hermes-fund-managers
Beats | March 30, 2017
Social impact is a tangible return on investment
The social impacts of our investments “have a much more profound impact on the majority of savers” than the returns a financial manager …
- Beats
- The Brief
December 11, 2023
The Brief
Featured: Muni Impact
Muni investors see through mispriced risks to find alpha and impact. Lower risk: Bonds issued by high-performing school districts that serve low-income populations. Higher risk: Issuances that fund entertainment complexes that disrupt and displace residents of majority minority neighborhoods. Rampant misperceptions, and mispricing, of demographic risk in the $4 trillion municipal bond markets has left opportunities for impact, and alpha, hiding in plain sight. Investors with more intentional strategies for racial equity are finding them, with help from advisors with unique analytics and ratings that can cut through legacy gaps in information and transparency. “Investors that are smart, that really want to beat the market, that want to see opportunities and not be beholden to past thoughts on race, are beginning to see the opportunity,” says Homero Radway of Activest, an investment research firm that will launch its “fiscal justice” fund strategy next month (see, “Activest’s FIRE strategy seeks to bend the arc of municipal finance toward fiscal justice”).
Sponsored: AlphaMundi Foundation
Gender-inclusive strategies to unlock value in Africa's small businesses. Nairobi-based AlphaMundi Foundation is helping turn challenges for women into opportunities for impact. With support from DEG Impulse's develoPPP program, the foundation worked with Value for Women to help five East African portfolio companies build resilience and competitive advantage through workforce empowerment and value chain inclusivity initiatives.
Dealflow: Digitizing Small Businesses
Mercy Corp Ventures backs Tappi to boost economic and climate resilience in Africa's small businesses. Flooding and droughts, which disrupt logistics, damage stock, depress consumer spending and raise the cost of goods, affect nearly all informal and small businesses in Africa's biggest markets, according to Mercy Corp Ventures. It can take up to a year for a small business owner to recover. The impact venture fund is backing Nairobi-based digital services company Tappi to foster small business economic and climate resilience. "Digitization of small businesses [is] key to building a more resilient network of small businesses across emerging markets,” Mercy Corp Ventures' Dan Block told ImpactAlpha. The firm invested in Tappi's $1.5 million pre-seed round alongside Chui Ventures, SOSV and other investors.
Signals: COP Watch
Down and out in Dubai. COP28 negotiators will spend the next two days wrangling over details of a final agreement as the sprawling climate conference draws to a close. Goals such as tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 are relatively easy lifts. The stickiest debate, and the one that will determine how the United Arab Emirates’ COP presidency is remembered, is whether to phase out or phase down fossil fuels – or punt on the issue altogether. More than 80 countries want the “phase out” language, but large oil producers like Saudi Arabia remain opposed to even phasing down their chief money-maker. OPEC has urged its members to reject any mention of fossil fuels. China’s top climate envoy called COP28 “the hardest meeting” in his 16 years of COP negotiations. (It won’t be much easier next year, when COP29 takes place in Azerbaijan, another autocratic, oil-rich country). Focusing on cutting emissions without addressing their main source is “like trying to cut with one half of the scissors,” says Tzeporah Berman of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (see, “Winding down production to fulfill the Paris Agreement”).
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Erick Berkerts will step down as CEO of Evergreen Climate Innovations at the end of this year. Michelle Carr, ex- of The Nature Conservancy, will replace Berkerts as CEO… RMI is looking for a remote strategic planning and growth manager… International Finance Corporation is hiring an investment analyst for climate and sustainable finance in Washington, DC… Amalgamated Foundation has openings for a community stewardship director and a growth and impact director.
- The Call
Climate + Gender | November 17, 2023
To be effective, climate solutions need a gender lens (video)
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
Impact Investing | October 13, 2023
State of the Impact Field: Unprecedented opportunity tempered by sober realism (video)
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
Ownership Economy | September 29, 2023
Labor and capital align in new movement for worker ownership (Video)
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 …
Call Recording | August 25, 2023
Mobilizing capital in Indian Country (video)
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 …
Participants in ImpactAlpha's call on HBCUsReturn on Inclusion | July 28, 2023
Impact at HBCUs: Hubs of talent, innovation and Black excellence (video)
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
Muni Impact | June 22, 2023
Connecting supply and demand for racial equity strategies in muni markets (video)
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
Call Recording | March 31, 2023
Metrics Madness: Wealth, ownership and ‘quality adjusted life years’ (video)
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 …
Policy Corner | February 24, 2023
Policymaking for workers and communities in the Year of the ‘S’ (video)
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
Memphis skylineMuni Impact | February 9, 2023
Engaging racial-equity risks and opportunities in municipal finance (video)
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 9 – The fatal beating by police of Tyre Nichols in Memphis last month exposed risks to the city’s finances that have …
Photo by Tamarcus Brown on UnsplashMuni Impact | November 18, 2022
Mispriced risks, investor demand and community power center racial equity in municipal bonds (video)
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 …
Call Recording | September 30, 2022
Agents of Impact Call No. 45: Creative capital for gender-smart investments (video)
ImpactAlpha, September 30 – Capital to support women’s economic growth and financial inclusion is flowing – finally! – in many advanced economies. In emerging …
Climate Finance | September 19, 2022
New momentum and stubborn challenges as Climate Week kicks off (Call No. 44)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 19 – Investors, entrepreneurs, corporate executives and world leaders have descended on New York for Climate Week, the annual gathering alongside the …
- Podcasts
Podcasts | December 8, 2023
A tale of two COP28s with Marilyn Waite and Dawn Lippert
The numbers tell the story: overall attendance at COP28 is up threefold from last year – and the number of fossil fuel lobbyists …
Essma Bengabsia of The Annie E. Casey FoundationImpact Investing | December 6, 2023
Impact(ed): Driving foundation endowments toward social justice (podcast)
Private foundations collectively control more than a trillion dollars of capital invested across a variety of traditional asset classes. A small portion of …
Podcasts | December 1, 2023
All eyes on Dubai as COP 28 begins with Stephan Nicoleau
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 …
Impact Investing | November 17, 2023
Impact(ed): Steering pension funds toward impact with Tara Mei Smith and Marcela Pinilla (podcast)
Pension funds, with hundreds of billions in long-term assets, can be a key source of capital for impact investors and entrepreneurs. Black, Indigenous, …
Podcasts | November 10, 2023
Lessons from the Wilmington coup of 1898
The Wilmington coup of 1898 is not as well known as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. But the events of that day changed …
Podcasts | November 3, 2023
Maria Hollan of Timke Ventures shares her journey to impact investing
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 …
Podcasts | October 27, 2023
What the mainstreaming of impact investing means for smaller impact fund managers
David Bank catches up with Courageous Capital Advisors’ Laurie Spengler to talk about what the mainstreaming of impact investing means for smaller impact …
Podcasts | October 20, 2023
Repurposing churches with Graham Singh
Graham Singh shares the financing mechanisms that Trinity Centres Foundation is developing for repurposing churches. And, David Bank shares ImpactAlpha’s big news. Plus, …
Podcasts | October 13, 2023
There’s a new impact lens in town
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 …
Podcasts | October 6, 2023
Veris’ due diligence framework for racial and gender justice.
Roraj Pradhananga and Jane Swan of Veris Wealth Partners join host Monique Aiken to discuss how the wealth manager is rethinking due diligence …
Podcasts | September 29, 2023
Strategies for finding the employee-ownership edge
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 …
Podcasts | September 22, 2023
What is ‘wealth supremacy,’ how does it drive crises, and what can be done about it?
David Bank is joined by Marjorie Kelly of The Democracy Collaborative to explore the ways that impact investors both help and hinder systemic …
- Opinion
ESG | December 6, 2023
ESG and FTX: How VCs can invest more responsibility into crypto this time around
This crypto rally can be different. Crypto’s rise, then fall, then recent rise again, presents an opportunity for venture capitalists to invest more …
Milwaukee, WIMuni Impact | December 6, 2023
Lessons learned from Milwaukee’s flirtation with bankruptcy
Editor’s Note: Community Finance Brief is weekly newsletter from Matt Posner of Court Street Group, now syndicated on ImpactAlpha. When a town, city …
Impact Management | December 6, 2023
How institutional investors can up their sustainability game in private markets
Institutional investors – aka, limited 0artners, or LPs – are increasingly integrating sustainability into their investment processes for private markets. That requires managing …
Civil Rights attorney Farhana Khera | Photo credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaReturn on Inclusion | December 5, 2023
Q&A: Navigating racial equity investment strategies for a post-affirmative action economy
The backlash against investing for racial equity has only grown since last summer’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the use of race …
Frontier and Growth Markets | December 4, 2023
Funds of funds provide more than capital for local investors in small and growing businesses
An expanding range of financing mechanisms and vehicles are emerging to help private capital providers direct money and resources to their small business …
Impact Voices | December 4, 2023
The antitrust theories are weak, but the effects can be chilling on corporate collaboration for climate action
As the private sector has become increasingly engaged in the effort to combat climate change, debates have emerged about the impact and legality …
Impact Management | November 30, 2023
Equipping private equity managers to unlock value through sustainability
The private equity industry, known for its focus on efficiency improvements and earnings growth, has expanded dramatically in the past decade, tripling assets …
Climate Finance | November 30, 2023
How much science is there behind the Science Based Targets Initiative?
There is an urgent race to curb rising temperatures and prevent the worst effects of climate change. This is reflected in a growing …
Ceniarth's Diane Isenberg and Greg NeichinCatalytic Capital | November 27, 2023
Ten lessons for 10 years: Inconvenient truths from an impact-first investor
The impact-first philosophy that Ceniarth has championed has had its fair share of challenges. But we remain convinced that it is critical to …
Impact Management | November 21, 2023
Private equity is leaving billions of dollars in sustainability value on the table
Private equity has a significant opportunity to create financial and societal value through sustainability. PE firms that invest in improving the management and …
Climate Finance | November 15, 2023
Climate tech experts identify the biggest opportunities, and challenges, in the low-carbon transition
Climate tech investment is booming. Since 2013, there have been more than 6,000 investors (private, public and philanthropic) in climate tech startups, and …
Impact Voices | November 14, 2023
Five ways to supercharge energy retrofits
When UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down the UK’s commitment to its Net Zero targets earlier this fall, he at least started …
- Agents of Impact
Photo: Kris Krug
Agents of Impact | December 8, 2023
Tzeporah Berman, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: Winding down production to fulfill the Paris Agreement
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
© Margo Moritz. Used by permission.Agents of Impact | November 3, 2023
Andrea Armeni, NYU: On a quest to transform finance
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
Christopher Bentley | Photo by The De-Carceration Fund.Agents of Impact | September 8, 2023
Christopher Bentley, The De-Carceration Fund: Lifting ‘justice tech’ entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
Agents of Impact | August 18, 2023
Monica Brand Engel, Quona Capital: Taking on the messy work of financial inclusion
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
Samuel Yeboah of Mirepa Investment AdvisorsAgents of Impact | August 11, 2023
Samuel Yeboah, Mirepa Investment Advisors: Helping Africans invest in Africa
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Impact Investing | July 14, 2023
Amy Duffuor, Azolla Ventures: Bridging climate gaps with catalytic capital
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
Katherine Stodulka (foreground) with Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch, Colombian Minister of the Environment Maria Susana Muhamad, and climate justice researcher Nina CallaghanAgents of Impact | June 30, 2023
Katherine Stodulka, Systemiq: Making introductions to bridge gaps in sustainable finance
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
Agents of Impact | May 26, 2023
Jessica Espinoza, 2X Global: Proving gender as a value-driver
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
Agents of Impact | May 12, 2023
Aina Abiodun, VertueLab: Centering community in climate tech in the Pacific Northwest
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 …
Agents of Impact | May 5, 2023
John Moore, ImpactPHL: Stocking the pipeline of impact investments in Philadelphia
ImpactAlpha, May 5 – John Moore quit his corporate gig and moved to Philadelphia two decades ago. He found a city rich in …
Agents of Impact | April 28, 2023
Su Sanni, Dollaride: From dollar-van commuter to urban-mobility entrepreneur
ImpactAlpha, April 28 — A first generation Nigerian-American, Su Sanni grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens. The low-income neighborhoods, …
Lourdes Germán | Photo credit: Public Finance InitiativeAgents of Impact | April 21, 2023
Lourdes Germán, Public Finance Initiative: Tilting the $4 trillion muni market toward racial equity
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 21 – Attorney and academic Lourdes Germán recognized early the power of public finance. She has spent years working at firms including …
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