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India is a fertile environment for impact investing: Bill McGlashan
As a $2 billion (around ₹13,000 crore) impact investment fund, managed by the US-based private equity firm TPG Growth, The Rise Fund is one of the most ambitious of its kind.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Can Index Funds Be a Force for Sustainable Capitalism?
The investment industry is changing. Among other things, there is growing demand from both retail and institutional investors to align their capital with better environmental and social outcomes, and more resources going into index fund or quasi-indexing products. These two trends may seem separate—or, some people believe, incompatible—but together I believe they have the power to improve finance’s role in the world. Index funds can be a force for sustainable capitalism.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Soldiering on in Solar: Why the ‘Investable’ Deals Debate isn’t the Whole Story
An ongoing debate on NextBillion in 2017 has been the extent to which impact investors should steer clear of the "hype cycle" surrounding off-grid solar providers, particularly in Africa. But after a recent trip to Tanzania where he met with several solar entrepreneurs, WRI's Sanjoy Sanyal argues that now is precisely the time to push forward. He explores why genuine, impact-seeking investors need to look ahead of the current incumbents and support local entrepreneurs.
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Could this investment strategy help keep convicts from returning to prison?
Could a financial institution invest in solving some of the nation’s biggest social challenges — and reap a return? This was a question Goldman Sachs faced when approached to invest in a program to reduce recidivism among teenage inmates at New York City’s Rikers Island prison.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Do-Good Investors: Watch Out For What These Funds Hold
If you listen to the marketing hype, assets devoted to ESG—industry jargon for investments sensitive to environmental, social and governance issues—account for some $8.7 trillion, double the amount just five years ago. That's great news for the planet, right? Not so fast. Much of the growth is a matter of semantics. What were once run-of-the-mill value or growth funds are being reclassified as sustainable or ESG-friendly.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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USAID Announces A New Development Impact Bond
Launched Thursday, the Utkrisht Impact Bond, named for the Hindi expression for excellence, will fund maternal and newborn health in the Indian state of Rajasthan. DIBs are results-based contracts, in which investors — in this case UBS Optimus Foundation, a grantmaking organization focused on improving the lives of children — provide financing for social programs upfront.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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Investment = Inclusion: Can Fintech, With a Boost from Investors, Level the Playing Field for the Unbanked in Africa?
Fintech – particularly mobile finance – is increasingly vital to Africa's economic growth. But despite the continent's impressive mobile money penetration, much of its population remains unbanked or underbanked. That’s why it’s so encouraging to see another trend developing in tandem with Africans’ embrace of fintech: namely, investors’ embrace of African fintech companies. Iftin Fatah at OPIC explores why more investment means more digital financial inclusion.
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Impact Investing at a Turning Point: Read a Free Chapter of Morgan Simon’s New Book, ‘Real Impact’
Impact investing is at a turning point, says Morgan Simon, managing director of Candide Group and founding CEO of Toniic, in her new book "Real Impact: The New Economics of Social Change." It's preparing for rapid scale, but risks falling short of its ideals and transformative potential. Simon discusses eight pitfalls facing the sector in the book's third chapter – which we’re delighted to offer, for free, to readers of our e-newsletter “NextBillion Notes.”
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise