S3 - E5: How to succeed in Blended Finance with Nadia Nikolova

In this episode, I return to the topic of blended finance with Nadia Nikolova, a managing director at Allianz Global Investors. She explains how blended finance projects get off the ground and shares her own journey into the field. Along the way, she provides many fascinating anecdotes and insights, especially for those considering a career in blended finance. My favourite insights were:

1. The three essential ingredients for succeeding in blended finance are: leadership, flexibility, and trust.
2. Blended finance projects are a balancing act, because there are very different parties involved, with different incentives and different constraints. Nadia likens it to a Jenga tower, where all parties need to cooperate to keep it in balance.
3. Blended finance is simply a financial technique that can be applied to many problems. When done well, it yields happy investors and social benefits. But flexible capital – the magic ingredient - is scarce. Therefore, blended finance is only suitable for ventures and projects that would otherwise not receive funding.

I hope you enjoy the conversation and get inspired by Nadia’s passion for the subject.

Spotify: https://unisg.link/Innovations-In-Sustainable-Finance-Spotify

Apple Podcasts: https://unisg.link/Innovations-In-Sustainable-Finance-Apple

Website: https://unisg.link/Innovations-In-Sustainable-Finance