asian Island Group. I also travel to the development sites and visit the Invest Islands Foundation Charity projects. Additionally, I frequently travel to the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the Invest Islands Resort in Torok Bay.”

USD 23 billion in impact investing opportunities. A conservative estimate by my team at Mekar and myself sets the impact investment potential at USD 23+ billion over the next five years. The Mekar report concluded that the largest opportunities lay in renewable energy, agriculture and fisheries, water, private education and financial services. The report covers 17 sectors of industry with high impact and commercial potential, it looks at the risks, trends and opportunities within these sectors. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) reports that over the last decade some USD 3.7 billion in impact investments flowed into Indonesia. A small portion of this USD 148 million is from private impact investors, the rest from development finance institutions (DFIs). Agribusiness and Financial services received the majority of the capital, where DFI’s tended to use debt and private investors equity finance.

According to Jack Brown, Invest Islands Foundation is the project he is particularly proud of. The NGO has already built a school in the village of Batu Banke, pays local widows and single mothers to clean the beaches and is developing a recycling centre for the collected waste. Discover more details at Invest Islands Jack Brown.