TGIF, Agents of Impact! We’ll be taking a Brief break for the Veterans Day holiday in the US. We’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday morning.
- Roundup: Back to the future
- Podcast: Agents of Impact take stock of the new political landscape
- Plugged In: In fashion, sustainability is luxury
- Spotlight: How private equity giants are deploying their climate billions
The Week in Impact Investing: New Realities
🗣 Back to the future. ImpactAlpha goes way back with Donald Trump. We launched The Brief, our morning newsletter, in January 2017, the same week he delivered an inaugural address best remembered for his depiction of “American carnage.” In his first term, we built our audience of Agents of Impact largely with counter-programming. While others chased Trump’s tweet of the day, we offered up a regular dose of opportunities, ideas and, most of all, people in the emerging impact economy. In the last four years, we’ve leaned more heavily into policy, as leaders in the US and around the world began to build on the example of impact investors to leverage private capital for public good. What those leaders, and impact investors themselves, didn’t do enough of was to build a popular constituency for such efforts – a failure for which we all must now pay a price. “It’s clear that impact investing has fallen short of the promise to create substantive change in Black, Brown and modest-wealth communities,” contributing editor Napoleon Wallace says in ImpactAlpha’s new documentary, which premiered last week at SOCAP.
It won’t be possible to look away in the next four years, as expected policy reversals touch every aspect of the impact agenda. “We know how much Americans are hurting in an economy never designed to serve them. And that means we have the ability to see more deeply the political impact we can have by helping to build and broaden economic power,” Candide Group’s Morgan Simon writes in a guest post on ImpactAlpha. In our broader roundup of post-election reflections, Social Capital Partners’ Jon Shell suggests, “Maybe it’s time to take the gloves off, and to start building our own economic populist narrative.” In a pre-election post, B Lab’s Jorge Fontanez argues that protecting democracy is every business leader’s responsibility. In a Q&A, Reed Hundt of the Coalition for Green Capital tells Amy Cortese that there will be a fierce fight against any attempts to claw back funding for green lending through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
“This is about fiduciary duty,” CapEQ’s Tynesia Boyea-Robinson said at last week’s SOCAP gathering in San Francisco, in a session hosted by Freedom Economy, which she launched with Adasina’s Rachel Robasciotti to defend justice and sustainability investors in the face of legal and political attacks. Such duty of care includes finding systemic and sustainable solutions, increasing women’s financial inclusion with top-to-bottom gender strategies, blending finance for climate adaptation, biodiversity and water solutions, and breaking down barriers to addressing the climate crisis, which can’t be wished away with denial or disinformation.
With parts of Asheville, North Carolina, still without water or power six weeks after Hurricane Helene, Neighborhood Economics’ Kevin Jones describes the demonstration of “neighborhood-scale resilience” in response to needs for water, electricity, food and Internet connectivity. “The key to this local resilience is the social capital ties that create an interdependent economy,” Jones says, “one that functions with an assumption of abundance to be shared and where relationships are about reciprocity rather than commodification.” Local and national resilience will be vital for weathering the looming storms of the years ahead. – David Bank
The Week’s Podcasts
🎧 This Week in Impact: Taking stock of a new reality. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Initial reactions from Agents of Impact to the election of Donald Trump; what’s next for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund; and how a mutual aid network in Asheville, NC, is helping overlooked entrepreneurs rebuild after Hurricane Helene.
- Listen to the new episode of This Week in Impact. Get the podcast in your feed by subscribing on Apple or Spotify.
📈 The Market Makers: Responsibly investing at Trinity Church with Bhakti Mirchandani (with video). Trinity Church’s Bhakti Mirchandani joins the Milken Institute’s Troy Duffie and Bright Ventures’ Lenore Champagne Beirne to discuss the institution’s “sustainable investing plus advocacy and field building.”
- Listen to or watch episode three of the Market Makers with Troy Duffie and Lenore Champagne Beirne.
- Join the Market Makers’ hosts today at 8:45am ET on LinkedIn for a post-election community conversation that “makes room for voices that reassure us, challenge us, compel us, anger us, motivate us, and so much more.”
The Week’s Call
Plugged In: The future of sustainable luxury is being sewn by BIPOC Designers (video). Sustainability is luxury. The embrace by luxury brands of sustainable and ethical practices isn’t a trend; it’s a fundamental shift in how luxury goods are designed, produced and consumed. And it’s Black, Indigenous and other designers of color who are driving innovation and ethical practices. “It’s really about diversifying the language, but also diversifying the experience of what luxury could mean to a wider audience,” said designer Jacques Agbobly, who joined RAISEFashion’ Felita Harris on the latest Plugged In with host Sherrell Dorsey.
- Circularity and ethics. Agbobly, who grew up in the West African country of Togo, differentiates his designs by using natural fibers, repurposing materials and minimizing waste. Venture funds are paying attention. It’s about brands being accountable, transparent, and collaborative, says Harris, who connects emerging BIPOC designers with established luxury brands. The future of sustainable luxury, she says, hinges on “purpose and genuine connection.”
- Keep reading and watch the replay.
The Week’s Deal Spotlight
Private equity megafirms scoop up billions for climate impact. Private equity giants, including TPG, Brookfield and KKR, are raising billions for climate and impact themes, even as the results of the US election threaten to upend global climate action. Insights from their third-quarter earnings calls show significant progress in securing commitments for climate strategies from some of the world’s largest institutional investors. The fundraising bonanza underscores the appetite among investors to put big checks to work for the global energy transition. As Generation Investment Management’s Miguel Nogales and Nick Kukrika write in the firm’s quarterly letter to shareholders, “It is important to remember the following maxim: these trends are more powerful than politics. The world is moving inexorably to a sustainable future.” Some highlights from the recent round of earnings calls:
- Brookfield goes nuclear. Brookfield Asset Management has raised $10.5 billion of a $17 billion target for its second Brookfield Global Transition Fund, and $2.4 billion for its emerging markets’ focused Catalytic Transition Fund (see, “Anchored by Altérra, TPG and Brookfield raise billions for climate opportunities in emerging markets”). On its earnings call, Brookfield talked up its nuclear energy capabilities, as booming demand for AI data centers rekindles interest in the clean energy source. “Adding nuclear to our broader renewable power capabilities positions us to offer unmatched clean energy solutions to the largest companies and other energy users,” said Brookfield’s Bruce Flatt, citing the firm’s acquisition of Westinghouse. With over $1 trillion in assets under management, Brookfield sees its growth driven by AI infrastructure, the energy transition – and private credit to finance it all.
- Sustainable infrastructure at TPG. TPG has raised $6 billion for two climate impact funds: its second TPG Rise Climate Fund, and emerging markets-focused TPG Rise Climate Global South Initiative. Rise Climate Fund II’s first major investment was last month’s $6.7 billion acquisition, with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, of Techem, a German service provider for smart, sustainable buildings. Techem, said TPG’s Jon Winkelried, “demonstrates the large-scale investment opportunities available in climate.” TPG, with $229 billion in assets under management, has secured $2 billion for Rise Climate Infrastructure Fund, a new impact fund with a $6 billion target. LPs include the Hassana Investment Company, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s national insurance fund.
- Climate solutions ‘on the front burner’ at KKR. The New York-based PE firm is deploying its first Global Climate Infrastructure Fund. Some $200 trillion will be needed to align the physical economy with a net zero pathway by 2050, KKR’s Craig Larson told analysts. “That’s $7 trillion, annually, of required investment for the next 25-plus years,” in renewables, transportation, buildings, agriculture and other sectors. “It has become a front-burner topic for us.” The fund, which is not labeled “impact,” sits within KKR’s infrastructure team. The strategy is to invest in “climate solutions and climate transitions that exhibit strong growth.” KKR, which manages some $553 billion in assets, also has an impact private equity strategy. Its Impact Fund II closed at $2.7 billion in 2023.
- Keep reading, “Private equity megafirms scoop up fresh billions for climate impact,” by Snehal Shah on ImpactAlpha. Catch up on all of this week’s dealflow reporting.
The Week’s Talent and Jobs
💼 See and share more than a dozen new impact jobs posted this week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub and view hundreds of more jobs in impact investing and sustainable finance. Have a job listing to post? Submit it here.
Long-time Agent of Impact Andrea McGrath of Amplified Impact died suddenly last week while attending SOCAP in San Francisco. “We have lost not only an inspiring advocate but also a dear friend whose warmth and dedication touched us all,” wrote the team at Impact Entrepreneur, where McGrath served as an editorial advisor. “Her legacy of compassion, resilience, and visionary leadership will continue to inspire us as we move forward.”
The NYC Commission on Racial Equity tapped Sabani Biswas, previously with HelloFresh, as operations and administration associate… Julianne Zimmerman was promoted to co-CEO at Adasina Social Capital, alongside Rachel Robasciotti… Ebony Perkins, previously with UnitedHealthcare, joined NeighborWorks Capital to lead investor relations and capital aggregation… Diane Damskey from DC Damskey Global Consulting joined Ocean Us as strategic development director and advisory board member.
Global Development Advisors added Roger Santodomingo of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs to its board of directors… Lupoff/Stevens Family Office welcomed Kay Makishi, previously with Oxonian Ventures, as vice president… Katie Sarro stepped down as head of marketing and research of Kauffman Fellows to become head of global marketing of Flourish Ventures.
That’s a wrap. Have a wonderful weekend.
– Nov. 8, 2024
