Leading figures from the worlds of philanthropy, finance and politics including businessman James Reed are coming together on Wednesday at the London Stock Exchange for the Giving and Impact Summit.
This marks the third year of the Giving and Impact Summit, which aims to showcase examples of philanthropy in the UK and encourage more HNWs to get involved in different causes.
Reed, who is chair of the match funding platform Big Give and CEO of Reed, the largest family-run recruitment firm in the UK, will contribute to a panel at the summit. Chair of global children’s charity Theirworld, Sarah Brown, will also be in attendance. Brown, who is the wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will deliver a keynote address to kick off the event. At last year’s event, the billionaire John Caudwell, the Charity Commission’s David Holdsworth and philanthropist Fran Perrin, founder of the Indigo Trust, were among the attendees.
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The event has been masterminded by the co-founders of communications firm Integra, Zaki Cooper and Nick Loughran. Partners of the summit include KKR, London Stock Exchange Group, British Red Cross, AL Philanthropies, Renaissance Philanthropy, New Philanthropy Capital and Spear’s.
This year, 140 people are expected to attend the event, which will commence with the bell ringing to open the market for the day.
The Giving and Impact Summit was founded to promote philanthropy in the UK, as well as broaden its horizons, noted Cooper.
‘There is a huge opportunity for greater philanthropy in the UK,’ he told Spear’s. ‘It shouldn’t be seen as an add-on. It is very much part of the UK’s economic and civic conversation.’
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Of all HNWs in the UK, 98 per cent of HNWs are engaged in philanthropy, but a much lower proportion have a strategic plan of how to deploy their charitable capital, according to research from Barclays. One aim of the summit is to get a greater proportion of wealthy Brits to get involved in philanthropy, said Loughran.
‘The UK is one of the world’s biggest hubs for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, yet only a relatively small number are actively engaged in philanthropy,’ he said. ‘That isn’t a criticism from our side. It’s an opportunity.’
Getting involved in philanthropy can appear daunting to some people, said Cooper, something which both he and Loughran hope will be demystified at the event. They noted health and wellbeing philanthropist Daria Bukhman as an example of someone who has made fast and effective change through her charitable work.
‘Philanthropy has a unique power to take risks that other funding can’t, to back people and ideas before anyone else will,’ said Bukhman, who is married to Russian-British tech billionaire Dmitry Bukhman. ‘[It] doesn’t have to be slow or institutional to be strategic.’
‘The people in that room have the resources to make an extraordinary difference, and the conversation we need to have is not about whether to give, but about how to give better and faster,’ she added.
With leading figures from business, finance and charity at the summit, Cooper expressed his hope for new philanthropic projects to emerge after the event.
‘There’s always an amazing buzz and energy in the room,’ he said. ‘What we love hearing is when people tell us they’ve met someone at the summit and that relationship has led to something meaningful.’
Both Cooper and Loughran referred to themselves as ‘socially responsible capitalists’ and acknowledged the need for philanthropy to work with businesses and the government to make effective change.
‘We need to make the system work better so philanthropy isn’t seen as a niche add-on,’ said Loughran. ‘This is a very significant sector in and of itself.’
Philanthropic organisations have long partnered with financial firms to extend the reach of financial capital, added Loughran — a point that Pamela Alexander, Head of Corporate Citizenship at alternative asset manager KKR, echoed,
‘At KKR, we believe private capital and private giving can be a force for long-term, systemic change when paired with the right partnerships across government, civil society, and the next generation of philanthropists,’ said Alexander.
‘Convening leaders here at the London Stock Exchange is exactly the kind of moment that turns goodwill into action, and we are delighted to help create the space for those conversations,’ she added.
KKR is a partner of the 2026 Giving and Impact Summit and Spear’s is the exclusive media partner of the event.
