Articles by James Militzer
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Guest Articles
Tuesday
June 17
2014The Impact of Inclusion: CGAP report looks at recent evidence of how financial inclusion can help the poor
There’s a strong consensus that access to suitable financial services can help poor households improve their lives, while spurring economic activity. But what is the evidence for these positive impacts? CGAP tackled that topic in a recent Focus Note, and we spoke with Nina Holle, an associate microfinance analyst at CGAP, and a co-author of the report.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Monday
June 16
2014NexThought Monday – Financial Innovation Moves Away from the Dark Side
After innovations like subprime securities helped crash the global economy in 2008, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker famously asserted that the only financial innovation that has improved society is the ATM machine. It’s an opinion that many still share - but the recent EMERGE conference showed otherwise. We explore six ways the U.S. financial industry is innovating to actually help low-income consumers.
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- Uncategorized
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Thursday
June 12
2014Part of the Problem – or Part of the Solution?: EMERGE conference challenges financial service providers to raise their game in serving low-income Americans
Approximately 46.5 million Americans live in poverty, due in part to the 2008 economic crisis. But the industry that sparked the crash may be part of the solution, as financial service providers show increasing interest in the low-income market. In the first post in our Domestic Financial Innovation series, we explore the industry’s shifting attitudes toward bank and non-bank players.
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- Uncategorized
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Guest Articles
Monday
June 9
2014Mainstreaming the Movement: Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp discusses the future of impact investing
"Eventually, I think the victory will be when everyone who is investing ... can put their capital into impact," says Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp. But can retail investors accurately assess their investments’ social impact? Is it responsible for pensions or IRAs to offer impact options? And which investments should qualify as "impact"? In part two of our Q&A, Cohn Rupp discusses these and other questions.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment
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Interviews
Thursday
June 5
2014What Makes Toniic Tick? Part One of an Interview With Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO of the Impact Investor Network
Investing for social impact can be a risky business, and it helps if impact investors can leverage the knowledge of like-minded peers. Toniic, a global network of impact investors, aims to facilitate those interactions, bringing social entrepreneurs and investors together for the benefit of both. NextBillion Financial Innovation recently spoke with Toniic CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp to discuss its approach, and the evolution of the sector.
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- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Guest Articles
Friday
May 30
2014Pay For Success: Can Social Impact Bonds Provide the Fabled “Win-Win-Win”?
Goldman Sachs recently made headlines by investing in a Massachusetts nonprofit that tries to keep young men out of jail. The investment was part of the largest social impact bond or "pay-for-success" effort to date in the U.S. Rick Edwards of Third Sector Capital Partners discusses the benefits and risks of the approach in part two of our Impact Investing Insights series.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Saturday
May 10
2014Weekly Roundup – 5/10/14: Every investment is an “impact investment”
Every investment has a social/environmental impact on some level - a fact that more and more investors are taking into account. We discuss Stanford University’s decision to divest its $18.7 billion endowment of stock in coal-mining companies, and a recent J.P. Morgan/GIIN survey of top impact investors, in this roundup.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Guest Articles
Wednesday
May 7
2014A Small Drop in a Large Bucket: The World Economic Forum’s Abigail Noble, on why impact investing needs to go mainstream
In 2012, less than $40 billion of capital had been committed to impact investments - out of tens of trillions in global capital. The World Economic Forum’s Mainstreaming Impact Investing initiative wants to help change that. In part 1 of our Impact Investing Insights series, we spoke with the initiative’s leader, Abigail Noble, about how to bring “$40 billion” a bit closer to “tens of trillions.”
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment, Investing