In a troubled economy, a continuing bright spot continues to be growing interest in sustainable investing with a lens on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Global financial services firm Morningstar’s latest Global Sustainable Fund Flows Report shows that sustainable funds rebounded strongly after the initial pandemic-induced market sell-off.
The COVID-19 pandemic will have dangerous, far-reaching implications long into the future, especially if it derails recent improvements in many countries’ historically weak health systems. To avoid that outcome, we urgently need to move beyond merely “protecting the needy” in times of crisis. Episodic donations are not enough. Now is the time to start removing
The COVID-19 pandemic will have dangerous, far-reaching implications long into the future, especially if it derails recent improvements in many countries’ historically weak health systems. To avoid that outcome, we urgently need to move beyond merely “protecting the needy” in times of crisis. Episodic donations are not enough. Now is the time to start removing
Donors practicing venture philanthropy see their gifts as investments and draw on the analytical rigor of the for-profit world to assess the nonprofit organizations they support. It has become increasingly popular as businesses show more concern for social good, traditional funding sources have shrunk, and donors demand more impact from their giving. To explore the
A philanthropist and an investment banker walk into a bar… and leave the best of friends.
No, it’s not a joke! Philanthropy and investment really can go hand-in-hand, united through the medium of impact investment. This trend proves that not every investor is driven solely by financial gain – some are passionate about positive environmental and
Traditionally, the primary focus for investments has been the financial return. However, recently the focus has shifted to a different type of reward, ones rooted in creating a social or environmental benefit. Impact investing puts investor capital to work directly in organisations, companies or projects whose core mission is to generate financial return alongside a
As we watched another Earth Day come and go, the global community’s insufficient action on climate change became more disturbing than ever before. There is no issue that more urgently calls for innovation, collaboration, and investment than the climate crisis. Yet we continue to fall behind.
With 17 of the 19 warmest years on record occurring
“When you bring an impact lens to a business, you affect both the risk and the return dimension of your decision,” said Sir Ronald Cohen, addressing a gathering of 900 attendees from 54 countries, comprising social entrepreneurs, investors, and activists.
Speaking about the importance of impact investment, the business of it and the urgency to shift the
Despite low unemployment, strong economic growth and a booming stock market in recent years, countless communities across the country are still struggling. Many continue to face underperforming and often underfunded schools, inadequate housing, limited public services, and constrained economic opportunity. These disparities are often driven by inadequate access to the capital that communities across the
The latest United Nations report on climate change is urging immediate action to avert a global catastrophe in the decades to come. For government, business and the general public, to ignore this warning is, well, irresponsible. The same can be said for investors, their portfolios and, even more so, their advisors.
The traditional metrics
We’ve been reading Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, Steven Pinker’s recent book that Bill Gates called in his blog, “my new favorite book of all time.” We can see why: Pinker argues that the ideals of the Enlightenment—all centered on reason—brought the world untold progress and can help us make
Millennial investors have fuelled a 50% rise in the SRI market, but early-stage businesses have to be able to show they are contributing to positive change, not greenwash, says Triple Point’s Belinda Thomas.
Businesses with a socially responsible aspect have never had it so good. Green is fast becoming investors’ favourite colour. A key factor
There is a spectrum of approaches to responsible investing, from excluding companies that fail certain criteria, through full integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the investment process, and up to strategies that target specific sustainability-oriented themes such as renewable energy.
If non-financial goals are as important to you as financial returns, you can
Impact investing is reshaping financial markets. Hundreds of billions of investment dollars now focus on social and environment challenges. Philanthropies have increased impact investing to address issues like climate change, and private equity firms like TPG,
Solving the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges is going to cost money. Lots of money (as I wrote in my last blog, just achieving SDG 1 is likely to cost $1.4trn a year). So it’s vital that we find new ways of drawing in private capital to supplement the
The amount of money invested in projects with a social or environmental benefit has doubled in the last year to $228 billion, according to a report released on Tuesday, with strong growth in education, food and agriculture.
Investors around the world are becoming more interested in putting their money into projects that do good, according to
Impact investment is a relatively new phenomenon – the billion-dollar trend most people have never heard of. In 2016 , $119 billion was invested in projects seeking both a social and financial return, such as clean energy and worker owned cooperatives, according to the Global Impact Investing Network, an organisation that seeks to publicize and
Acts of philanthropy, or ‘love of humanity’ are at the forefront of society these days. Rising rates in impact investment, strategic philanthropy, and crowdfunding all point to a growing desire to see radical social change around the world. Yet today, for many of us working in the philanthropic sector, there is the question of intentionality
A recognition that the world’s resources are finite and the desire to build the kind of society we want our children to grow up in, is the area of impact investment which is increasingly catching the imagination of the investment community. Given that all investments have an impact – by either supporting or not supporting
In a recent client meeting, financial advisor Stephen Rischall got asked about how to invest in companies that support gender equality and women’s issues in the workplace. Think of it as a #MeToo moment. “The client said that because of the attention on the #MeToo movement and the power behind it, he wanted to invest,”