Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers!
Welcome to your continuing preview of the new ImpactAlpha. Read all about it here. This week and next we’ll be showing you many of our new features. Right now, you can lock in your subscription at $399.00 –– a $200.00 discount –– for a year of smart, daily impact investing coverage and unlimited access to ImpactAlpha.
Featured: The Impact Alpha, a column by David Bank
Talking and walking the impact investment beat. Let’s cover impact investing like a real beat, on the hunch that it will eventually become one. “That was my standard line of a few years ago whenever I was asked why I started ImpactAlpha and assigned myself to impact investing,” David Bank writes in his first “The Impact Alpha” column. That the beat has arrived is clear. The challenge the new ImpactAlpha is tackling is staying ahead on it.
Bank lays out some of the publication’s hypotheses: Impact is the global growth story. Falling costs make new solutions viable and turning points nigh. Women are leading. Inclusion pays off in economic, racial, gender and geographic diversification and differentiation. A global 21st century regeneration is urgent, possible and already underway. The trillions of dollars in play are reshaping not only the economy, but finance itself.
“I could go on, and will in the new column,” Bank says. Risks are systemic. Externalities aren’t external. Private isn’t private. Accounting is destiny. It’s slow until it’s fast. And bubbles aren’t (all) bad. “How will it all play out?” Bank writes. “I’m as eager to find out as you are, and we are on the beat.”
Read, “Talking and walking the impact investment beat,” by David Bank on ImpactAlpha. Click here to subscribe to the new ImpactAlpha.
Special: The New ImpactAlpha
ImpactAlpha launches premium package of subscriber benefits. In a note to readers, ImpactAlpha editor David Bank says the $399.00 introductory offer will keep readers connected all year “for less than the price of a single conference,” with:
- Fresh, sharp deal news in a new early-morning Dealflow email;
- Streamlined Brief –– original features, insightful signals, leading impact voices;
- Conference calls with ImpactAlpha journalists and industry insiders;
- Subscriber-only Slack channels to connect you with each other;
- VIP invitations and discounts on events, dinners and breakfast roundtables;
- Full access to the redesigned ImpactAlpha.com –– special reports, deals database and articles archived by sector and geography.
Lock in your year-long subscription at $399.00 –– less than the price of a single conference.
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (and host of the Masters of Scale podcast), talking to Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and says: “Innovation, to Howard, doesn’t just mean the latest frappuccino flavor. It means new programs for employees that make them happier, more engaged, and more loyal”… Blue Haven’s Liesel Pritzker Simmons told ImpactAssets that “thoughtful and rigorous consideration of the environmental and social impact of your investments in the long run is just more informed investing.”… Impact Management Project has a cool infographic on ways to measure a business’ contribution to the global goals… Root Capital is looking for a chief lending officer… The Global Impact Investing Network is looking for a membership director.
Signals: Ahead of the Curve
Busting myths about impact investing. To achieve the ambitious roadmaps to transform global financial markets, impact investors need to dispatch some persistent misperceptions, writes Rehana Nathoo, who left the Case Foundation this year and has founded Spectrum Impact as an advisory firm. In a guest post on ImpactAlpha, she takes on three.
- Nathoo’s Myth #2: Measurement is hard. There is work to do to optimize and standardize, but enough with blaming lack of tools and frameworks. A half-dozen schemas are actively in use by investors and entrepreneurs.
“We need to make space for both incremental progress and sweeping disruption,” writes Nathoo.
Read, “Knocking down persistent myths about impact investing,” by Rehana Nathoo on ImpactAlpha.
Dealflow: Follow the Money
Late breaking: Bain Capital Double Impact backs by Chloe. The vegan restaurant, with locations in New York, Boston, Providence, Los Angeles and London, boasts an animal-free menu, responsible food sourcing and eco-friendly packaging, and works to lower its carbon footprint and preserve water. The Double Impact Fund was joined by the Kitchen Fund, Collaborative Fund, TGP International/Qoot International, and other investors.
- Catch up quickly: What we know about Bain Capital’s $390 million Double Impact Fund
A recap of this morning’s deals. Get them fresh in your inbox by subscribing today.
Olam’s $500 million club loan shows bankers will pay for more sustainable agriculture. Olam, the Singapore-based food giant, closed a $500 million revolving credit facility with a “club” of 15 major banks that lowers its interest payments if it hits sustainability targets. Read more.
MetLife anchors Reinvestment Fund’s Clean Energy Fund. The insurance company is investing $10 million in the Philadelphia-based community development financier’s new loan fund for small- to mid-sized clean energy projects. Dig deeper.
Coastal Community Foundation kicks off impact investing strategy. The foundation in Charleston, SC, has earmarked $3 million for impact investments in education and economic opportunity. Read on.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund backs Indian solar initiative. The fund is partneringwith a Chinese developer in a $930 million project in India, days after announcing a $1 billion investment in Saudi Arabia’s ambitious solar initiative. Learn more.
Click here for more ImpactAlpha dealflow. Send deal tips and news to [email protected].
