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Social Business Roundup: Debating UBI in India, Pondering Change at WHO, Questioning SRI
In this week's social business roundup, our editors note the growing debate over replacing welfare programs with a universal basic income (UBI) in India, the limitations of WHO's donor-funded model, and an ironic side-effect of SRI's avoidance of "sin stocks" – among other developments making recent headlines.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing
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UN Sustainability Goals: A Road Map for Impact Investing
Equity investors are increasingly thinking about how their decisions affect society. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a good road map for identifying investments that can make an impact—and generate profits as well.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, SDGs
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Viewpoint: Shooting Yourself In The Foot With Socially Responsible Investing
Socially responsible investing (SRI). Environmental, Social, and Governance investing (ESG). Impact investing…and so on…
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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IPOs in Microfinance – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Highlights from Our Twitter Debate
Microfinance's first initial public offerings played an important role in both the sector's emergence and in its fall from grace. But in light of two recent successful IPOs in India, many are wondering if public investment is coming back into vogue in the industry. We gathered a panel of experts, including both optimists and skeptics, to debate the pros and cons of public investment in microfinance in a Twitter chat on Jan. 30; you can read the chat here.
- Categories
- Investing
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Environment Benefits As Impact Investors Take On Brexit and Trump
Shocked impact investors in family offices are devoting their capital to their causes in reaction to the Brexit referendum result and Trump presidential election. The role of advisers was also predicted to increase in value to impact investors, according to the T100:Launch, the debut report from a multi-year study of the portfolios of more than 50 Toniic 100% Impact Network members.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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World Bank Accused of Incentivizing Investments in Fossil Fuels Through $5B Policy Loans Portfolio
A new report by advocacy group the Bank Information Center has accused the World Bank of funding the creation of policies that promote the development of coal, gas and oil projects in four countries, but the World Bank says the report “grossly misrepresent” its activities.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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The $12 Trillion Opportunity Ripe for Investing Dollars: Advancing Gender Equality
On Saturday, more than three million people around the country — that’s one out of every 100 Americans — and upwards of another 250,000 people around the world marched in the name of gender equality. On Sunday, many of those same people woke up and asked, “What’s next?” Supporters have posted lists and guides for for the weeks and months ahead, but for those who might want to literally put their money where their mouths are, a new report from BNY Mellon and the United Nations Foundation serves as an alternative template. Its key suggestion: simultaneously accelerate progress and tap into a multi-trillion dollar opportunity by investing in companies that are gender-diverse, led by women, or providing services that help advance gender equality.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North America
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A Tale of Four IPOs: Is Public Investment in Microfinance Becoming OK Again?
Initial public offerings have long been a controversial topic in microfinance, and rightly so. The early IPOs of Compartamos and SKS Microfinance made a lot of money for investors and turbocharged the sector's growth, but also sparked hyper commercialization and debt crises that rocked the industry. But last year, two Indian MFIs had successful IPOs that have garnered a much more positive reception. We spoke with Daniel Rozas of the European Microfinance Platform and Anna Kanze of Grassroots Capital Management about how these four offerings differed, and what they could mean for the future of public investment in microfinance, in this podcast.
- Categories
- Investing
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