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Point/Counterpoint: Does Socially Responsible Investing Make Financial Sense?
Socially responsible investing has come a long way from the days when it mostly meant not buying the shares of companies in controversial industries such as tobacco, firearms, alcohol or gambling.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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5 Trends Driving the Future of Sustainable Investing
“Why can’t my investment portfolio reflect my personal values?” We’re increasingly hearing that question from clients who want to pursue sustainable investment strategies that align their personal values with their investments. According to Morningstar, assets in socially screened portfolios now exceed $6 trillion, up from $639 billion in 1995. Demand for sustainable investments seems particularly important to the millennials that represent the next generation of investors for advisors. A Morgan Stanley survey of individual investors highlights this coming demand, as 71% of respondents and 84% of millennial investors expressed interest in sustainable investing.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Former D.E. Shaw Chief Risk Officer Peter Bernard to Join Impact Investing Pioneer Root Capital as Chief Operating Officer
Root Capital is pleased to announce Peter Bernard as the organization’s first chief operating officer (COO). Peter will join Root Capital on March 1, 2016 after decades of experience on Wall Street, most recently as the chief risk officer of D.E. Shaw & Company, a global investment and technology development firm with more than $39 billion in investment capital. As COO at Root Capital, Peter will oversee the organization’s lending, risk, advisory services, and talent functions.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Viewpoint: Regulators Should Leave China’s P2P Sector Alone
I got into a shouting match with my 83-year-old father-in-law the other day in Shanghai. He had invested 300,000 yuan ($45,940) in Zhongda, an obscure peer-to-peer lending company based in Zhejiang Province. So far he has not suffered a loss from his adventure but he has refused to pull his money out despite my insistence that he do so.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending
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Stepping in for Social Enterprises
With nearly a decade and a half of working in the social enterprises space, Paul Basil firmly believes that there is a huge gap in funding for-profit ventures that cater to the bottom of the pyramid. There are funds available at the angel space and then at the Series A stage, when the ventures get their first round of funding from VC firms. But, between the angel and the Series A stage, there is a huge gap.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: Impact Start-Ups Left Out of India’s Funding Boom
Aasaanjobs’ fund-raising journey has been a bit different so far from most impact start-ups. Last January, the Mumbai-based company picked up $1.5 million in seed capital from Inventus Capital Partners and IDG Ventures India. Both are mainstream venture capital firms and generally don’t back businesses that focus on consumers at the bottom half of the pyramid. This week, the two firms increased their investment when the company raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Aspada Advisors, the venture capital firm backed by Soros Economic Development Fund.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- impact investing
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Sanergy, Inc., Which Wastes Not, Secures $1.7 million
Sanergy, Inc., a social enterprise that makes prefabricated concrete toilets that turn human waste into fertilizer, has raised $1.7 million to expand operations in Nairobi, where it is headquartered.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing, waste
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Sanergy, Inc., which wastes not, secures $1.7 million
Sanergy, Inc., a social enterprise that makes prefabricated concrete toilets that turn human waste into fertilizer, has raised $1.7 million to expand operations in Nairobi, where it is headquartered.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- waste