The report, titled Evolution of an Impact Portfolio: From Implementation to Results demonstrates to investors that impact investments can compete with, and at times outperform, traditional asset class strategies while pursuing meaningful and measurable social and environmental results.
Ceres, a leading Boston-based NGO that advocates for a sustainable global economy, recently released a new primer that provides guidance to family offices on navigating climate risk in investment portfolios.
This week, the University of Utah announced that the Sorenson Impact Foundation, which invests in philanthropic-minded entrepreneurs, would fund five early-stage social-impact investments that were hand selected by its students. Total investment: $2 million.
Endeavoring to "do more" with my money and my life, I've been an impact investor for 15 years. Back in the '80's at business school, I learned about the equation: value = benefits – price. And 7 years ago, while in Divinity School studying ethics, I was able to gain a bit more clarity on values. Matterings. Impact investing has allowed me to integrate what I have learned about value and values. The MBA and the ethics training meet.
Impact investing embraces this idea. It looks for opportunities to improve social and environmental situations while at the same time producing a financial return for investors on a par with normal investment opportunities. The Global Impact Investor Network (GIIN) is doing a lot of solid work to expand the definitions and concepts of impact investing. Their webpage explains the role they fulfill.
Last summer's communications associate at Acumen, Emma Vaughn, kindly offered MBA students and job seekers "7 Tips to Landing a Job in Impact Investing," a list whose recommendations continue to provide valuable guidance in the search for a meaningful career in the field of impact investment.
Sonen Capital supports the G8 Summit's efforts to catalyse impact investing. Prime Minister Cameron will convene global leaders from government, civil society and the private sector to evaluate potential and practicality of using "social impact investing".
Last spring, while preparing for a business case challenge, I learned about a new investment approach that blends social and environmental impact with financial return–Impact Investing. I happened to be part of a team that was trying to help scale Habitat for Humanity to help serve 50 million people in 10 years, and we were wrapping our minds around the problem: "how can we make sure there is capital for our solution?"
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