- Beats
- The Brief
May 10, 2021
The Brief
Featured: Institutional Impact
How do you solve a problem like MBS? Saudi Arabia presents a governance risk impact investors can’t ignore. “For investors who assess countries, along with companies for environmental, social and governance, or ESG, factors, Saudi Arabia has long gotten a red flag for ‘G,’” writes Imogen Rose-Smith in her latest Institutional Impact column on ImpactAlpha. In 2017, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, widely known as MBS, swooped in as a modernizing influence with a promise of economic transformation and social change. Then, Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi walked into Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul to secure paperwork he needed to marry his fiancee. She never saw him again. This February, the U.S. Office for the Director of National Intelligence declassified its report on the 2018 assassination, which found that MBS’s “absolute control” of security and intelligence make it “highly unlikely” Saudi officials would have tortured and killed Khashoggi without the authorization of the crown prince.
Dealflow: Follow the Money
Mitsubishi and South Pole partner to finance carbon-removal tech. Carbon removal technology that captures CO2 from the air, coupled with permanent storage, will be key to decarbonization efforts, according to South Pole. The Swiss climate project developer aims to procure at least $800 million worth of carbon removal credits by 2030 in a facility backed by Mitsubishi Corp. With current carbon removal technology costs ranging from $50 to over $400 a ton, the Next Generation Carbon Removal Purchase Facility “will provide a secure revenue stream for new carbon removal technologies to accelerate their development,” said South Pole’s Patrick Burgi, adding that the facility will “help drive down the price per ton of CO2 removed over time."
Signals: Ahead of the Curve
Campbell promotes “circularity” yet continues to supply single-use packaging. Food packaging creates 680 million tons of global greenhouse gas emissions. Pressured by consumers and regulators, fast-moving consumer goods firms are changing their packaging strategy. Camden, N.J.-based Campbell Soup Company has set goals for “sustainable packaging to promote circularity” through supply, disposal and recycling processes. An analysis by Swiss impact ratings firm Impaakt, however, found Campbell used more than 400,000 tons of packaging in 2020, including nearly 40,000 tons of non-recyclable packaging.
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Greg Jones, ex- of CVC Capital Partners, joins LeapFrog Investments as head of investor relations. Alice Maltby, ex- of Apax Partners, joins LeapFrog as an investor relations officer… Amma Sefa-Dedeh of Stanbic Investment Management Services is named CEO of Impact Investing Ghana, the GSG's Ghanian National Advisory Board… Teree Henderson, ex- of Partnership for Public Service, joins SoLa Impact as director of social impact (see, “Agent of Impact: Martin Muoto”)… Judy McElroy of Fractal Energy Storage Consultants joins the board of directors at Community Energy.
- The Call
Photo credit: Kuli Kuli
Call Recording | March 1, 2021
Call No. 27: Opportunities at the intersection of gender and climate
ImpactAlpha, March 1 – Capital is flowing to climate solutions. Climate bonds have topped $1 trillion. SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies are …
Call Recording | January 6, 2021
The Call: What Agents of Impact are expecting in 2021 (replay)
ImpactAlpha, January 6 — A few of the keywords thrown around on last month’s Agents of Impact Call No. 26: accountability, electrification, institutional, …
Call Recording | November 13, 2020
Call No. 25: Gender-smart investing for a sustainable recovery
What: The Call No. 25: Gender-smart investing for a sustainable recovery Join SME.NG’s Thelma Ekiyor, Trade Depot’s Onyekachi Izukanne, Development Partners International’s Takudzwa Mutasa, Alitheia’s Temilade Denton, …
Africa | October 19, 2020
Call No. 24: Agents of Impact converge on financing solutions to ‘light every clinic’
The people and principles needed to solve the challenges of financing solar power for frontline health clinics were represented on ImpactAlpha’s Agents of …
Call Recording | October 1, 2020
Call No. 23 recap: Changing investment algorithms to advance racial justice
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – What got us here won’t get us where we need to go. Guidelines that govern global finance need to …
Call Recording | August 27, 2020
Call No. 22: Rooting out racism as a systemic risk
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 27 – Investors have been talking about systemic risks at least since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. More recently, climate …
Call Recording | August 11, 2020
Call No. 21: Impact investors confront the impact of the November election
It’s long past time to get political. Impact investing, with appeal on both the left and the right, has generally steered clear of …
Call Recording | July 1, 2020
Call No. 20: Investors share experiences in getting their assets off the sidelines
“It’s a great time for new entrants, but for those of us who’ve been doing this for a while it is equally urgent to raise our game right and to not get complacent,” said Margot Brandenburg of the Ford Foundation.
2030 Finance | June 24, 2020
Call No. 19: Green infrastructure is back on the agenda
ImpactAlpha, Jun 24 – The action in climate action is shifting to infrastructure. Driven by falling price curves for renewables, mispriced risk, and …
Agents of Impact | May 4, 2020
Call No. 16: Impact investors step up to the 10x challenge
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 4 – A disruptive technology has to be 10 times better than what it’s replacing. Tech venture capitalists aim to recoup …
Call Recording | April 30, 2020
Impact management is hot: Recapping Call No. 15
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 30 – The first annual assessments of impact investors are coming in under the International Finance Corporation’s Operating Principles for Impact …
Africa | February 5, 2020
Call No. 12: How local early-stage funders are finding impact alpha in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, February 5 – Small and growing businesses are the pillars of local economies, in both developed and developing economies. Startups are engines …
- Podcasts
Podcasts | May 7, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of May 7th
David Bank joins host Monique Aiken to talk about generational inheritance, politics, history and leadership.
Podcasts | April 30, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 30th
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 30 – On this week’s podcast, host Brian Walsh welcomes back Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank to discuss truth in advertising around …
Podcasts | April 23, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 23
Host Monique Aiken checks in with Nathan Cummings Foundation’s Rey Ramsey and The Case Made’s Tiffany Manuel
Rey Ramsey of The Nathan Cummings Foundation | Photo credit: The OrgPodcasts | April 19, 2021
The Reconstruction: Rey Ramsey on deploying 100% of foundation assets toward positive impact and racial equity
ImpactAlpha, April 19 — The case for breaking down philanthropy’s historical divide between the investment side of the house and a foundation’s mission …
Podcasts | April 16, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 16
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 16 – In this week’s podcast, host Brian Walsh takes stock of two of the premier showcases for student talent in impact …
Institutional Shift | April 13, 2021
Institutional Shift: Charting the flow of capital through dairy waste, SPACs and the end of externalities
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 13 – Institutional investors took awhile “to get comfortable with the fact that we were going to process manure and urine and …
Tiffany Manuel of TheCaseMade | Photo: Tiffany ManuelPodcasts | April 12, 2021
The Reconstruction: Seeing the world of our children’s children to help make the case for justice
ImpactAlpha, April 12 – Tiffany Manuel’s handbooks for social change warn about messaging “backfires.” These days, she’s wielding such tools to overcome backlash. …
Podcasts | April 9, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 9th
Host Monique Aiken speaks with B Lab’s Andrew Kassoy about why impact-driven businesses and investors are stepping up their policy advocacy.
Podcasts | April 2, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 2nd
Host Brian Walsh dissects former BlackRock exec Tariq Fancy’s recent takedown of ESG investing with roundtable regulars Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank.
Daryn Dodson, Illumen CapitalPodcasts | March 29, 2021
The Reconstruction: Overcoming racial bias to optimize asset management for returns – and impact
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 29 – Money managers at the world’s sovereign wealth and pension funds and university and foundation endowments seek to optimize portfolios to …
Podcasts | March 26, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of March 26th
Jessica Pothering joins host Monique Aiken to discuss how African entrepreneurs are stepping up with tech solutions to the continent’s challenges.
Podcasts | March 19, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of March 19th
Host Brian Walsh talks with Amy Cortese about regulation crowdfunding’s big week, and we hear from Republic’s Ken Nguyen and Wefunder’s Jonny Price.
- Opinion
Photo credit: Campbell Soup Company
ESG | May 10, 2021
Campbell “promotes circularity” yet continues to supply single-use packaging
Impaakt is a crowd-sourced platform that relies on collective intelligence to produce high-quality impact analyses and scores. Each week, the Impaakt reviewing team …
Good Jobs | May 5, 2021
Three ways to invest in the upskilling of workers for the post-COVID economy
The booming stock market has masked the wide gaps in the U.S. economy and labor markets that are increasingly a threat to a …
Community Finance | May 5, 2021
Boston’s Ujima Fund demonstrates the (investment) power of neighborhood democracy
Every Wednesday evening for the past few years—at least, before the pandemic—a group of Boston residents from the working class neighborhoods of Dorchester, …
Impact Voices | May 4, 2021
Outsiders get the bulk of venture capital in Africa. Peer-selection can change the game.
It’s a warm April day in Lagos, Nigeria. Fifteen people are sitting in a circle in a conference room, for a ceremony called …
Carmen Rojas of The Marguerite Casey Foundation | Photo credit: The Nonprofit TimesImpact Voices | May 4, 2021
100 Days of President Biden: Progress and peril on the road to a just economy
As the Biden administration completes its first 100 days, I am both surprised by the ambition of this administration and disappointed by its …
Impact Voices | May 3, 2021
Letting go: How investors are giving up control to democratize finance
The idea of democratizing investment has a long intellectual history, but it wasn’t until after the Great Recession that it started to enter …
Impact Management | April 29, 2021
What ESG funds can learn from the shortfalls of Opportunity Zone funds
The Biden administration’s attitude towards climate change and ESG regulation has, in the words of one commentator, made ESG investing “the ultimate megatrend.” …
Conservation | April 28, 2021
Who’s going to pay? Due diligence in conservation finance starts with the offtake agreement
Venture capitalists in many sectors have developed robust due-diligence practices. The conservation finance community and its catalytic investors are still learning what works. …
US Securities and Exchange Commission | Photo: AevanStockESG | April 27, 2021
Standards are on tap for ESG investing after a ‘risk alert’ from the SEC
Editor’s note: ImpactAlpha is partnering with Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC to provide timely market snapshots of trends and developments affecting the sustainable investing market. …
Boston Ujima Project | Photo credit: Boston Ujima ProjectImpact Voices | April 20, 2021
Centering community voices and power in investment processes
The increased investor attention to racism and the inequality laid bare by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has intersected, at long last, with the …
National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, AL | Photo credit: DiAnna PaulkImpact Voices | April 15, 2021
Grounding investors in history to ensure this Reconstruction delivers on its promise
For us at Illumen Capital, the echoes of history are never far from the work at hand. We know we can only begin …
Checkered sphere, chess board with chess pieces. 3D renderingImpact Management | April 13, 2021
21st Century Investing: Moving from tic-tac-toe to the 3D chess of systems-level change
In what feels like a lifetime ago, way back in 2015, I was working as a consultant to investors interested in sustainability and …
- Agents of Impact
INHS Asvini staff pay tribute to all those involved in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Mumbai, India | Photo credit: Manoej Paateel
Agents of Impact | May 7, 2021
India’s citizen-responders
ImpactAlpha, May 7 – The desperate citizen response to India’s COVID catastrophe is a poor substitute for the full-scale mobilization that might have been …
Alex Flachsbart, Opportunity AlabamaAgents of Impact | April 30, 2021
Alex Flachsbart, Opportunity Alabama
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 30 – If you build it, they will come. That was the instinct of Flachsbart, an economic development lawyer in Birmingham, when …
Sustainable Investing Challenge winners from Oxford University (bee left: Noah Law, bee right: Emile Radyte, human left: Annabella Wainer, human right: Dawn Musil)Agents of Impact | April 16, 2021
Students of impact
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 16 – Women make up eight of nine graduate students on the winning teams at last week’s Turner MIINT competition and Kellogg-Morgan …
Kathryn Finney of Genius Guild | Photo credit: kathrynfinney.comAgents of Impact | April 9, 2021
Kathryn Finney, Genius Guild
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 9 – The entrepreneur and investor’s answer to systemic economic exclusion of Black, Indigenous and other people of color: Build an ecosystem …
ChargerHelp's Evette Ellis and Kameale TerryAgents of Impact | April 2, 2021
Evette Ellis and Kameale Terry, ChargerHelp
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 2 – The co-founders of South Los Angeles-based electric-vehicle charging repair startup ChargerHelp could be on a poster for the Biden administration’s …
Agents of Impact | March 26, 2021
Arlan Hamilton, Backstage Capital
ImpactAlpha, March 26 – Venture capitalists love to invest in disruption. Arlan Hamitlon is disrupting venture capital. She created Backstage Capital in 2015 …
Brian Deese, National Economic CouncilAgents of Impact | March 12, 2021
Brian Deese, National Economic Council
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 12 – At 31, Brian Deese helped plan and execute then-President Obama’s auto industry bailout. As the White House’s top climate official …
Kim Folsom of Founders FirstAgents of Impact | March 5, 2021
Kim Folsom, Founders First
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 5 – Seven-time entrepreneur-turned-investor Kim Folsom is seeking to bridge a massive gap: financing for the millions of U.S. businesses that don’t …
Agents of Impact | February 26, 2021
Donnel Baird, BlocPower
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 26 – There was no heat in the building in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood where Baird grew up, so he and his sister …
Macro's Charles King | Image credit: MacroAgents of Impact | February 19, 2021
Charles King, Macro
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 19 – The former Hollywood super agent spotted a disconnect. Those green-lighting movies and TV didn’t represent the diverse audiences consuming them. …
Agents of Impact | February 12, 2021
Bill Bynum, Hope
Goldman Sachs’ commitment this week of $130 million in credit to Jackson, Miss.-based Hope was the latest, and one of the largest, shows …
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Photo credit: GAVIAgents of Impact | February 5, 2021
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, development economist
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 5 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a warning for nations prioritizing self-interest in their pandemic responses: “No one in the world can be …
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