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Why ‘Impact Investing’ Will Pay Off in 401(K) Performance
Walk through the doors of Green Alpha Advisors in Boulder, Colorado and you get what you’d expect; an open space floor plan with an older model bike in the entryway that’s art (or maybe not) and a garage door to open on sunny days. Add in the organic nut company next door and the impact investing stereotype is complete—and paying off handsomely.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Catalytic Finance Initiative Brings Together Banks and Investors, Directs $8 Billion in Capital for High-Impact Sustainable Projects
A consortium of leading financial institutions and investors today announced a new partnership under the Catalytic Finance Initiative (CFI) to direct $8 billion in total commitments toward high-impact sustainable investments. Partners joining the CFI include AllianceBernstein (AB); Babson Capital Management LLC, a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual); Crédit Agricole CIB; European Investment Bank (EIB); HSBC Group; International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; and Mirova, a subsidiary of Natixis Group, all of which have pledged capital and expertise to develop and advance innovative financing structures for investments in clean energy and other sustainability focused projects. In addition, the Aligned Intermediary, representing a group of long-term institutional investors, will collaborate on specific investment opportunities with members of the partnership. This announcement follows last year’s ratification of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the historic climate agreement in Paris. It aims to promote the SDG objectives, including acting on climate change and advancing access to clean energy and water.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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For-Profit Bank Becomes First Benefit Corporation Bank in U.S.
Virginia Community Capital (“VCC”) announces that it has converted its wholly-owned, FDIC-insured, for-profit bank into a Benefit Corporation. VCC’s is the first regulated bank in the United States of America to become a Benefit Corporation. The conversion will attract new investors to help communities and people all across the Commonwealth of Virginia prosper. The conversion does not affect the bank's status as a state-chartered banking corporation.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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The Evolution of Impact Investing – An Interview with Amit Bouri
Since its founding in 2009, the GIIN has become a standard bearer for the industry, providing everything from specialized training to fund managers and a searchable database of funds and products, to an active Career Center and the influential IRIS catalog of performance metrics. We spoke with Amit Bouri, the chief executive officer and co-founder of the GIIN, about his views on the sector's challenges and future.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Social Impact Investment in India Set to Double By 2020
Combining profits with philanthropy is no easy task but a growing number of social venture capital funds and impact investors are doing just that.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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A Shared Destination: Why we need open source impact metrics
Developers of impact measurement systems should provide an open repository of metrics and allow other users to customize them to their own context and needs. Such systems would also allow users to easily frame goals and build standard-based reports accordingly. Only with shared best practices and collaboration among the organizations will the social sector be able to produce a higher impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Technology
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GIIN Releases Updated Version of IRIS Catalog, IRIS 4.0
An updated version of the IRIS catalog, IRIS 4.0, has been released! With greatly enhanced guidance on how investors should use IRIS metrics and a new metric component— the footnote— IRIS 4.0 provides investors with clear instructions and examples that enable consistency in data collection, management, and reporting across the market. The updated catalog also features metric additions and improvements to measure the performance of investments in agriculture, education, financial services, forestry, housing, community development, and land conservation.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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MaRS Catalyst Fund Seeks Startups With Both Social Impact and Financial Returns
The MaRS Catalyst Fund, a national impact venture fund, has raised $3 million and plans to raise a total of $5 million, which will be used to invest in early-stage Canadian startups tackling social and environment issues with potential for profit.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment, Investing
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