Month: September 2017

Impact Investing & ESG

Barclays Launches an ‘Impact Investing’ Fund Seeded by Harvey McGrath in Response to Demand

Barclays has developed and launched an impact investment vehicle, seeded by Sir Harvey McGrath and designed to reflect the social conscience of the modern investor; together they believe conscience and credible returns can be compatible.

Open Daily: The Impact Data Flywheel Starts to Spin

The impact data flywheel is starting to spin. ImpactAlpha’s Operation Impact series has highlighted advances that are starting to make it possible to add “impact” (to risk and return) as a core consideration in investment decision-making. The series has explored: the new culture of transparency around impact financing and performance; higher-value, lower-cost data about the real impact of investments on customers and communities; and crisp, comparable data to drive improvements in impact management.

Impact Investments in India Don’t Mean Lower Returns for Investors: McKinsey

Busting the myth that impact investing means lower returns, a recent report by McKinsey shows that impact investments in India have demonstrated an ability to employ capital sustainably while meeting the financial expectations for investors. This has resulted in impact investments in India topping $1 billion for the second year in a row in 2016. The value of impact investments reached $1 billion for the first time in 2015, and surpassed that in 2016 with $1.1 billion investments.

Millennials are Driving a Shift in How the Ultra-Wealthy Manage Their Money

Family offices, which manage the money of the super rich, are focusing more on philanthropy and impact investing, according to a report out by UBS, the Switzerland-based financial services firm. Over 40% of family offices are set to ramp up allocation towards sustainable or impact investments, which seek to deliver outsized returns and remedy environmental and social ills, according to the report.

ESG Assets Top $164 Billion in Q2

Assets invested in environmental, social, and governance strategies topped $164 billion as of June 30; the average fund size was $562 million and there were about 290 active funds. While assets have grown nearly 20% since the end of 2015, and 60% since the end of 2012, the number of available funds has decreased from 2015’s peak of 324, and has since hovered around 300 total funds.

Growth, Millennial-Driven Impact Investing in New Global Family Office Report 2017

Sara Ferrari, head of global family office group at UBS, said the 2017 report showed as millennials became more involved in their family offices, they were nudging along the trend towards impact investing, with 40% of family offices saying they planned to increase their allocation in this investment class over the next year.

Innovations in Financing Structures for Impact Enterprises: Spotlight on Latin America

Growing interest in the financing needs of impact enterprises has given rise to meaningful experimentation in deal structuring and the emergence of some early good practices among entrepreneurs and investors. Three clear trends have emerged: a growing appetite for different forms of capital, an emerging marketplace of innovation in financing structures, and an increasing need to do more. This report was prepared to foster the flow of more capital that is adequate for early and growth-stage impact enterprises in light of these trends. The research and exploration done for the report was supplemented with direct engagement with fund managers, asset owners, and impact entrepreneurs to ensure its applicability to their work.

ADB Proposes New Approaches to Financing Energy Projects

Governments of cash-strapped developing nations should start exploring a range of innovative financing solutions to support the development of environment-focused infrastructure projects such as financially bankable solar installations, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says in a new report.

The 2017 Best for the World Honorees

A total of 846 businesses across 52 industries from 48 countries are recognized on the full list of 2017 Best for the World honorees.

United States & Europe

U.S. Stocks Reach Another Milestone as S&P 500 Vaults Past 2,500

The benchmark gained 0.2 percent to 2,500.23 Friday, capping its biggest weekly advance since January, as technology shares rebounded and banks climbed with Treasury yields. Up 12 percent since January, the S&P 500 is on course for its best annual gain in four years.

Developing Economies

Nigeria Announces $5.8 Billion Deal for Record-Breaking Power Project

The 3,050-megawatt Mambila hydroelectric power project in the state of Taraba will be delivered by a consortium of Chinese state-owned construction firms. The megaproject will feature four dams between 50 and 150 meters tall, and take six years to complete, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, told reporters in Abuja.

Are Women Entrepreneurs the Key to Global Economic Development?

Today women are as likely as men to recognize the business opportunities around them. In Africa and most of Asia, fear of business failure rates among women are equal to or less than that among men. Women consider themselves strong innovators. In developing countries in particular, the opportunities offered by women entrepreneurs help grow markets and increase employment prospects.

$19 Billion in Emerging-Market Debt Boils Down to the Dollar

Investors have poured $19.2 billion into local-currency emerging-market debt funds this year. That’s the fastest pace of flows since 2010, helping to drive some of the biggest returns on record.

Impact Investing & ESG

How Big Companies are Turning to Small Businesses to Expand Their Reach?—?and Their Impact

More and more multi-national corporations have recognized that working with local small and growing businesses?—?commercially viable ventures with five to 250 employees, and with significant potential and ambition for growth?—?can boost a corporation’s bottom line and improve the lives of people in less-developed economies. Supply chains, distribution, technology, and reaching new markets are all key areas where the corporation and small and growing businesses can benefit.

Business Reporting on the SDGs: An Analysis of the Goals and Targets

On September 21st, GRI and the UN Global Compact will launch the first outcome publication of their groundbreaking Action Platform for Business Reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The publication An Analysis of the Goals and Targets, demystifies the esoteric world of sustainability disclosures for companies seeking to report their impact on the SDGs.?

ESG ETFs Help Retail Investors Track Institutional-Level Strategies

Environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investing has found a solid footing among institutional investors, but the theme is slowly trickling down to advisors and retail investors. With the emergence of ESG-related exchange traded funds, adoption could also continue to pick up pace.

A New Bond Taps Private Money for Aid Projects in War Zones

Investors might be expected to run a mile from a deal on offer in a conflict-torn part of Africa. At best, it will pay an annual return of 7%; at worst, 40% of the original investment is lost. But a dozen social investors have pooled SFr26m ($27m) to finance the world’s first “humanitarian impact bond”, issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). It will pay for three rehabilitation centers to be built and run in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Nigeria.

SOCAP Taps Impact-Investing Leaders to Curate “Spotlight” Sessions

Organizers have turned over a portion of the conference to guest curators to “spotlight” key questions facing the impact community. B-Lab, the nonprofit leading the B Corp movement, will bring together leaders to explore how businesses can be “systemic change agents for good.” Mission Investors Exchange, the network of impact investing foundations, will dig into how foundations can work with partners to bring more capital to bear on social and environmental problems. CultureBank, founded by Deborah Cullinan and Penelope Douglas, will explore the role of artists and cultural movements in promoting lasting change.

United States & Europe

Congressional Democrats Back Harvey Aid with Three-Month Debt Limit Increase

Congressional Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they would support an effort to tie government financial relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey to a three-month extension of the nation’s debt limit.

Emmanuel Macron, in Greece, Calls for ‘Rebuilding’ E.U.

In an appearance filled with symbolism on his first state visit to Greece, President Emmanuel Macron of France on Thursday outlined his vision for a stronger, more united Europe from the heart of the country whose severe financial problems threatened the viability of the euro.

Developing Economies

Brazil Emerges from its Worst Recession

Brazil confirmed its slow exit from the country’s worst recession on record Friday with the economy nudging up 0.2 percent, the second straight quarter to show growth, the official statistics office said. The increase in GDP surprised analysts polled earlier by financial newspaper Valor who’d been expecting no movement for the second quarter of the year.

Colombia Central Bank Expected to Make Final Rate Cut of Year

Colombia’s central bank board is expected to make its seventh and final interest rate cut of the year at its meeting on Thursday, taking advantage of falling inflation to try to boost the economy.

Nigeria and South Africa Emerge from Recession?

Two of the largest economies in Africa are growing again after recessions. Nigeria’s GDP expanded by 0.55% in the second quarter of 2017 year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, ending five consecutive quarters of contraction. Quarter-on-quarter growth for the same period was 3.23%.

How Digital Finance Could Boost Growth in Emerging Economies

Two billion individuals and 200 million micro, small, and midsize businesses in emerging economies today lack access to savings and credit. Digital finance—payments and financial services delivered via mobile phones and the Internet—could transform the lives and economic prospects of individuals, businesses, and governments across the developing world, boosting GDP and making the aspiration of financial inclusion a reality.

Latin America and the Caribbean Seek to Transform their Food Systems to Defeat Hunger and Malnutrition

FAO and PAHO have invited countries from across the region to present exemplary experiences that allowed a change in the way that food is produced, marketed, and consumed. Transforming food systems will be key to the strategy that is needed to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO and PAHO indicated today.

Impact Investing & ESG

Impact Management: How the Right Data Can Drive Performance for People and the Planet

What, who, how much, at what risk- and how does the impact compare to what would have happened anyway?

Investing in Women: Closing the Gender Capital Gap in Southeast Asia

With assets under management estimated at US $114 billion, the impact investing space has grown strongly in the recent past and plays an important role in filling the SME financing gap in emerging markets, with a range of financial instruments that can be tailored to the individual needs of women’s businesses.

United States & Europe

US Employment Growth Misses Forecasts for August

The US economy added 156,000 jobs in August, less than the previous month and below expectations.

Developing Economies

Climate Change Threatens Agricultural Trade in Pacific Rim Economies, UN Agency Warns

With global warming expected to significantly impact future yields in countries located closer to the equator, the United Nations agriculture agency is calling on Asia-Pacific economies to take a leading role in adaptation and mitigation.

US $9.5 Billion City Water Projects Open for Investment

New research from CDP, the international environmental reporting and data non-profit, today reveals that US$9.5 billion worth of city water projects are now open for investment. The cities most concerned about their water supply lie in Asia and Oceania (84%); with serious risks also identified in Africa (80%) and Latin America (75%).

Sustainable Tourism- A Tool for Development and Poverty Eradication

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, underscoring its power to help eradicate poverty. Tourism is also singled out in three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, tourism is tied to the goals on sustainable economic growth and decent employment, sustainable production and consumption, as well as the conservation and sustainable use of oceans.

Zambia’s Economic Outlook is Now Stable- Standard and Poor’s

Rating agency Standard and Poor’s has revised Zambia’s economic outlook from negative to stable. It says Zambia’s improving growth prospects and greater liquidity in its banking system have prompted it to change its outlook on the country.

Kenya Presidential Election Cancelled by Supreme Court

Kenya’s Supreme Court has annulled the result of last month’s presidential election, citing irregularities, and ordered a new one within 60 days.

The Potential for Growth and Africa’s Informal Economy

The informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa is the second-largest in the world, after Latin America and the Caribbean. From 2010-2014, the sub-Saharan Africa’s informal economy accounted for 38 percent of GDP to the region.

Using Plastic Bags is Now Illegal- and Punishable by Jail Time- in Kenya

After trying to institute a ban several times in the past decade, Kenya officially banned the use of plastic bags on August 28, 2017.

Here’s How China is Changing Africa’s Future

China is rolling out its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, a project to build a new “Silk Road” that could change the meaning of globalization itself. China’s inclusion of Africa in the BRI means the continent is suddenly confronted with a whole new set of opportunities and quandaries. On the positive side, some East African governments see the influx of Chinese investment in infrastructure and manufacturing as a way to bridge infrastructure gaps and to position their countries as new logistics and manufacturing hubs that could serve not only in Africa, but also the Middle East and Europe.