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How the World’s First Social Sustainability Bond is Connecting Back Streets to Wall Street
The Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB) is the world’s first social sustainability bond with a dual focus on social and financial returns to be listed on a stock exchange. This represents "an immense achievement for impact investing," says Rakhi Sahay, head of Knowledge Management at Impact Investment Exchange. The WLB gives the Cambodian woman entrepreneur, the Filipino farmer, and the Vietnamese mother access to capital by providing loans to high-impact enterprises and microfinance institutions.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Impact Investing: Take the Risk Your Challenge Deserves
At the risk of stating the obvious, investing in early-stage companies is risky. Why then would a foundation – which some might argue are organizations that have a low risk tolerance – get into impact investing? Jami O'Toole, of Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, explains why investments in for-profit firms can fill a missing piece of the puzzle in a foundation’s portfolio and generate social benefit at the same time.
- Tags
- impact investing
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Advisors Accelerating Impact Investing: A Toniic to Speed Progress Toward 100% Impact
While today there are more impact firms and product offerings to choose from than ever before, information on impact intermediaries such as advisors and consultants, especially for private asset owners, remains sparse, writes Adam Bendell, CEO of Toniic. In a study released over the summer, the impact investing organization spoke with 37 impact advisors and consultants in 12 countries who are partnering with Toniic 100% Impact Network members to move their portfolios to 100 percent social or environmental impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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As Impact Investors, Here’s Why We Need to Elevate Human Capital
In a race to bring product to market, forethought and structure around human capital falls lower on the list. Under-investment in talent is crippling in the markets in which impact-focused funds like Blue Haven Initiative invest. The fund's Lauren Cochran and Grace Horwitz argue it's time for investors to take a more hands-on role.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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We Went Looking for Impact Investors – Here’s Who and What We Found
The "friction" of getting an impactful investment fully raised and closed is holding back the flow of capital that wants to be deployed, writes Michael "Luni" Libes. In early 2017, he helped launch investorflow.org, a free service that recently released a report on its first 205 members. Libes explains how the service is attempting to turn anecdotes into analysis.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- data, impact investing, research
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The Power of SMS: How Simple Texts Can Provide a Lifeline for Farmers
Last month, nearly 3,000 coconut farmers in Mindanao received a text from FarmerLink warning that conditions were ripe for infestation by two devastating insect pests, allowing them to take preventive action. That's just one way SMS messages are being used by FarmerLink, a rural advisory service formed by Grameen Foundation and other partners. The foundation's Gigi Gatti explains how the project, which also connects farmers with buyers and other services, is impacting smallholders 18 months after its launch.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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Small Tweak, Big Impact: How a ‘Simple Innovation’ Convinced Farmers to Improve Agricultural Inputs
TechnoServe and the Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC), an agricultural company based in northern Uganda, partnered to see if a simple market innovation would spur farmers to use a hybrid maize seed and boost productivity. The results – as measured by a randomized control trial involving 1,000 farmers – show what is possible with even modest market nudges.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment
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The Complex Truth of Health Tech: Why Greater Ultrasound Availability Doesn’t Always Benefit Patients
Advances in health technologies have reshaped the lives of communities, families and individuals, undoubtedly contributing to better health outcomes around the world. Yet, despite their potential, new technologies can also add new challenges, risking potential gains in quality, safety or cost. Nowhere is this more evident than in the rapid spread of ultrasound devices, which according to representatives of the NGO Management Sciences for Health, carry a potentially significant downside.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
