Managers walk the talk on impact fund strategy and structure (The Liist, Dec. 2023). Women investing in women. Africans investing in Africa. Impact-aligned fund compensation and fees. This month's Liist of actively raising impact funds highlights how fund managers are rethinking incentives and drawing from lived experience to achieve their impact goals. In Germany, Masawa has tied half of its carry, or profits, to its impact targets and pledged 10% of those profits to founders in its portfolio. Social Finance in Boston is charging below-market fees and taking no carry to deepen the impact of its Impact First Fund.
British International Investment backs trio of climate tech funds in South Asia. The UK’s development finance institution made a $25 million allocation to GEF Capital’s third South Asia Growth Fund. The fund is looking to raise $300 million to provide growth capital to small and mid-sized projects and companies supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy in India and Southeast Asia. The fund “will support our goal of enabling sustainable practices, with a focus on renewable energy, efficient resource management and cutting-edge environmental solutions,” said BII’s Srini Nagarajan in a statement. BII committed to invest up to $1 billion in climate projects in India between 2022 and 2026. BII also backed GEF Capital’s second South Growth Fund.
Navigating racial equity investment strategies for a post-affirmative action economy (Q&A). Last summer’s US Supreme Court ruling that struck down the consideration of race in college admissions opened the floodgate for other legal challenges to programs with race-based selection criteria. The rush included a legal challenge to Fearless Fund and its grant program for Black female entrepreneurs (for background, see “Legal challenge to Fearless Fund misses the mark on racial bias in venture capital”), and left companies and investors confused about the future of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, strategies. In a guest post for ImpactAlpha, CapEQ’s Tynesia Boyea-Robinson speaks with civil rights attorney Farhana Khera about how investors and other organizations can navigate legal landmines. “Diversity, equity and inclusion programs were legal both before and after the Supreme Court’s decision striking down affirmative action in higher education,” Khera says. She urges investors to let asset managers, colleagues, the courts and elected officials know that racial equity investing “is necessary for the growth and strength of our nation’s economy; and that you don’t want roadblocks placed in the way.”
👋 Agents of Impact Call: Finding hidden impact and risk in municipal bonds. On the next Call in ImpactAlpha’s Muni Impact series, join Activest’s Homero Radway, Kestrel’s Monica Reid, R. Paul Herman of HIP Investor, Court Street Group’s Matt Posner and other Agents of Impact, Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm London. RSVP today.
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, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
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 …
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’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
Pension funds, with hundreds of billions in long-term assets, can be a key source of capital for impact investors and entrepreneurs. Black, Indigenous, …
The Wilmington coup of 1898 is not as well known as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. But the events of that day changed …
ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price catches up with María Hollan, a second-generation steward of her family’s assets at Timke Ventures in Mexico City. Hollan was …
David Bank catches up with Courageous Capital Advisors’ Laurie Spengler to talk about what the mainstreaming of impact investing means for smaller impact …
Graham Singh shares the financing mechanisms that Trinity Centres Foundation is developing for repurposing churches. And, David Bank shares ImpactAlpha’s big news. Plus, …
Unicef USA’s Cristina Shapiro joins David Bank to introduce child-lens investing, a framework for considering investment harms and benefits to children, who have …
Roraj Pradhananga and Jane Swan of Veris Wealth Partners join host Monique Aiken to discuss how the wealth manager is rethinking due diligence …
Host Brian Walsh shares highlights from this week’s agents of impact call, “The employee-ownership edge,” which explored the range of opportunities for investing …
David Bank is joined by Marjorie Kelly of The Democracy Collaborative to explore the ways that impact investors both help and hinder systemic …
🎧 Impact Briefing. Host Brian Walsh chats with Amy Cortese to set the stage for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC. …
David Bank catches up with Robert Munson, President of SOCAP and Managing director at the Sorenson Impact Center, who is putting together next …
The backlash against investing for racial equity has only grown since last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the use of race …
An expanding range of financing mechanisms and vehicles are emerging to help private capital providers direct money and resources to their small business …
As the private sector has become increasingly engaged in the effort to combat climate change, debates have emerged about the impact and legality …
The private equity industry, known for its focus on efficiency improvements and earnings growth, has expanded dramatically in the past decade, tripling assets …
There is an urgent race to curb rising temperatures and prevent the worst effects of climate change. This is reflected in a growing …
The impact-first philosophy that Ceniarth has championed has had its fair share of challenges. But we remain convinced that it is critical to …
Private equity has a significant opportunity to create financial and societal value through sustainability. PE firms that invest in improving the management and …
Climate tech investment is booming. Since 2013, there have been more than 6,000 investors (private, public and philanthropic) in climate tech startups, and …
When UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down the UK’s commitment to its Net Zero targets earlier this fall, he at least started …
Pump it up until you can feel it. Pump it up when you don’t really need it. – “Pump it Up,” Elvis Costello …
In the US, venture backed investments are failing at rates not seen since the Great Recession. The market forces slamming these companies are …
California just enacted a set of bills that together represent a huge leap forward in tackling the climate crisis. Under SB 253, about …
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 …
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 …
Pump it up until you can feel it. Pump it up when you don’t really need it. – “Pump it Up,” Elvis Costello …