🎧 Impact Briefing. Contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith joins host Brian Walsh to discuss why, despite the recent ESG backlash, institutional impact investors are doubling down on climate investing. Plus the headlines.
Wildfires drive home costs of climate inaction. The past eight years have been the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Eight of the worst wildfire seasons on record have also occurred in the past decade, as large swaths of Canada and the US were reminded this week. The Canadian wildfires pushed air quality indexes above 400 in parts of the densely populated East Coast, endangering health and disrupting everything from flights to baseball games. That such disruptions are not factored into economic accounts of climate costs suggests how much we underestimate the true impact of global warming – to health, ecosystems and the economy. Also omitted in calculations for one key measure – the US government’s social cost of carbon – are temperature extremes (vs. averages), humidity, water consumption, climate migration, and crucial ecosystem services.
Deal spotlight: LeapFrog Investments highlights Asia’s appetite for impact. Impact investing strategies in emerging markets are seeing increased interest from global investors on the hunt for yield, impact, or both. In particular, Asia’s growing wealth – and with it, private and institutional investors’ capital – is driving more Asian asset owners into impact investing. This week, Hong Kong-based insurance firm AIA made a $200 million investment in LeapFrog Investments, which has a 14-year track record investing in basic products and services for billions of people in the emerging consumer class worldwide. LeapFrog is also backed by $500 million from Singapore’s Temasek.
Rodney Foxworth is stepping down from Common Future to launch Worthmore, an impact investing and venture development firm. Common Future’s Sandhya Nakhasi, Jennifer Njuguna and Jessica Feingold will share CEO duties starting June 15… Maycomb Capital appointed Miljana Vujosevic, ex- of Prudential Financial, as partner and head of custom strategies… Lloyd Kurtz, ex- of Wells Fargo Wealth Management, joined Montecito Bank & Trust as senior portfolio manager.
💼 Share the week’s impact jobs. Want to post a job in The Brief? Drop us a note.
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 …
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 18 – Cities around the U.S. are raising low-cost capital in the municipal bond markets by highlighting intentional efforts to address long-standing …
ImpactAlpha, September 30 – Capital to support women’s economic growth and financial inclusion is flowing – finally! – in many advanced economies. In emerging …
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 19 – Investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and world leaders have descended on New York for Climate Week, the annual gathering alongside the …
ImpactAlpha, June 27 – ImpactAlpha’s spring season of Agents of Impact Calls spanned a period of tumult in the financial markets: instability in …
ImpactAlpha, June 3 – Just as investment in financial inclusion in Africa was really ramping up, a market downturn threatens to slow progress. Or …
ImpactAlpha, May 13 – One defining outcome of the pandemic: a boom in entrepreneurship. A record five million businesses were started in the …
ImpactAlpha, April 22 – The Ukraine crisis risks tipping up to 1.7 billion people — over one-fifth of humanity — into poverty, destitution …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 1 – High-impact investments in fragile countries invariably entail political risk. And impact investments in a free press, humanitarian tech, financial inclusion …
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 11 – It’s one thing for a corporation to set environmental or social goals. It’s another to shift executives, employees and supply …
Contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith joins host Brian Walsh to discuss why, despite the recent ESG backlash, institutional impact investors are doubling down on …
David Bank joins host Monique Aiken to talk about the ownership economy, ESG backlash, and system-level investing. Plus the headlines. Follow all of …
Jeff Skoll first became well-known as the president (and first full-time employee) of a nascent Internet marketplace known as eBay. Then he built …
Jack Moriarty of Ownership America chats with ImpactAlpha’s David Bank about employee ownership and new legislation to help investors back companies that are …
Eunice Ajim, founding partner Ajim Capital speaks with David Bank about her personal journey to launch the fund and her mission to support tech entrepreneurs …
Host Brian Walsh is joined by NYU’s Tensie Whelan to hear why more and more private equity firms are starting to embrace impact …
The BFM (Black Founders Matter) Fund’s Himalaya Rao speaks with David Bank about the alpha case for racial justice investing and the challenges …
As the Neighborhood Economics conference wraps up in Jackson, Miss., Kevin Jones speaks with David Bank about startup capital for sole proprietors, Black …
ImpactAlpha, April 24 – Jacob Haar’s work in microfinance in Azerbaijan inspired him to tackle obstacles to financial inclusion at home in the …
For Earth Day, Dianne Dillon-Ridgley joins host Monique Aiken to reflect on four decades of working in finance, the environment and human rights. …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 14 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors tells ImpactAlpha’s David Bank. “You …
🎧 On this week’s podcast. The Turner Miint’s Adwoa Asare joins co-hostsMonique Aiken and Brian Walsh to talk about training the next generation …
Private equity firms often bring sector-specific expertise and a seasoned perspective to their investments, knowing how to best create efficiencies, improve operations and …
Where politics and finance collide, the crusade against ESG is a rollercoaster ride filled with intrigue, backroom deals, and unforeseen consequences. From politicians …
The World Bank Group’s and International Monetary Fund themed their recent meetings in Washington, DC, “The way forward: Building resilience and reshaping development.” …
What does it take to be an effective financial activist? After supporting 156 Just Economy Institute fellows over the past six years, we …
The following is an excerpt from “Working to restore: Harnessing the power of regenerative business to heal the world,” by Esha Chhabra. In …
Impact investing has now reached more than $1 trillion in assets under management. With this growth, concerns over “impact washing” have also grown. …
More than one billion people around the world live in urban areas without formal access to basic infrastructure such as potable water, sewage, …
A push by fund index providers to tighten the criteria for what qualifies as an environmental, social and governance fund has led to …
Investors routinely examine the risk of achieving their financial objectives, and screen investments for ESG risk, but how do impact investors consider the …
Management guru Peter Drucker is credited with the popular maxim “what gets measured gets managed.” This holds true also in impact investing where …
Across the globe, some 10,000 private equity firms enjoy ownership rights in 40,000 portfolio companies, which in turn manage 20 million employees. PE …
Despite the valid criticisms that have surfaced about the voluntary carbon market, carbon finance is playing a critical role in catalyzing a just …
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – Nigeria-born climate entrepreneur and “professional nomad” Aina Abiodun is bullish on place-based climate innovation. “There is nothing more urgent than …
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – John Moore quit his corporate gig and moved to Philadelphia two decades ago. He found a city rich in …
ImpactAlpha, April 28 — A first generation Nigerian-American, Su Sanni grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens. The low-income neighborhoods, …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 21 – Attorney and academic Lourdes Germán recognized early the power of public finance. She has spent years working at firms including …
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 14 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors tells ImpactAlpha’s David Bank. “You …
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – Hundreds of companies and investors this week urged policymakers to protect their “freedom to invest responsibly,” marking a new …
What is the net worth of Salt Lake City? It’s a relatively straightforward exercise to total up the balance sheet of a company …
ImpactAlpha, March 10 – Laura Ortiz Montemayor is not on board with decarbonization or its advocates. “Carbon is key to life. It’s a …
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 17 – Years before this week’s elegant and understated Super Bowl appearance, Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty turned down the NFL’s invitation to headline …
ImpactAlpha, February 3 — Andrew Crosson was a decade deep in the work of community economic development in central Appalachia when he got …
ImpactAlpha, January 27 – Gary Forster left his job in logistics at Procter & Gamble to volunteer in Zambia, inspired by the 2005 …
Corporate sustainability initiatives have exceptionally low success rates. New research from Bain & Company found that of 300 companies pushing for sustainability shifts internally, …