Personal Finance
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. …
Personal Finance | September 8, 2022
Young savers, if not Republican governors, want their banks out of fossil fuels
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 8 – Politicians that seek to ban ESG investing are up against some serious headwinds from the next generation. “Banking with …
Impact Voices | November 30, 2021
How to invest sustainably with a robo-advisor
ImpactAlpha, November 30 – Robo-advisors are online financial advisors that manage investments primarily using computer algorithms underpinned by the Modern Portfolio Theory. Typically, …
Personal Finance | November 15, 2021
How to find a socially-responsible bank
ImpactAlpha, November 15 – It’s no secret that many traditional banks use customer deposits to fund companies in industries that may not align …
Personal Finance | October 19, 2021
How to ride the climate transition with more than a dozen exchange-traded funds
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 19 – Clean energy. Batteries. Smart grids. ESG funds and clean energy ETFs tracking elements of the climate transition took off in …
Dealflow | September 21, 2021
Steward raises $8.8 million to expand online lending for sustainable farms
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 21 – Steward pools investments from individuals to provide capital to sustainably run farms, fisheries, and food producers. Since it was …
Personal Finance | September 13, 2021
Seven ways U.S. retail investors can invest and bank sustainably
Everyday investors, as well as large asset managers and institutions, are flocking to ESG and impact investing. As many as 95% of millennials …
Jessica Brooks, Sunwealth
Walking the Talk | August 31, 2021
Sunwealth’s Jessica Brooks: Investing in a better world for all of our kids
I was tucking my oldest son into bed when the question came. “Mom, have you ever wanted to go to bed and not …
Photo by Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash
Climate Finance | August 25, 2021
Investing in climate-smart farms to accelerate the net-zero transition
In case you haven’t seen the headlines – or haven’t experienced the extreme weather events yourself – climate change is here. In the …
Walking the Talk | June 30, 2021
Lisette Cooper: Shareholder activism for our daughters’ daughters
On a winter evening in early 2017, I met with a close friend, a former venture capital professional, for dinner in Harvard Square. …
Ivy Jack, NorthStar Asset Management
Walking the Talk | April 15, 2021
Ivy Jack: This moment demands more than investing money
As a child growing up in Baptist churches in Louisiana, I would hear older folks say “Prayer changes things.” Throughout tough periods over …
Walking the Talk | February 16, 2021
Nick Flores: Channeling my passions and purpose into my portfolio
Back in 2017, I started receiving questions about my personal portfolio from industry peers.1 Like me, none of them had a $10+ million …
Walking the Talk | January 25, 2021
Patricia Farrar-Rivas: How I invest for equity
I grew up the daughter of an Air Force officer and a homemaker. We did not have a lot of money, but as …
Walking the Talk | September 17, 2020
Matthew Patsky: Finding my tribe in an unexpected place
Most middle-school-aged children are focused on their small life bubble: impressing their friends with their new sneakers or making sure they do their …
Dealflow | September 3, 2020
Triodos Bank develops impact bond fund for U.K. retail investors
ImpactAlpha, September 3 – Nearly half of retail investors in the U.K. want impact investment options. Triodos Bank U.K. is responding with an …
Walking the Talk | July 27, 2020
Nia’s Kristin Hull: How I invest in environmental sustainability and social change
I grew up without money, and so earning a living—rather than investing—was a primary pursuit for me. While I recall my parents arguing …
Walking the Talk | June 17, 2020
Erika Karp: How I have invested in the road less traveled
It feels like a hundred years ago that I first walked onto the vast trading floor of one of the world’s largest global …
Conservation | May 22, 2020
Aspiration secures $135 million to expand impact banking products
ImpactAlpha, May 22 – Aspiration launched in 2015 to offer a green and “conscious,” digital alternative to mainstream banks. It has since gone …
Dealflow | May 21, 2020
Wire Group raises €25 million for Netherlands-based impact fund of funds
ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Dutch impact advisor Wire Group launched its first fund last year, after 10 years helping European family offices develop …
Walking the Talk | May 11, 2020
Brent Kessel: Expanding what’s possible with money
I was born and raised in apartheid South Africa and lived there until I was ten. As I grew, the terrible inequity I …
Walking the Talk | March 30, 2020
Matthew Weatherley-White: How I invest my own money
A Coronaddemdum. It is fascinating to read this piece in the throes of the Corona volatility. I wrote it sometime last fall, long …
Walking the Talk | March 23, 2020
Beth Bafford: Making my money work for my kids and their future
It has been nearly four years since I wrote about my process to align my investment portfolio with my values. Back then, in …
Beats | February 18, 2020
Impact drives alpha, and other lessons from ‘100% impact’ donor-advised funds
Impact can drive alpha—but market-beating returns are hard to come by in short-term investments. An impact portfolio that’s not under regular review is …
Dealflow | September 19, 2019
Patch Homes raises $5 million for debt-free home refinancing
ImpactAlpha, September 19 – Ten years in finance exposed Sahil Gupta to average Americans’ financial woes. “Everyone wants to invest for retirement and have …
iroquois-valley-farms | September 17, 2019
Iroquois Valley Farmland’s direct public offering lets smaller investors get a share of ‘soil wealth’
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 17 – Tired of gold? Leery of Bitcoin? Smaller investors can now invest in soil wealth. Last month, Iroquois Valley Farmland …
Canada | September 16, 2019
After light bulbs and plastic straws…toilet paper
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 16 – Another everyday staple is under scrutiny. “The Issue With Tissue” from environmental watchdog NRDC details the environmental and social harm …
Dealflow | August 19, 2019
Ladenburg Thalmann backs Newday to support financial advisor-focused pivot
ImpactAlpha, August 19 – Newday joined the “impact investing for the masses” movement last year, with a mobile-only platform that lets individuals commit as …
Financial Inclusion | August 15, 2019
Shakeout highlights an elusive factor in impact investing platforms: the impact
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 15 – Last month, Morningstar reported that inflows into sustainable mutual funds and ETFs in the first six months of 2019 …
Dealflow | July 26, 2019
Swell shuts down its retail impact investing platform
ImpactAlpha, July 26 – Retail impact investing platform Swell says it was “not able to achieve the scale needed to sustain operations in the …
Dealflow | July 22, 2019
Ethic raises $13 million to help investors build custom sustainable investing portfolios
ImpactAlpha, July 22 – Ethic is among the crowd of platforms vying for dominance in the $12 trillion U.S. sustainable investing market. The platform …
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Financial Inclusion | July 10, 2019
The rise of impact-focused fintech
ImpactAlpha, July 10 – The mashup of finance and tech known as ‘fintech’ shows no signs of cooling: VC-backed fintech companies raised $39.57 …
2030 Finance | July 3, 2019
How do I convince my parents? Five guideposts for family offices shifting to impact
ImpactAlpha, July 3 – Once ‘Next Gens’ who want to shift more of their family assets into impact investing master the basics of …
Dealflow | June 25, 2019
Prudential backs Aura to help underbanked customers build their financial futures
ImpactAlpha, June 25 – Prudential Financial invested $10 million in fintech company Aura to help adults in the U.S. boost their financial health, starting with …
Beats | June 18, 2019
Retail investors are worried about impact, not financial returns
ImpactAlpha, June 18 – Retail investors increasingly believe impact investments can generate sufficient financial returns. It’s the “impact” they’re not so sure about. The …
Dealflow | June 17, 2019
Morgan Stanley expands sustainable investment options for smaller investors
ImpactAlpha, June 17 – Morgan Stanley Wealth Management launched two sustainable investment products for non-millionaire investors two years ago. Now the firm, with $28 billion …
Beats | June 4, 2019
Wealthy families seek – and find – market-rate returns from ‘values-aligned’ investing
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 4 – Values-aligned investment strategies – including impact investing – are delivering risk-adjusted market-rate returns, according to a survey by the Family Office …
Entrepreneurship | May 21, 2019
Equity crowdfunding changes who gets financed
ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Three years after the equity crowdfunding exemption in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act took effect, startups and …
Beats | May 15, 2019
Retail platforms for sustainable investing struggle to differentiate themselves – and to attract customers
ImpactAlpha, May 15 – Aligning investments and values isn’t just for the wealthy. Automated investment services, aka “robo-advisors,” and providers of low-cost exchange-traded funds are …
2030 Finance | May 8, 2019
Philanthropic investors multiply their impact assets with Beyond Meat’s IPO
ImpactAlpha, May 8 – Impact investments from donor-advised funds helped seed the growth of Beyond Meat, the plant-based meat company that staged a successful …
Beats | April 4, 2019
How to start the conversation, and other sustainable investing tips for financial advisors
ImpactAlpha, April 4 — The first wave of financial advisors to offer sustainable investing options may have wanted to change the world. Financial …
Dealflow | April 4, 2019
Ellevest raises $33 million for women’s investment platform
ImpactAlpha, April 4 – Ellevest, the online investment services company started by Wall Street veteran Sallie Krawcheck, raised a $33 million funding round from Rethink Impact …
Dealflow | March 4, 2019
John Hancock rolls out COIN, a “conscious” investment account for everyday investors
ImpactAlpha, March 4 – Financial services firm John Hancock is backing a stock investing platform for “conscious” everyday investors. The platform, called COIN, allows individuals …
Dealflow | February 7, 2019
Orange’s venture fund backs financial inclusion startup Aire
ImpactAlpha, February 6 – Orange Digital Ventures, the venture investing arm of mobile network Orange, has backed U.K.-based fintech startup Aire’s $11 million …
Dealflow | January 29, 2019
Indian startup Groww raises $6.2 million to help millennials invest
ImpactAlpha, January 28 – Bangalore-based online investment platform Groww has raised $6.2 million in a Series A round to expand financial services available to …
Dealflow | January 16, 2019
FinLab selects five startups targeting financial wellbeing in the U.S. workplace
ImpactAlpha, January 15 – More than half of employees report being “financially stressed,” according to a PwC. The Financial Solutions Lab challenge, an annual startup competition from …