Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

Invest in Who You Know – Part 2

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Most people don’t have the ability, flexibility or funds to invest like a professional, and a more common approach for ‘investing in what you know’ takes the form of how well you can follow a company, mainly by looking at what you (or others who you trust) know about the company, or what the company […]

Life in a Banking Desert

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MetLife Foundation funds research that takes a deep dive into how low-income communities are becoming “banking deserts.” The project, known as “Mapping Financial Opportunity,” will provide a tool that policy makers at all levels, regulators, consumer advocates, families and others can use to search by zip code and learn more about the financial opportunity within their […]

Is Your Mutual Fund a Climate Change Denier or Climate Champion?

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New proxy voting data showcasing how mutual fund companies voted on climate change resolutions in 2015 reveals a major divide in their thinking on this mega issue that will have wide-ranging ripples on investment portfolios. Among 42 mutual fund companies whose voting we analyzed, nine companies, including the world’s largest mutual fund company Vanguard, failed […]

Sustainable Investing: From Bugs to Biodrying

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An explosion of innovation is happening among the future leaders of sustainable finance. SOURCE: Morgan Stanley DESCRIPTION: The demand for sustainable investing has grown to the point where it vastly outstrips the supply of investment-ready projects. This imbalance is among the reasons why Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management founded this challenge in 2011. Each year, Kellogg and Morgan Stanley’s Institute for […]

SXSW: How Real is Tech and VC Turn to Mobile-Solar-Global Impact?

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It’s only halftime in the global mobile revolution. The first part largely redefined how rich countries accessed the Internet. The second part will reinvent how the developing world gets education, healthcare, financial services and other basic needs. If you ask me where the next big whitespace for VC is…I would point to the developing world.Fred Wilson, Union Square […]

Clara Miller: Steering a Course Toward Shared Prosperity (Podcast)

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The need for a new strategy for raising living standards for poor Americans was the catalyst for the F.B. Heron Foundation to go “all-in” for impact. The mid-sized foundation is in the process of aligning all of its $300 million in assets with its mission of helping people and communities help themselves out of poverty. Clara Miller, president […]

Major Companies Weigh in on Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program

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As the California Water Commission readies for a March 16 public hearing on implementation of California’s Proposition 1 Water Bond, six major businesses—Clif Bar, The Coca-Cola Company, Dignity Health, Fetzer Vineyards, General Mills, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Symantec and The North Face—urged the Commission to adopt regulations that would allow for the widest range of […]

Ceres Commends U.S.-Canadian Agreement on Climate and Energy and the Arctic

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The nonprofit sustainability advocacy organization Ceres issued the following statement today in support of the announcement by President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada on climate, energy and Arctic leadership. From Mindy Lubber, Ceres president and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk: “Stepped up US-Canada collaboration on climate provides a welcome North American […]

Entrepreneurs’ dreams of saving the planet being crushed by economic reality

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By Guest Contributor Martin Boonham, Warwick Business School (Opinion on Maximpact.com News) Environmental entrepreneurs are being forced to forgo some of their green ideals despite the historic Paris COP21 summit agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found. The 1,000 largest companies alone are responsible for one-fifth of total global greenhouse gas emissions […]

As You Sow Publishes 2016 Proxy Preview

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March 11, 2016 As You Sow Publishes 2016 Proxy Preview    by Robert Kropp Report authors Heidi Welsh and Michael Passoff detail a total of 314 pending shareowner resolutions, the majority of which target environmental issues and corporate political activities. SocialFunds.com — Every proxy season, sustainable shareowners are gifted with two publications designed to educate […]

Technology We Can All Use to Empower Women

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Last night Women in the World held a rockstar event in DC with Tina Brown featuring conversations with leading women such as Loretta Lynch, US Attorney General, Margaret Brennan, CBS Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Hafsa Abiolacostello, Founder of KIND and Special Advisor to the Governor of Agun State in Nigeria. As these women shared stories […]

Mapping the Path to Full Financial Inclusion

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When attempting to solve a complex development challenge, we often jump from creating ambitious goals to making plans, without first identifying who we need to reach with our goals, where those people reside, and what challenge and opportunities they face. This approach has numerous drawbacks: We often get surprised by obstacles we did not foresee […]

Local Economy Investors Circle Pioneering Place-Based Impact Investing

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A growing number of visionary local economy funders and investors are working in particular geographic regions and using their philanthropic and investment resources in an integrated way toward this transition: we call this place-based impact investing. Over the last two years, BALLE Investors Circle participants have been innovating and exploring new ways to combine philanthropy […]

Supporting the Growth of Affordable Private Education for Indian Students

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by Katharine Tengtio on March 10, 2016 As a part of our India Investment Initiative we have provided a $5 million loan to Varthana, of which $3.125 million is guaranteed by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Varthana is helping to grow affordable private schools in India by exclusively providing them with loan captal. These loans finance […]

‘Planet 50-50 by 2030’ Means Gender Equality

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NEW YORK, New York, March 8, 2016 (Maximpact News) – “Women and girls are critical to finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, inequality and the recovery of the communities hardest hit by conflicts, disasters and displacements,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa in her message for International Women’s Day – today. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka […]

Trillium Submits Comments to EEOC in Support of Summary Pay Data by Gender, Race and Ethnicity

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March 9, 2016: On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management has written to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in support of a proposal to collect summary pay data by gender, race and ethnicity. Our firm is pleased that the Commission is moving forward with this proposal, as gender pay disparity has become a significant […]

20,000 Investment Funds Rated for Sustainability

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Morningstar Head of Sustainability Steven Smit (right with glasses) discussing sustainability research with Chairman and CEO Joe Mansueto. (Screengrab from video courtesy Morningstar) CHICAGO, Illinois, March 3, 2016 (Maximpact News) – Evaluating mutual funds and exchange-traded funds based on how well the companies they hold manage their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities […]

Investors Raising Heat on Fossil Fuel Companies and Their Strategies for Emerging Low-Carbon Economy

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March 7, 2016 /3BL Media/ – On the heels of a historic global climate agreement in Paris, investors have filed a record number of shareholder resolutions this year with major U.S. energy companies asking them to disclose their strategies for competing in a global economy that is shifting towards clean energy and away from fossil […]

Millennials, Money and Meaning

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Green Money Journal’s February 2016 Issue A Generation Forging a New Economic Path By Guest Editor Patrick Davis, Community Reinvestment Fund and formerly with Calvert Foundation   The Millennial Generation has been a source of much debate in recent years. Commentators seem to disagree passionately about what the ultimate legacy of this generational cohort will be. Will […]

Closing the Financing Gap For Mission-Driven Businesses

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RSF Social Finance was recently featured in the January/February issue of Conscious Company Magazine. They sat down RSF President & CEO Don Shaffer to discuss shifting the paradigm of the financial industry and what companies typically need to scale successfully. Here is an excerpt from the conversation. Conscious Company Magazine: How did you develop the […]

Unstranded Assets: Reaping an Economic Dividend From Women’s Equality

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Impact investing is a disruptive innovation. It’s upending traditional investing, crashing through old assumptions about how investors determine risk and assess value. Take for example, the concept of “stranded assets.” These are assets which are losing economic value well ahead of their anticipated useful life due to changes in technology, regulations, legislation, societal norms, environmental […]

Trillium Publishes 2016 Proxy Voting Guidelines

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March 7, 2016: Each year, companies seek votes from shareholders on items that are pending on their annual proxy ballots. The issues that shareholders can vote on range from the approval of boards of directors to social and environmental issues — including proposals that Trillium and other SRI investors file every year. Regrettably, too many […]

ImpactAlpha’s #DealFlow 3.4.2016: Kiva Aims to Finance One Million Women Entrepreneurs

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Small is beautiful (but not enough). The crowdfunding platform Kiva teamed up with development agencies to back women micro-entrepreneurs; Access Power is seeking to identify early-stage African energy companies through a competition; and two more Indian startups get seed financing. Kiva partnership introduces women-focused fund. A crowdfunding platform focusing on women entrepreneurs has been jointly launched by […]

Wealthier Investors Are an Essential Part of Community Capital Markets

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The Securities and Exchange Commission has recently estimated that approximately 10% of all U.S. Households are now in the “Accredited Investor“ category (for individuals, that means $1m in net worth not counting primary residence, or $200k of income). Assuming that’s accurate, there are now over 12 million households in the U.S. that meet the definition […]

Trillium Reviews Internal Salaries for Possible Gender Pay Gap

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MARCH 3, 2016: The financial services sector is routinely found to have one of the widest gaps in pay by gender relative to other parts of the economy. Despite women making up nearly one third of the financial services workforce, on average women earn significantly less than their male colleagues. At Trillium Asset Management (Trillium) […]

You Say You Want a Revolution…on Wall Street? (Podcast)

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The Bolsheviks stormed St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace in 1917. A century later, a revolution seems to be coming to Wall Street. Listen to ImpactAlpha’s Returns on Investment podcast: Revolution!? It’s not just Bernie Sanders, who is calling for a political revolution to overthrow the “rigged economy.” No less an establishment figure than Sir Ronald Cohen, known as […]

Statement from Ceres President Mindy Lubber on Nasdaq Exchanges’ Announcement to Produce Sustainability Reporting Guidance for Listed Companies

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“After several years of Ceres and our investor members working with individual exchanges and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on sustainability reporting standards, we welcome today’s commitment by seven Nasdaq stock exchanges in Europe to create sustainability reporting guidance for their listed companies in 2016. These commitments are timely and sensible given growing concerns about climate […]

Investors Get Serious about ESG Factors

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An action plan for ESG integration across the U.S. financial services sector has been released in a report by the Principles for Responsible Investment. The report is made up of legal opinions on integrating ESG issues into investment decisions under the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISAS).  It follows the decision six months ago by the […]

Leading Conversation of CEOs on Identifying Market Drivers for Long-Term Investments in Society

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NEW YORK, February 29, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Fifty CEOs from the world’s largest companies convened at CECP’s 11th annual Board of Boards to discuss the theme Competing for the Long Run and how leading companies are addressing societal challenges through business. A Forbes-named top three “power player” event for CEOs, the Board of Boards is a closed-door, […]

ImpactAlpha’s #DealFlow 2.29.2016: FinTech, EdTech … and Impact in India

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Edtech and fintech dominated the dealflow last week, and India continues to be a hotbed of impact investment activity. Boston education software firm Ellevation raised growth capital from some big names in tech; EduBridge got backing for its youth skills training model; and ATMs, perhaps the original fintech innovation, are considered a key to financial inclusion […]

Are You Investor Ready?

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If you are in the midst of launching your own business or if you are currently in business, you are likely wondering if your enterprise is investor-ready. “Investor readiness” hinges on a variety of factors. Simply preparing a strategic business plan and financials is not an indication that your business is ready to take on […]

Finance Innovation: The Next Frontier in Fair-Trade Supply Chains

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Originally published on TriplePundit By Kate Danaher Rising demand for fair-trade products is creating an emerging need for growth in fair-trade supply chains. This is a fantastic opportunity to put more people to work under fair pay and labor standards — but the time and cost involved in scaling these supply chains while maintaining fair-trade […]

What’s new at maximpact and how can we help you

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Tens of thousands of promising projects and ventures are being developed around the world, but too many fail for one reason — the services they need to get to that next step cannot be found or are out of reach. Finding the right people to support your project is time-consuming. Identifying the right expertise, selecting […]

Financial Markets and the Making of Climate Resilience

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The Huge Capital Shift That No One Saw Coming   The year I turned 26, scientists measured atmospheric concentrations of Carbon at 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history. According to former NASA scientist James Hansen, “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which […]

Increased Investment as well as Diversification across Impact Themes

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As we start off the New Year, TriLinc Global will be discussing notable trends from 2015 that we see as relevant to the development and growth of the impact investing sector in 2016 and beyond. This is the final post in a four-part series. In line with better ESG scoring and standardization, research on asset allocation […]

What is Circular Economy

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Citizens of the world have realized that people do not have infinite resources. Demand on raw materials has escalated, with no management of waste and the limited supply we have of those materials. Environmental repercussions of climate change and sustainability are now at the top of the global agenda and are mission-critical. Today’s article focuses […]

Five Things Impact Investors Need to Know to ‘Crowd In’ Capital

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Now that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been adopted, governments are confronting the question of how to pay for the enormous investments — especially in infrastructure — required to meet the goals. Clearly, governments don’t have the fiscal space to finance all the investments, or the skills to design and manage them. So the focus has been on how […]

Invest in Who You Know – Part 1

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There’s an old saying that you should “invest in what you know,” but what’s far more valuable is when you can “invest in who you know” as well.  The new crowdfunding laws are not designed to nurture this; they are meant to prohibit investment conversations with the company insiders when the opposite has historically been […]

Human Rights Becoming Integral to Sustainable Finance

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Following the 2008 global financial meltdown, financial experts have increasingly highlighted the need to incorporate sustainability, ethics and human rights into the financial system for long-term stability. The financial system must support sustainable livelihoods, inclusive societies and mitigate the impact on the environment. Looking into this critical need, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), […]

Cathy Clark: Bridging the Pioneer Gap Between Good Idea and Investable Deal (Podcast)

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You’ve heard it from impact investors: there just aren’t enough investable deals. And you’ve heard it from impact entrepreneurs: where’s the capital we need to get our business off the ground? In this Returns on Investment podcast from ImpactAlpha, Cathy Clark, director of Duke University’s Case Initiative on Impact Investing (Case i3), says the key to bridging […]