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💧 The Call: Private investing behind federal funding for water, health and resilience. Welcome to World Water Week. This Thursday, join us to identify high-impact water investment opportunities with North Star Strategy’s Radhika Fox, who crafted federal water policy as head of the EPA’s Water Office, Shaun O’Rourke of Quantified Ventures, which designs investable solutions for water and health, and Rogelio Rodriguez of the nonprofit WaterFX, which helps communities finance equitable water infrastructure, Thursday, Aug. 29 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm London. RSVP today.
In this week’s Open:
- The ‘blue’ state edge in public pension fund investing
- ‘Impact’ on the campaign trail
- Creative muni bonds to finance water infrastructure
- Stakeholder capitalism’s answer to price-gouging
Ok, let’s get to it. – Dennis Price
Must-reads on ImpactAlpha
- The ‘blue’ state edge in public pension fund investing. Public pension funds in anti-ESG ‘red’ states have underperformed those in pro-ESG ‘blue’ states to the tune of $159 billion over 12 years, reports Lynnley Browning, based on data provided by HIP Investor. Go deeper.
- ‘Impact’ on the campaign trail. Vice President Kamala Harris’s case for the ‘opportunity economy’ tracks closely to the investment theses of many impact investors. The Vice President has used the language of business to talk about her social and environmental priorities, and her focus on measurement and returns may have resonance for impact investors. Read more.
- Live at the DNC. Contributing editor Sherrell Dorsey was in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention talking to climate and impact investors and entrepreneurs about their hopes for a Harris White House. Check it out.
- Live at the DNC. Contributing editor Sherrell Dorsey was in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention talking to climate and impact investors and entrepreneurs about their hopes for a Harris White House. Check it out.
- India’s push for solar. Coal-dependent India is advancing an ambitious plan to boost adoption of rooftop solar to power homes. A generous new subsidy program, coupled with improving off-grid solar technologies, is generating consumer-led momentum for a shift to cheaper, cleaner and reliable renewable energy, reports ImpactAlpha’sShefali Anand. Learn more.
- Off-grid startup growth. A new generation of solar startups is moving beyond affordable access to focus on livelihoods and resilience, explains Mahesh Yagnaraman of Acumen in a guest post. “Thanks to innovation and falling prices in renewables, India does not have to choose between economic growth and climate action,” he writes. Read the post.
- Off-grid startup growth. A new generation of solar startups is moving beyond affordable access to focus on livelihoods and resilience, explains Mahesh Yagnaraman of Acumen in a guest post. “Thanks to innovation and falling prices in renewables, India does not have to choose between economic growth and climate action,” he writes. Read the post.
- Investing to bridge the racial wealth gap. “For every driver of the racial wealth gap, there are ways for patient capital to unlock lost potential,” write Bridgespan’s Stephanie Kater, Andrew Key and Simon Stephanos in a guest post. Bridgespan recently published research that found five main drivers of the $8.4 trillion racial wealth gap, and looked at ways for capital providers to tap in. Check out the solutions.
- Greenhouse gas funds shift into gear. Community development finance institutions and state-level green banks have begun lending for green upgrades and community infrastructure in underserved communities following the EPA’s release of $27 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds. See who’s who.
- Stakeholder capitalism’s answer to price-gouging. Companies that consider consumers, communities and workers, along with shareholders, may be less prone to take advantage of inflationary pressures to gouge customers, argues Ford Foundation’s Margot Brandenburg in a guest post. “If we want companies to do more than maximize profits for investors, we need to give them that mandate,” she says. Hear her out.
Agents of Impact
🏃 On the move
- The California Coalition for Community Investment tapped Nate Schaffran from Community Vision CA as its inaugural executive director.
- Stax promoted Tyler Veit to managing director.
- Maya Burney, previously with Caleo Capital and founder of Womvest, joined Calvert Impact Capital as a senior investment officer.
The Week’s Podcasts
🎧 This Week in Impact
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with Amy Cortese. On the agenda: the outperformance of pension funds in pro-ESG ‘blue’ states, the Harris campaign’s opportunity agenda, and the boom in off-grid energy and rooftop solar in India.
- Listen to the new episode of This Week in Impact. Get the podcast in your feed by subscribing on Apple or Spotify.
👥 Agents of Impact
Women’s World Banking brings women’s financial habits online. New York-based Women’s World Banking works with financial institutions to expand the economic participation of low-income women and their households and, increasingly, to bolster their climate resilience as well. CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian shares her “aha” moments with ImpactAlpha’s David Bank on the latest Agents of Impact podcast
- Keep reading, “Women’s World Banking is accelerating financial inclusion by bringing women’s financial habits online,” by David Bank, and listen to the Agents of Impact podcast.
Deal Spotlight: Muni Impact
💧 From Newark to North Carolina, communities get creative to tap muni markets to finance water upgrades
Water upgrades are badly needed in cities and towns across the US – to remove lead pipes, improve wastewater treatment, filter contaminants and guard against increasingly frequent floods and droughts. To pay for such upgrades, bigger cities with strong credit ratings can readily issue bonds and access capital markets. Smaller towns, like Sanford, NC, a majority-minority town of 31,000 people 40 miles from Raleigh, have often struggled to tap the $4 trillion municipal bond market for affordable financing. Sanford bucked the trend earlier this month when it issued the first tranche of $71 million in municipal bonds to upgrade and expand its water infrastructure. Underserved communities like Sanford are banding together to finance their infrastructure needs, including by piggybacking on the ratings of better-resourced issuers.
- Join the Call. “Investing behind federal funding for water quality, community health and climate resilience,” Thursday, Aug. 29 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm London. RSVP today.
- Go with the dealflow. Read the full post and check out our full roundup of ImpactAlpha’s deal reporting this week. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors ImpactAlpha’s Muni Impact coverage.
Get in the Game
💼 Step up
- CleanCapital is searching for a director or senior director of capital markets in New York.
- Jordan Park Group is looking for a senior impact analyst in New York or San Francisco.
- Quantified Ventures is seeking a senior associate / associate director of climate finance in New England.
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🤝 Meet up
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- September 9-11: Latimpacto (Oaxaca)
- October 7-9: AFSIC Investing in Africa (London)
- October 25: Norselab Impact Day (Oslo)
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