Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

Impact Investing News

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Red Cross launch world’s first humanitarian impact bond

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The world’s first ‘Humanitarian Impact Bond’ has been launched by The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to improve the financing of aid in conflict-hit countries. The Humanitarian Impact Bond, set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has raised over £20 million pounds (26 million CHF), to set up three […]

SOCAP taps impact-investing leaders to curate “spotlight” sessions

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Smarter Money As a SOCAP media partner, ImpactAlpha is pleased to be able to offer a $250 discount through Sept. 29. Register now. Photo credit: SOCAP The Social Capital Markets conference, or SOCAP, convenes on the San Francisco waterfront for the 10th time October 10–13. Organizers have turned over a portion of the conference to guest curators to […]

Re-energizing the Bronx

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BlocPower Offers Energy Retrofits to Communities That Need Them Most For years, Pastor Leo Curry of Fordham United Methodist Church in the Bronx worried about the cost of heating his church and social hall with two outdated boilers. It was so bad that the monthly bills sometimes soared above $12,000. “It was almost to the […]

Dreamer economics, big biz needs small biz, driving financial inclusion, Asia’s sustainable food…

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The Brief Dreamer economics, big biz needs small biz, driving financial inclusion, Asia’s sustainable food boom Sept. 5, 2017 Shek Kip Mei Market, Hong Kong l Photo by Natalie Ng Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #TalkingPoints: Dreamers How Dreamers boost the American economy. The Trump administration’s plan to cancel the program that allows about 800,000 U.S. immigrants who arrived as […]

Gregory Landua: This Is Your Brain on “Regeneration”

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Gregory Landua, co-author of the pioneering book, Regenerative Enterprise, is the co-founder and CEO of Terra Genesis International.  Terra Genesis International (TGI) is a dynamic global team of Permaculture and Regenerative Agriculture and Business practitioners and leaders working to support leading companies to transform their negative impact into regenerative effects. If you only have two […]

An Economy For Everyone: August Good Jobs Recap

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In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our […]

SOCAP17 Conference Preview

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SOCAP17 is right around the corner, and the SOCAP team is hard at work developing outstanding programming and events for the 10th anniversary year. Here’s a look at some of the latest updates from SOCAP with a preview of some of the community-driven conversations that will be taking place at SOCAP17. We hope you will […]

Office Supplies & Independent Lives

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Armando Bernasconi is CEO at Quality Connections, an RSF borrower that helps individuals with disabilities become independent, productive community members via employment, job training, and practical life learning. Interviewed by Enrique Perez | Marketing Manager Enrique: Who or what sparked your passion for addressing employment barriers in the disabled community? Armando: My mom and dad […]

Impact Investing on the Rise: Interview with the GINN’s Abhilash Mudaliar

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The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has published the seventh edition of its Annual Impact Investor Survey report, which shows continued progress in the dynamic impact investing industry, officially established only 10 years ago. The survey sample size and reported assets under management are the largest ever, illustrating the growth and growing engagement of the […]

Useful impact data, lab-grown meat, Rise Fund’s under-30 challenge, Mexican impact bonds

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The Brief Aug. 28, 2017 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico l Photo by Jezar Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! We’re ba-a-ack. #Featured: Open Mic Impact Management: How the right data can drive performance for people and the planet. All investments have an impact. But what type of impact and how does it compare? Bridges Fund Management facilitated the Impact Management […]

What’s New In Impact Investing? August Roundup

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Impact investing is about using markets and money for social good. Impact investing is built on the belief that private capital can play a powerful role in solving the massive global challenges of our day, and that capital markets should work for good as well as profit. This vision is realized through investments made into […]

ImpactAssets Adds New Private Debt and Equity Impact Investment Options to its Donor Advised Fund

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“Deep” impact investments enable clients to use philanthropic dollars to generate potentially significant social, environmental and financial returns. BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 28 /CSRwire/ – ImpactAssets today announced the addition of new lower minimum, high-impact investment options within the ImpactAssets Giving Fund, its donor advised fund. The four private debt and equity investments are managed by […]

Rockefeller funds Startup to Build Nonprofit ETFs

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(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The estimated annual funding gap needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries alone is about $2.5 trillion. Global philanthropic funds and other aid agencies must pursue innovative finance solutions to attract more private capital for projects to create a more resilient and inclusive world. The Rockefeller Foundation […]

Supporting Small Farmers Through Sustainable Farmland Finance – Podcast

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Kevin Egolf is an impact investing professional focusing his efforts on socially responsible farmland investing. His passion for sustainable agriculture and extensive finance background naturally led him into the growing impact investing field and towards impacting agriculture. Through Iroquois Valley Farms, a leader in triple bottom line impact farmland investing, and Local Farms Fund, a […]

Can Private Wealth Close the SDG Funding Gap?

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By Abha Malpani We are seeing a paradigm shift in consciousness that has the potential to mobilize private wealth for public good, and transform the social impact sector as we know it. According to a recent report by UBS, the size of the private wealth market is US$250 trillion. The UN claims that the annual […]

Which of the 17 U.N. global goals do impact investors prefer?

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2030 New data sheds light on popular (and not so popular) SDGs John Legend l Photo credit: GlobalGoals.org Impact investors are increasingly adopting the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals as a guide to impact and opportunity. Yet little is known about which of the goals are getting the most attention. A new report from InvestorFlow, the fast-growing […]

Why Work in Impact Investing?

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Impact Investing Job Seekers: How Will Keyholders to Your Next Open Door Remember You? By: Jessica Loman I veered away from an impact investing career for some time because of two false assumptions, False assumption #1: I thought all investing was run by brutal capitalists centered only on the bottom line of making profit at […]

Is it Time for State-Based Crowdfunding to Shine?

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What do Alaska, Florida, Texas and Vermont have in common? They’re among the 34 states that have passed state-based crowdfunding laws. When it comes to crowdinvesting, most of the attention goes to the JOBS Act, the 2012 federal legislation that gave us Regulation Crowdfunding, Regulation A+ and other provisions that make it easier for small companies […]

Growing interest in sustainable investing is turning into action

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Smarter Money Six in 10 Millennial investors say they’ve made at least one sustainable investment in the last year Growing interest in sustainable investing is turning into action. The trend is especially pronounced among Millennial investors, according to a new survey from the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing. In the survey, “Sustainability Signals,” 86% of active […]

Friends of ImpactAlpha, dance incubator, uncharted food access, sustainability signals, bitcoin’s…

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The Brief Friends of ImpactAlpha, dance incubator, uncharted food access, sustainability signals, bitcoin’s remittance boom Aug. 10, 2017 Photo by Nadim Merrikh Greetings, FOIAs! #Featured: Editor’s Note Dear Friends of ImpactAlpha. The new ImpactAlpha is wrapping up its first season and gearing up for a breakthrough fall and new year. As we head into a two-week August recess, […]

A Slow Money Journey: Eric Becker

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The idea was simple at the beginning, back in 2006: find a fund in which my clients could invest their money that would finance farms and businesses involved in sustainable agriculture. I quickly discovered that no such thing existed. Instead, the inquiry set me off on a rewarding decade-long journey of learning, collaboration, and co-creation. […]

The Prudent Woman

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The world of investing abides by various rules. Some are defined and articulated in formal legislation and regulations, while others are based on customs, common practices, and opinions expressed by jurists in court cases. The expectation of “prudence” in financial management is one such case.¹ This piece is a special collaboration by Leslie Christian and […]

To Fix the Gender Gap, Fix the Digital Divide

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It is no secret that women have unequal access to economic opportunities. Here’s what’s new: As digital technologies dramatically reshape our economies, they can either worsen the problem, or help fix it. Think about it: Most job growth will come from STEM fields, yet women make up only 12 percent of engineering students. Much of […]

Rockefeller Foundation seeds ETFs created by non-profits

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Smarter Money The foundation backs Impact Shares with a $300,000 grant Photo credit: MARKANG Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are bundles of stocks that trade in the public markets. Most track a specific stock market index. Rockefeller Foundation is putting up a $300,000 grant to Impact Shares, based in Dallas, to let non-profit organizations create their own ETFs. Organizations would […]

Impact ETFs, tech for the visually-impaired, education’s OpenTable, inclusion through inclusion…

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The Brief Impact ETFs, tech for the visually-impaired, education’s OpenTable, inclusion through inclusion, dark shadows Aug. 2, 2017 Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! What will impact investing look like in 2030? Our friends at the Global Impact Investing Network are working on a roadmap to accelerate impact investing toward the next stage of market development. You can have your […]

RSF 2016 Annual Report

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It is with great delight that we share with you the 2016 Annual Report by RSF Social Finance. Last year was a full one for this organization, and our collection of client stories and financial results showcases just that. We hope the vignettes and visuals inspire you to seek new ways to engage with money and explore […]

The Future of SRI – Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing

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by Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management Eight years ago I received the call asking me to consider joining Trillium Asset Management as CEO. Since that time, we have seen more interest than ever in the field of sustainable investing from a wide variety of institutions, mainstream money managers, and families often driven by […]

Chan-Zuckerberg’s portfolio, J.P.

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The Brief Chan-Zuckerberg’s portfolio, J.P. Morgan’s clean billions, Patamar’s livelihood thesis, care-bots, Brief Quiz No. №25 Jul. 28, 2017 Photo by Kimberly Farmer Hello ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original How Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are investing their social-change billions. If and when the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative becomes one of the biggest private social-change funders in history, these early […]

What’s New In Impact Investing? July Roundup

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Impact investing is about using markets and money for social good. Impact investing is built on the belief that private capital can play a powerful role in solving the massive global challenges of our day, and that capital markets should work for good as well as profit. This vision is realized through investments made into […]

Culture of transparency: Putting impact investing on the map

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Better Data Jean Case, our CEO, issued a simple clarion call in the Stanford Social Innovation Review last month: #ShareYourData. The time is now. The impact investing field has grown leaps and bounds since the Global Impact Investment Network first started tracking the growth of the field in 2010. Networks like Toniic and The ImPact […]

Social impact bond pays off, Helping Self Help, B Corps for big business, blockchain future

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The Brief Jul. 27, 2017 Hello ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original Peterborough social impact bond becomes a proof point. Fewer prisoners are returning to prison in Peterborough, England. That represents a success for the city, the ex-offenders, and the investors who backed the world’s first social impact bond, which financed a comprehensive post-release program. Social impact […]

Sacred Sites Strategize for Impact Investments

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  LONDON, UK, August 1, 2017 (Maximpact.com News) – Representatives of sacred places and cities that attract spiritual pilgrims are working with highly placed conservationists to create a dedicated fund for their environmental protection by relying on the investment community’s growing commitment to ethical or impact investment. The altar at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, September […]

Blending finance for global goals, responsible robo-advisors, U.S.

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The Brief Blending finance for global goals, responsible robo-advisors, U.S. impact investing alliance, future of transportation in the U.K. Jul. 26, 2017 Rua Líbero Badaró, São Paulo, Brazil l Photo by Guilherme Cunha Hello ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: ImpactAlpha Original Blending finance to unlock capital for the 2030 global goals. To build its $150 million private equity fund […]

Kiva fund will give refugees access to loans

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Inclusive Economics More than $9 million available for borrowing for refugees Photo credit: : Kiva The micro-lending platform’s latest fund is making more than $9 million available for borrowing by refugees and host countries like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. There are 22.5 million refugees spread around the world; five million from the crisis in Syria. “Beyond direct relief, there needs […]

GreenMoney’s 25 Year Journey – Influencing Capital and Corporations

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The inside story on the award-winning publication from its founder   by Cliff Feigenbaum, founder and managing editor, GreenMoney Journal and GreenMoney.com Twenty-five years. Is that possible? Have I been publishing the GreenMoney Journal for 25 years? When I realized that 2017 was upon us, and that 25 years had passed, I knew it was time to take […]

What we know about Bain Capital’s $390 million Double Impact Fund

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Smarter Money Former Gov. Deval Patrick: ‘We’re being closely followed, so we owe it to the field to do it well.’ Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, manageing director, Bain Capital Double Impact The tipoff that impact investing is indeed reaching a new stage in the capital markets came when Deval Patrick described the $390 million Bain Capital […]

The Reinvestment Fund tests the public bond market’s appetite for social impact

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Inclusive Prosperity The GSG honors Philadelphia community-development finance institution that connected capital markets and low-income communities Philadelphia, PA l Photo credit: Sam Horine For decades, Don Hinkle-Brown has fantasized about having access to the public markets to raise capital for childcare centers and charter schools, grocery stores and health clinics, energy efficiency upgrades and small businesses […]

Swiss Re to move $130 billion portfolio to track ESG indexes

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Smarter Money Equities and fixed-income products with high ESG ratings “have better risk-return ratios” Photo credit: AP The world’s second-largest reinsurer is done with legacy indexes that fail to account for companies’ performance on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues. The Swiss firm is already 90 percent of way towards shifting its portfolio to track ESG […]

Steering impact investing toward a 2020 tipping point

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Smarter Money ‘United Nations’ of impact investing in Chicago draws national advisory boards from 16 countries Chicago, United States l Photo credit: Austin Neill On the heels of the G20 meeting in Hamburg will come a summit of the Impact 16 in Chicago. That’s the number of countries, with the recent addition of Finland and Argentina, […]

An impact investing tent big enough for the problems we are trying to solve

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Smarter Money Mainstream asset owners are on a journey to make their investments a powerful force for good — let’s welcome them. New York, New York l Photo credit: Anders Jildén In the impact investing community, there is continuing talk about whether “the big tent” — created by the diversity of strategies and approaches pursued by investors– is too big. There are […]

Lok Capital returns $65 million to investors and raises $80 million more

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Inclusive Economics The venture capital fund is expanding into healthcare, agriculture, and housing Vishal Mehta, Co-founder Lok Capital Gurgaon-based Lok invests in financial institutions serving low-income Indians, and is expanding into healthcare, agriculture, and housing. Lok has exited four companies in the past 12 months, enabling the firm to return $65 million in principal from its second fund, […]

Introduction to MFIs Part III: Microfinance Intermediaries

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This blog is the third in a series we are doing on microfinance. Before you read this, I suggest you check out Part I: Introduction to Microfinance Institutions and Part II: Introduction to Microfinance Networks. Here in Part III, the last of this series, I talk about microfinance intermediaries through which capital from investors is channeled […]

What’s New In Impact Investing? June Roundup

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Impact investing is about using markets and money for social good. Impact investing is built on the belief that private capital can play a powerful role in solving the massive global challenges of our day, and that capital markets should work for good as well as profit. This vision is realized through investments made into […]

Demand for impact investments generates a growing supply — of ‘intermediaries’

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Smarter Money All 37 providers surveyed by Toniic expect their business to grow this year Impact wealth managers, impact investment advisors and managers, investment consultants, management consultants, financial advisors, family offices — an army of service providers is responding to growing client demand for impact investing advice (see, “Smoothing the flow of impact investing with lane markers and […]

SOIL – Slow Opportunities for Investing Locally

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by Woody Tasch, founder, Slow Money  I often refer to Slow Money as “the CSA of investing.” As with community-supported agriculture, our efforts revolve around informal, direct relationships and shared risk. Slow Money funding is flowing in a variety of ways in dozens of communities across the United States (and a few in Canada and France) — peer-to-peer […]