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.