How raising pay for retail employees can strengthen the global economy and portfolio performance. Workers have gained clout with a string of union wins amid a tight labor market (see, for example, “Small but steady gains for workers”). But inflation is undercutting those gains, leaving many workers treading water. The living wage to support a family of four in the US is estimated at $25 an hour – more than triple the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and far above the pay of many frontline workers. Living wages will be on the agenda next month at the annual shareholder meetings at Target, Walmart, and Kroger. Investors backed by a combined $1.5 trillion in assets have filed resolutions urging the retailers to commit to pay “the minimum earnings necessary to meet a family’s basic needs,” and to align their lobbying and disclosures accordingly. A similar proposal at Walgreens Boots Alliance in January received close to 10% support. “The end of extractive practices including poverty wages can protect both workers and diversified portfolios,” Sara Murphy of The Shareholder Commons writes in a guest post on ImpactAlpha.
PeakBridge Growth Fund raises $187 million to bring technology to food ventures. The Luxembourg-based venture capital fund will invest in agriculture and food companies that are leveraging AI and digitalization to drive healthy and sustainable food systems and “serve as a bridge between the old food industry and the new technology,” as PeakBridge’s Nadav Berger put it. PeakBridge will write about a dozen checks of around $10 million, with a focus on alternative proteins, nutrition and health, ingredient innovation, and new food and farming systems. Portfolio companies include UK-based Win Win, which makes cocoa-less chocolate and processes discarded seeds into oils and pulp for alternative dairy products and cosmetics. Five portfolio companies, including Delicious Data, Tastewise and Orbisk, are using AI to reduce food waste.
A cheat sheet to ‘inclusive business’ investing. The flow of private investment capital into emerging markets is often stalled by perceptions of country, political, currency and economic risks. For residents in such markets, however, day-to-day life continues. Emerging market households, especially those in lower or middle-income bands, collectively spend trillions of dollars each year on daily necessities, improving their livelihoods, and securing their families’ futures. The International Finance Corp., British International Investment and Dutch development bank FMO released the “Inclusive Business Investing Guide” to mobilize intentional capital for products and services that improve the lives of emerging market consumers and enable them to build financial resilience and wealth. ImpactAlpha has distilled the key takeaways.
Don’t miss these upcoming ImpactAlpha partner events:
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 31 – The search for a universal metric to guide investments in racial justice and equitable wealth-building was…aspirational. “We are still a …
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 9 – The fatal beating by police of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month exposed risks to the city’s finances that have …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Biden’s new Chinese tariffs and how they impact …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The divergent vibes at Mission Investors Exchange and …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The rebound in blended finance; how Big Tech …
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
When one door closes, another one opens. For Zarû Systems’ Loren Taylor, that second door may open onto a self-contained modular vertical farm …
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: federal funds to …
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
The era of cake-ism (as in having it and eating it, too) has come to an inglorious end. “I think we’re in an …
Host Brian Walsh dives into ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. Up this week: Tracking the players building the US’s …
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
Around the world, as many as 214 million workers live in poverty, unable to meet their families’ basic needs because their wages fall …
The fight against climate change relies on global supply chains. Clean energy technologies are exceptionally materials-intensive, the supply of which relies on the …
The global challenges of poverty and income inequality can often seem insurmountable. But investors and companies can help to tackle these critical issues, …
Like the 1.5°C goal for climate, responsible tech needs a clear North Star to guide investments and innovations. To build an ecosystem of …
U.S. impact investors, we have a problem. In truth, there are several, and they all center around just how challenging it is to …
Achieving net-zero emissions requires transitioning from a fossil-fueled economy to one energized through metals and materials. Nearly $2 trillion in investment in mining …
In the dynamic economic environment of the Asia-Pacific region, a significant investment opportunity is emerging: institutional investors’ capacity to champion gender equality through …
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
This series of guest posts is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Editor’s note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Latin America is witnessing a transformative trend in family office philanthropy: the shift towards impact investing. Traditionally, philanthropy in the region has been …
Rural economic development is a complex issue, including in Colombia. Rural regions are often culturally diverse areas, but have limited access to quality …
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
How raising pay for retail employees can strengthen the global economy and portfolio performance. Workers have gained clout with a string of union wins amid a tight labor market (see, for example, “Small but steady gains for workers”). But inflation is undercutting those gains, leaving many workers treading water. The living wage to support a family of four in the US is estimated at $25 an hour – more than triple the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and far above the pay of many frontline workers. Living wages will be on the agenda next month at the annual shareholder meetings at Target, Walmart, and Kroger. Investors backed by a combined $1.5 trillion in assets have filed resolutions urging the retailers to commit to pay “the minimum earnings necessary to meet a family’s basic needs,” and to align their lobbying and disclosures accordingly. A similar proposal at Walgreens Boots Alliance in January received close to 10% support. “The end of extractive practices including poverty wages can protect both workers and diversified portfolios,” Sara Murphy of The Shareholder Commons writes in a guest post on ImpactAlpha.
PeakBridge Growth Fund raises $187 million to bring technology to food ventures. The Luxembourg-based venture capital fund will invest in agriculture and food companies that are leveraging AI and digitalization to drive healthy and sustainable food systems and “serve as a bridge between the old food industry and the new technology,” as PeakBridge’s Nadav Berger put it. PeakBridge will write about a dozen checks of around $10 million, with a focus on alternative proteins, nutrition and health, ingredient innovation, and new food and farming systems. Portfolio companies include UK-based Win Win, which makes cocoa-less chocolate and processes discarded seeds into oils and pulp for alternative dairy products and cosmetics. Five portfolio companies, including Delicious Data, Tastewise and Orbisk, are using AI to reduce food waste.
A cheat sheet to ‘inclusive business’ investing. The flow of private investment capital into emerging markets is often stalled by perceptions of country, political, currency and economic risks. For residents in such markets, however, day-to-day life continues. Emerging market households, especially those in lower or middle-income bands, collectively spend trillions of dollars each year on daily necessities, improving their livelihoods, and securing their families’ futures. The International Finance Corp., British International Investment and Dutch development bank FMO released the “Inclusive Business Investing Guide” to mobilize intentional capital for products and services that improve the lives of emerging market consumers and enable them to build financial resilience and wealth. ImpactAlpha has distilled the key takeaways.
Don’t miss these upcoming ImpactAlpha partner events:
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 31 – The search for a universal metric to guide investments in racial justice and equitable wealth-building was…aspirational. “We are still a …
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 9 – The fatal beating by police of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month exposed risks to the city’s finances that have …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Biden’s new Chinese tariffs and how they impact …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The divergent vibes at Mission Investors Exchange and …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The rebound in blended finance; how Big Tech …
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
When one door closes, another one opens. For Zarû Systems’ Loren Taylor, that second door may open onto a self-contained modular vertical farm …
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: federal funds to …
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
The era of cake-ism (as in having it and eating it, too) has come to an inglorious end. “I think we’re in an …
Host Brian Walsh dives into ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. Up this week: Tracking the players building the US’s …
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
Around the world, as many as 214 million workers live in poverty, unable to meet their families’ basic needs because their wages fall …
The fight against climate change relies on global supply chains. Clean energy technologies are exceptionally materials-intensive, the supply of which relies on the …
The global challenges of poverty and income inequality can often seem insurmountable. But investors and companies can help to tackle these critical issues, …
Like the 1.5°C goal for climate, responsible tech needs a clear North Star to guide investments and innovations. To build an ecosystem of …
U.S. impact investors, we have a problem. In truth, there are several, and they all center around just how challenging it is to …
Achieving net-zero emissions requires transitioning from a fossil-fueled economy to one energized through metals and materials. Nearly $2 trillion in investment in mining …
In the dynamic economic environment of the Asia-Pacific region, a significant investment opportunity is emerging: institutional investors’ capacity to champion gender equality through …
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
This series of guest posts is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Editor’s note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Latin America is witnessing a transformative trend in family office philanthropy: the shift towards impact investing. Traditionally, philanthropy in the region has been …
Rural economic development is a complex issue, including in Colombia. Rural regions are often culturally diverse areas, but have limited access to quality …
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The rebound in blended finance; how Big Tech can restore forests – and the credibility of the voluntary carbon markets; and, how a California foundation invests 100% of its $1 billion endowment with a diversity, equity and inclusion lens.
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