DBS launches new award that supports businesses tackling ageing issues with S$1m in funding

SINGAPORE: Businesses dedicated to tackling issues associated with ageing populations can now look forward to a new source of funding.

DBS on Wednesday (Sep 18) launched a new Impact Beyond Award that aims to “support innovative businesses with visionary solutions that address the world’s most ‘wicked’ problems”. 

Each year, the award will focus on a pressing social issue and invite businesses to pitch their ideas. 

For this year, the DBS Foundation is focusing on issues to do with rapidly ageing societies, and is on the lookout for “innovative solutions that enhance the quality of life, improve healthcare and nutrition, combat social isolation, build a multigenerational workforce and ensure financial resilience for the vulnerable”.

“While ageing is typically seen as a societal challenge, the DBS Foundation believes it can be an opportunity to be harnessed – both to change traditional mindsets, as well as to scale ‘longevity businesses’,” it said in a press release.

The award will hand out S$1 million each to three businesses.

These businesses will also be mentored by DBS’ senior management and other business leaders, and gain access to potential investors, the bank said.

The new award is open to social enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises from around the world and with an annual revenue of at least S$5 million in the most recent financial year. 

The application period for the award starts on Sep 20 and runs till Nov 30.

Announcing the award at the foundation’s inaugural Impact Beyond Dialogue session, Ms Karen Ngui, head of DBS Foundation, said an ageing society is a “big problem” facing Singapore and other Asian societies.

For Singapore, one in four citizens will be aged 65 and above by 2030. But beyond the demographic shift, a bigger problem lies in the “traditional views and mindsets around ageing”, she added.

“Because there is a form of almost resignation about ageing - what's the government going to do? Can anything be done? Is it too late … versus looking at the potential of the ageing societies.”

“The more we can see ageing as an opportunity … as a solution to many of the problems we're facing right now, perhaps we can then start to look at (ageing) more holistically,” she said, while stressing that businesses can do their part in coming up with “longevity solutions”.

Speaking at the event as guest of honour, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said businesses bring “two unique value propositions which are instrumental for sustained social impact”.

First, each business has its specific skills or competencies that can be harnessed to help those in need. For example, banks have the expertise in financial literacy and planning, and are “better placed” than the government to provide such support to low-income families, said the minister.

DBS has been doing so by providing financial literacy training for family coaches at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), who in turn support families under the Community Link (ComLink) programme.

Another value proposition is the ability of businesses to enable sustained change, Mr Lee said.

In this case, DBS, DBS Foundation and its partners have over the past decade supported the growth of more than 140 businesses that have a strong social mission and launched 22 community programs across key markets in 2022, among other efforts.

Commenting on the bank’s latest initiative, Mr Lee said he is looking forward to the innovative business solutions that will be supported by the new award.
 
“We hope more partners will work alongside the government to support those in need, to support the needs of society including ageing, disability and many others,” he said.

The event on Wednesday also had a discussion where panellists discussed the changing role of businesses in society and how corporates can integrate social good in what they do.

On why businesses should embrace an ageing population, MSF’s Senior Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua noted that with manpower shortage being an evergreen issue for businesses here, senior workers should be seen as an asset.

“One of the key problems that businesses deal with today in Singapore is where to find manpower … and I think the answer is in a few parts of our population,” said Mr Chua, who added that jobs can be redesigned to make it more palatable for seniors. 

Gig work can be a way for older workers to remain productively engaged, he noted.

DBS’ deputy CEO and head of institutional banking group Tan Su Shan, who was one of the panellists, made the point that amid changing social norms and mindsets, the younger generation is no longer tolerant of businesses that are focused purely on financial profits.

“I think profit-for-profit sake at the expense of everything else (is) no longer valid. So how do you balance profit with purpose? A lot of that comes from what is the company culture … and what are the values of the company.”

Ms Tan, who will be the bank’s first female CEO when she takes over the top job next year, pointed to how DBS was first set up as a bank to finance Singapore's fledgling economy and also POSB’s positioning as the bank for the underserved such as migrant workers.

“The journey is not easy, but we found that in our purpose,” said Ms Tan. “It's that shared purpose and vision that can really galvanise your team and make you stronger.”

Businesses that do good will also attract like-minded employees and customers.

“They will either buy your services or have a brand affinity to you, and good begets good,” she added.

The DBS Foundation was established by DBS in 2014 with a S$50 million fund committed to supporting social entrepreneurship in the region. In 2022, the bank injected another S$100 million to the foundation to support philanthropic causes.

Amid record profits last year, DBS said it will commit up to S$1 billion over the next 10 years to support low-income and vulnerable families.

The bank’s workforce will also commit more than 1.5 million volunteer hours over the next decade to community service, including food donation drives and mentoring programmes with institutes of higher learning.