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Viewpoint: Marginalized Returns: Impact investing has been seduced by a false narrative of combining social impact with financial gains
Impact investing was originally created to improve the lives of others; that impact investing could also deliver financial returns to investors was a means to that end. But nowadays, achieving predefined financial returns has become the primary goal, with the needs of investors taking priority over the interests of the communities their funding seeks to benefit. This trend has fueled a growing mismatch between the supply of impact investment and the demand for funding from enterprises working to improve conditions for marginalized communities.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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These super-rich families are investing their fortunes to help others
The idea is similar to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's The Giving Pledge, which requires signatories to give away at least half their wealth. But this is about investing for good.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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More Evidence of Solid Performance From Sustainable Funds
Investors in funds that incorporate environmental, social, and governance factors into their process appear not to suffer a performance penalty.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Why ESG Investing Needs More Precision and Clarity
It’s hard to believe that roughly 26% of professionally managed money worldwide is pegged to environmental, social and government strategies (ESG). At the surface, this seems like an unrealistically high number, given that asset managers have offered scant details about how they define their ESG criteria. So, where does the truth lie? The short answer is we don’t know, and the reality is it probably doesn’t matter.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- ESG, ESG investing, ETF, impact investing
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Rockefeller Foundation, Nonprofit ETF Plan to Expand ESG Strategies
With a secured $300,000 grant from one of the nation’s foremost philanthropies, Impact Shares will be launching the first of its innovative social issue-related ETFs in late 2017, according to a note.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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OPINION: Socially responsible investing an expensive taste
Other benefits like peace and a livable planet notwithstanding, the financial cost of socially responsible investing appears to be high.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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World’s first social impact bond achieved goals and repaid investors
But experts warn that the success of the One Service in Peterborough does not necessarily mean the SIB model will work elsewhere.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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To Fix the Gender Gap, Fix the Digital Divide
Most job growth will come from STEM fields, yet women make up only 12 percent of engineering students. That’s why MIT’s new Solve initiative launched a Women and Technology Challenge asking for technology-fueled solutions that enable women and girls’ full participation in the economy. Selected solutions will receive support from cross-sector leaders interested in investing in innovative social impact projects – the Solve challenge deadline is Aug. 1.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment, Inclusive Fintech, Technology
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