Impact Investing
Muni Impact | November 28, 2022
Investor demand for Atlanta’s $369 million ‘social bond’ cuts city’s interest payments
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 28 – Under the banner of “Moving Atlanta Forward,” the city raised $410 million in general obligation bonds this month, including …
Policy Corner | November 23, 2022
For pension fund managers, Department of Labor puts ESG back on the table – again
ImpactAlpha, Nov.23 – Cannot! Can so! Just as some states are trying to block so-called ESG investing, the U.S. Department of Labor has …
Return on Inclusion | November 21, 2022
VC Include’s Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson on three drivers of inclusion alpha (podcast)
ImpactAlpha, November 21 – Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson is nearly one-third of the way toward her goal of seeding 100 women and historically underrepresented fund …
Impact Investing | November 21, 2022
Walmart workers are ‘Still Broke’: The limits of socially conscious capitalism (Q&A)
Back in 2003, journalist Rick Wartzman was overseeing the business section of the Los Angeles Times. His team produced a Pulitzer Prize-winning series …
Climate Finance | November 17, 2022
From carbon counting to carbon accounting: The case for Emissions Liability Management
“There does not yet exist the capacity,” Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith warned at last month’s Breakthrough Energy Summit in Seattle, for almost any …
Impact Investing | November 16, 2022
Energy Impact Partners seals $485 million early stage climate fund
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 16 – Energy Impact Partners’ Frontier Fund invests in big-bet climate startups that have proved their decarbonization technology and are poised …
Climate Finance | November 15, 2022
New narrative of climate action: Unstoppable progress and immense opportunity
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 15 – It has become fashionable to dismiss global climate confabs like COP27 as so much “blah blah blah.” But for …
Dealflow | November 11, 2022
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Oversubscribed impact funds
ImpactAlpha, November 11 — In a challenging year for raising capital, impact funds are bucking the trend. Impact-focused climate funds from large private …
Impact Investing | November 10, 2022
VoLo Earth raises $90 million for debut climate tech early-stage fund
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 10 – Snowmass Village, Colo.-based VoLo Earth launched in 2020 to invest in early stage climate deals across electricity, mobility, buildings, …
Climate Finance | November 10, 2022
The Rockefeller Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, and U.S. tap private sector for energy transition funds
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 10 – Climate envoy John Kerry and the two foundations laid out plans for an Energy Transition Accelerator to generate funding …
ESG | November 8, 2022
Anticipating election wins, conservative politicians escalate attacks on ESG ‘collusion.’
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 8 – Republicans are feeling emboldened as Americans head to the polls for today’s midterm elections. Just days ago, a group …
The Pyramid of Khafre lit up for COP27
Climate Finance | November 7, 2022
With progress on ‘loss and damages,’ COP27 may exceed low expectations
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 7 – No one has been expecting much from this year’s COP27 climate summit. Not the island nations and African countries …
Source: Shutterstock
Impact Investing | November 5, 2022
Social and environmental crises drive assets to impact – and to ImpactAssets
As the Covid pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement laid bare the vast inequalities and tensions in the US and beyond, impact …
Agents of Impact | November 4, 2022
Mia Mottley, Barbados: Shaping the global finance agenda.
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 4 – Barbados is an island nation of just 166 square miles and less than 300,000 inhabitants. But its leader, Mia …
Impact Investing | November 3, 2022
A new kind of carbon credit incentivizes fossil fuel producers to ‘keep it in the ground’
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 3 – ‘Keep it in the ground’ has long been a rallying cry for climate activists. A new company is creating …
Impact Investing | November 2, 2022
What’s at stake for climate, ESG and impact investors in the U.S. midterm elections
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 2 – The annual global climate summit known as COP27, this year in Egypt, will coincide with next week’s midterm elections …
Image credit: Patagonia
Policy Corner | November 2, 2022
Pursuing environmental justice through the Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act is a historic investment in marginalized communities on the frontlines of climate change. However, the bill also links renewable …
Aaron Samuels and Brian Hollins | Photo by Collide Capital.
Return on Inclusion | October 31, 2022
Collide Capital raises $66 million to back early-stage diverse founders
ImpactAlpha, October 31 — New York-based Collide Capital has raised $66 million to invest in early-stage Black, Latino and female founders “we believe …
Impact Voices | October 27, 2022
Can’t tell the players without a scorecard: Sorting out ESG, impact and sustainability
The Land of ESG is embroiled in a two-front war. Identifying the combatants and their arguments may help practitioners keep track of the …
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Catalytic Capital | October 26, 2022
Creative finance is needed to plug gaps in global climate funding – and to rescue COP27
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 26 – Climate action is facing mighty headwinds just two weeks before the COP27 global climate summit kicks off in Sharm …
Impact Investing | October 24, 2022
Lowercarbon doubles down on fusion energy with $250 million fund
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 25 – As global economies electrify and new solutions like carbon capture and water desalination come online, power demand could triple …
Impact Investing | October 20, 2022
Dealmakers seize the return of SOCAP to move capital toward impact
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 20 – Tired: talking. Wired: doing. Impact fund managers and startup founders, placement agents and headhunters worked the halls and terraces of …
Impact Investing | October 20, 2022
Development finance institutions face calls for reform in the face of cascading climate and energy crises
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 21 – Embattled World Bank chief David Malpass made an about-face last week, copping to manmade global warming and the need …
Impact Voices | October 19, 2022
Employees: The Missing ‘E’ in ESG
Workers, the people most important to capitalism, have been buried in the ‘S’ in ESG, for environmental, social, and governance risk factors in …
A solar project installation in Rwanda. Photo: Centennial
Frontier and Growth Markets | October 16, 2022
Centennial raises $1.2 million to build, own, operate and transfer solar projects in Africa
Solar and battery energy storage-focused power company Centennial has raised $1.2 million for a new fund to finance emission-free power systems for small-and-medium …
Impact Management | October 13, 2022
Overheard at the GIIN: As impact investing assets cross $1 trillion, investors eye a larger opportunity
ImpactAlpha, October 13 – Impact investing assets under management surpassed $1 trillion as funds, foundations, development finance agencies and other investors have sought impact …
An H2 Mobility hydrogen refueling station in Hamburg, Germany
Green Infrastructure | October 11, 2022
Hy24 hauls €2 billion for clean hydrogen infrastructure fund
ImpactAlpha, October 11 – European governments are intensifying their efforts to reduce their reliance on Russian hydrocarbons – and to hit their targets for …
Impact Investing | October 6, 2022
The Greening of the 401(k)
ImpactAlpha’s David Bank catches up with Zach Stein, CEO of Carbon Collective, to talk about how average investors with 401(k) retirement accounts can …
QED portfolio company RestLess is fighting ageism in the U.K. Photo: Shutterstock
Impact Voices | October 6, 2022
How venture firm QED Investors is embracing ESG to strengthen its fintech portfolio
As a concept, ESG is nothing new. The idea of explicitly looking at environmental, social and governance issues as a holy trinity of …
Personal Finance | October 5, 2022
Five steps to greening your 401(k) – and why it’s harder than it should be
Seems like it shouldn’t be that hard: Build a portfolio from the better sustainable funds. Add them to your company’s 401(k) fund lineup. …
ESG | October 4, 2022
SOCAP Spotlight: Using ESG for good, not for evil
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 4 – SOCAP is back in person this year and the conversation around ESG will be lively and urgent. I’m thrilled …
Impact Investing | October 3, 2022
Seven innovative finance tools to unlock funding for climate challenges
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 3 – Climate finance is flowing, but persistent gaps remain, especially in developing nations. Creative solutions are needed to unlock private …
Impact Investing | October 1, 2022
Are you ready to cover municipal finance and community investment for ImpactAlpha? (Editor/Reporter opening)
From downtown Detroit to rural Fresno and from Appalachia to the Navajo Nation, communities are finding new ways to use the tools of …
Impact Investing | September 30, 2022
Investing in refugees and women
On this week’s podcast, Dennis Price joins host Brian Walsh to talk about new opportunities in “refugee lens investing,” and Brian shares takeaways …
Impact Investing | September 29, 2022
Alder Point Capital aims to make sustainable real assets climate-resilient as well
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 20 – Among alternative investments, real estate and real assets have been prized for both yield and appreciation. Then came “sustainable …
Impact Investing | September 27, 2022
A dozen charts that map the uneven but hopeful path to a carbon-free economy
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 27 – Transitions are rarely a straight line. That is especially true of the massive global shift underway to a low-carbon economy. …
Photo: Cédric Frixon, Pixabay
Impact Investing | September 25, 2022
Barbados debt-for-nature swap unlocks $50 million for marine conservation and ‘blue economy’
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 25 – Barbados is the latest nation to restructure its high-priced debt to free up funds for conservation. The Caribbean island …
Photo by Pie Insurance.
Inclusive Economy | September 22, 2022
Pie Insurance raises $315 million to provide workers’ comp coverage for small businesses
ImpactAlpha, September 22 — Most U.S. businesses are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, which covers medical expenses, lost wages and rehabilitation costs …
Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images
Impact Investing | September 20, 2022
Will a new EPA fund serve low- and moderate-income people? Five principles to promote success
On August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, federal legislation that invests nearly $400 billion over 10 years in renewable energy …
Institutional Impact | September 19, 2022
Walmart heir’s foundation joins small club aligning endowment with mission
The foundation of Walmart heir Lukas Walton has reached its goal of aligning 90% of its $1 billion endowment with its philanthropic initiative. …
Yvon Chouinard | Photo by Ian Allen.
Dealflow | September 16, 2022
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Exit to stakeholders
ImpactAlpha, September 16 — Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family have given away the $3 billion outdoor apparel company. The new owners …
Impact Investing | September 13, 2022
Bringing the energy transition to every building and neighborhood, with public and private capital
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 13 – Green jobs in South Los Angeles. Low-carbon retrofits and cost savings in New York public housing. Electric vehicle and battery …
Catalytic Capital | September 12, 2022
The Climate Finance Tracker’s data-driven map for catalytic climate investors (Q&A)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 12 – Where is capital most impactful in combating climate change? What kind of capital is needed where? And who is …
Climate Finance | September 12, 2022
God save the King – and planet
In 1952, the 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth of York stepped down from her treetop camp in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park and became Queen Elizabeth II. On …
ESG | September 5, 2022
Infowars investing invades “anti-competitive” Texas
Something’s rotten in the State of Texas. Once self-styled as a bastion of free markets and friendly regulation, a down-ballot politician now wields …