NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Having started out as a niche activity, largely practiced by wealthy and philanthropically inclined individuals, impact investment is now championed by a growing number of leading institutions in the capital markets. As a recent G8 taskforce on impact investing predicted, the 20th century approach to investing, based on risk and return, will be replaced by a 21st century model built on risk, return and impact. However, such a shift is by no means inevitable, with critics questioning the staying power of impact investing in mainstream finance.

On Feb. 15, 2017, in New York, The Economist is bringing together leading financiers, institutional investors, entrepreneurs and business executives, policymakers and regulators, academics, and philanthropists, to analyze the main opportunities and obstacles to the mainstreaming of purpose-driven finance, all moderated by senior editors from The Economist.

Among the topics to be explored are:

• Mainstreaming of impact investing: The investment opportunity of a lifetime, or mission impossible?
• Seeking impact: The measurement challenge
• Gender lens: Investing in women
• Mapping the demand and creating desirable products
• Impact and infrastructure
• Public finance: Government’s role in encouraging impact investing

Confirmed speakers include:

• David Blood, co-founder and senior partner, Generation investment management
• Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and chief executive, Warby Parker
• Amit Bouri, chief executive and co-founder, GIIN
• Deval Patrick, managing director, Bain Capital Double, and former governor of Massachusetts
• Audrey Choi, chief executive, Morgan Stanley’s Institute on Sustainable Investing
• Olivier Brousse, chief executive, John Laing
• Sallie Krawcheck, chief executive and co-founder, Ellevest
• Nancy E. Pfund, managing partner and founder, DBL partners
• Jean Rogers, chief executive and founder, SASB
• Jackie VanderBrug, managing director and investment strategist, U.S. Trust

Join this important discussion in New York on Feb. 15. Here is what’s at stake: How trillions of dollars will be invested, and with what result.

Download the event brochure here.

NextBillion is serving as a media partner of the conference. Register before Jan. 27 and save $200 with the “saver rate”; use promotional code NEXTBILLION15 for an extra 15 percent off on tickets. For more information, email event-tickets@economist.com

Daphne Ugarte is an international relations and diplomacy professional.