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Still White, Still Male: New Report Quantifies Impact Investing’s Diversity Problem
As interest and investments have grown, it’s time for an honest conversation about whether impact investing is perpetuating the inequalities it seeks to address, says Bonnie Chiu, managing director of the Social Investment Consultancy. She shares highlights from a new report that illuminates the challenges faced by women, ethnic minorities and others trying to break into leadership positions in the U.K.’s impact investing sector – and explores the broader implications of this research for the global industry.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing, research
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How to Help Social Enterprises Scale: New Research Suggests it’s Not Just About Financial Capital
For businesses that need to scale, human capital support can provide long-lasting benefits. But Mark Horoszowski, co-founder and CEO at MovingWorlds.org, says that in spite of the value of investing in the people behind the enterprises, initiatives for capacity building, coaching and consulting largely go underfunded. Horoszowski explores findings from a first-of-its-kind report that show the power of human capital, and discusses three paths for building talent in the sector.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Open the Spigot: The Way We Think About Impact Investing is Too Narrow
You hear about it all the time in impact investing reports, articles and blogs: The lack of deal flow. But Tanner Taddeo of ChangeSquare believes the industry's challenge isn't a lack of investible companies, but rather the industry’s narrow definition of impact and how it "blinds" investors to companies that are creating impact in other industries and geographies. Taking a more holistic, rather than plug-and-play approach, will contribute to a broadening definition of impact and subsequently open the spigot for deals, he argues.
- Categories
- Investing
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How to Become an Impact Investor: Five Tips to Align Your Investments With Your Values
Using investments to leverage philanthropy is one of the most promising approaches to helping solve the world’s social and environmental challenges — while also meeting financial objectives. And though the impact investing landscape and its lexicon and metrics can seem daunting at times, getting started is actually quite simple, says Michael Tiedemann, CEO of Tiedemann Advisors. He shares some key takeaways for new investors to consider, based on his company’s experiences with a range of impact investors.
- Categories
- Investing
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Enough Equity Financing: Why the Future of Impact Fintechs Depends on Private Debt
Many high-profile impact-focused fintech firms have been successful in raising Series A and B equity rounds, and many believe that form of capital can serve both growth and scale goals. But it can’t, says John Beckham, Chief Investment Officer at MicroVest Capital Management. Instead, he advocates more debt financing for fintechs that have proven their models. He explores why investors should embrace private debt as a key opportunity to turn a nascent marketplace for impact fintechs into a thriving one.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
- Tags
- fintech, impact investing
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The Latest in Impact Investing in Latin America: Recent Data Shows Dynamic Growth – And New Challenges
Latin America has been making global headlines of late, though often for negative reasons—from the divisive election in Brazil, to the conflict over Central American migrants. But according to Rebeca Rocha at ANDE Brazil, there’s a more encouraging development that’s been building up under the radar: the growth of impact investing in the region. ANDE recently launched the second edition of its biannual survey of impact investing in Latin America, and Rocha shares some findings that highlight both the sector’s momentum, and its emerging challenges.
- Categories
- Investing
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Growth, Focus and Evolution: How INGOs Are Changing the Impact Investing Landscape
In 2016, members of the International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) Impact Investing Network unveiled the first substantial landscape report charting the work of INGOs in the impact investing space. Nearly three years later, the organization has followed up with a new survey showing explosive growth, with INGOs now accounting for at least $916.7 million in impact-related assets under management. Susan Barrows Libby and Stephanie Marienau Turpin, two editors of the report, discuss the findings.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing, NGOs, philanthropy
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If You Build It, They Will Come: Four Ways Impact Investors Can Boost Ecosystem Development
An entrepreneurial ecosystem isn't just "nice to have" - it's essential, both for a company’s long-term success and for investor performance. Ecosystems have a critical impact on a company’s ability to recruit a capable management team, hire skilled staff, benefit from effective mentorship and source new capital for growth – among many other areas. Dia Martin, Managing Director for Social Enterprise Finance at OPIC charts out some concrete actions investors can take today to build ecosystems for tomorrow.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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