Author: trilinc_admin17

Impact Investing – Is It Possible to Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too?

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Posted by Steve Distante on 5/31/18 10:39 AM

To view the original article, click here.

Is it actually possible to create investments that offer impact while at the same time returning market-rate financial returns? We interviewed Gloria Nelund of TriLinc Global, an investment sponsor with the mission of doing exactly that.

Vanderbilt: What do you see as the #1 reason you’ve been able to perform as well as you’ve been able to, creating market return as well as generating social impact?

Gloria Nelund:  We designed our investment strategy to take advantage of a real investment opportunity that also has the potential to create positive impact, and then we created rigorous processes, not only around our investment analysis but also around our ESG and Impact analysis.  What makes us different from other investment firms is that we embedded the ESG and impact tracking into our investment process.

For example, the analysis we do around a company’s ESG policies and practices is gathered in the beginning of our review, at the same time we’re doing our financial analysis of the company.  Our impact and sustainability analysts are part of the investment team and sit next to our credit analysts. When we first get an opportunity they’re together doing the analysis, yet they come at it from two different angles. One important thing about this process is that, early on in the deal analysis, we can identify any potential ESG issues that need to be considered before we commit to full due diligence.

We also are a bit unique in that we have impact objectives at both the portfolio level and the individual borrower-company level.  Our portfolio level impact objective on our current funds is Economic Development through providing access to capital to underserved SMEs in select developing economies.  That objective is tracked on all investments in the portfolio by measuring progress on five key metrics that are known to drive economic development (e.g. job creation).  Additionally, intent to create impact is something we look for in our portfolio companies, so, we require each borrower to identify their own impact objective(s) on which they are willing to be measured.

So, you can see that how we look at companies is multidimensional and goes past the traditional sort of pure investment analysis.

Vanderbilt: Do you think that the upcoming generations are truly more open to impact investing than their predecessors or does it seem more of a myth?

Gloria Nelund: Yes, I believe it is real.

I see it in my own kids, my nieces, nephews and their friends, and they’re all looking for investments that create some kind of impact. Right now, because they don’t have a lot of money, they’re looking at SRI and ESG-screened mutual funds, but, their desire to make a difference even shows up in the products they buy, the universities they consider, and the jobs they seek.

I truly believe it’s just a matter of time until we see the younger generations, the Millennials and Generation X, making more impact investments.  They’re just not at the stage in life yet where they have the wealth, but as they inherit or create wealth for themselves they will continue to drive demand.

We’re already seeing a catalyst with institutional investors though. They are starting to pay more attention to impact investing because there are now funds that can meet their institutional standards of quality investments with track records and rigorous processes. For example, our firm’s strategy now has a 5 year track record and almost $500MM under management so we are able to attract the institutional investors that we could never have as a startup.   It’s happening across the board as more and more fund managers are building the necessary track records and can finally be seen as a viable option for institutional investors.

Vanderbilt: What do you see as the biggest factor working against the progress of impact investing?

Gloria Nelund: There are a few things.

One is the lack of clarity from the industry itself around common definitions, language, and metrics.  I would say that, as an industry, we’ve made the biggest strides with ESG because the CFA Institute published an ESG Guide for Investors and have incorporated ESG principles into their CFA testing. That has really helped bring some clarity and emphasis.  But in other cases, the vocabulary can be quite varied. For example, we don’t all define “impact investing” the same way and we use different rules and standards for how we track and report.  The best illustration of this is “job creation.”  To measure growth in jobs, you need to know what defines a “job.” Is it only full time workers, or does it include part time workers, seasonal employees, contractors?

To make sure we are comparing apples to apples, there need to be commonly accepted rules and standards, similar to GAAP, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for financial reporting.  Just like companies in different industries have different types of financial reports, GAAP ensures that they all use the same definitions and apply common accounting rules the same way.  We need similar rules and standards that guide impact tracking and reporting, regardless of a firm’s individual impact framework.  For tracking and reporting on impact, our company uses the IRIS metrics, that then roll up to our impact objectives.

Second, education of advisors and investors is an issue. This is just a matter of time and scale; the more people who are aware of impact investing, and the more capacity there is, the quicker the adoption rate.

Third, there are still not enough investible funds that create competitive returns and impact at the same time.  Since the majority of investors simply can’t give up investment returns to do good, we need more impact investment options that can deliver market-rate returns.  Individual investors have two “buckets;” their investment bucket and their philanthropy bucket.  The investment bucket needs to generate their target returns so that they don’t outlive their money (or so they can maintain their lifestyle).  That means that anything perceived to have concessionary returns, ends up in the philanthropy bucket, which is a much smaller bucket.  So, if we want them to use “investment” capital, we need products that can do both; generate market rate returns from investments in sustainable, responsible companies, AND prove the impact of the investments.

Institutional investors have the same issue, but for different reasons.  They all have an investment mandate, or investment policy statement, that says “here is what you have to do.” So, they really can’t make concessionary investments either.

Impact investing, if done properly, can yield products that are scalable, deliver risk-adjusted market rate returns, with disciplined operations and compliance processes, yet at the same time, can generate positive, measurable impact. What Gloria didn’t tell us in the interview is that TriLinc Global is a B Corp, meaning they were required to undergo a rigorous certification process to demonstrate that the firm has great employee practices, great governance, is active in the community, and does appropriate things to support the environment. TriLinc Global is a great example of how we can be smart investors and business owners and do it all in a way that benefits people and planet.

Read more from the Vanderbilt Financial Group blog here.

TriLinc Takes Center Stage at EMPEA Conference

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TriLinc Global Chief Investment Officer, Paul Sanford, recently participated in the Oxford-Style Debate at the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) 20th Annual Global Private Equity Conference in association with the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA).

The Global Private Equity Conference (GPEC) is the leading emerging markets private equity event in the world, each year hosting over 850 investment professionals from more than 60 countries. Organizations from family offices, to fund-of-funds, to private equity managers gather for thought-provoking discussions, debates and analyses that are most top-of-mind for today’s business and industry leaders.

On May 16th, GPEC hosted an Oxford-Style Debate on the subject of Private Debt versus Private Equity. Both debaters were also impact investors; Paul Sanford argued on behalf of private debt as Chief Investment Officer at TriLinc , and his counterpart Andrew Kuper argued in favor of private equity as Founder and CEO of Leapfrog Investments. Before presenting arguments, the audience was asked to vote in favor for private equity or private debt using a voting system through a mobile phone application integrated with the event.

Mr. Kuper opened the debate with a strong position rooted in the upside potential of private equity. He challenged the audience to imagine investing in a successful emerging markets company such as Alibaba.

“If you had invested in Alibaba… do you say, ‘Oh, how I wish I had invested in their bonds or given them a little bit of credit,’? Or do you say, ‘I wish I had invested in the equity, because I’d be a billionaire!’” Andrew Kuper, Founder and CEO of Leapfrog Investments.

Mr. Sanford opened the debate with an equally strong position on private debt and asked the audience to raise their hands if they were an LP or allocator. As member of the investment committee for City of Hope, a billion-dollar cancer research facility, Mr. Sanford is himself an LP and understands that pitching private equity in emerging markets might have his committee members, “pass out” (which drew a few laughs from the audience). Identifying with a large majority of the audience, he argued that private equity alone was too risky despite the opportunity to make large returns.

“[For LPs,] Emerging Market private debt is at a minimum the best way to dip their toe into the asset class, into the region, get comfortable with private assets, see the return stream and then say, ‘Well, that was a great experience – why don’t I look at private equity?’” Paul Sanford, Chief Investment Officer of TriLinc Global.

In true Oxford style, both debaters fielded questions from the audience before the audience was asked to cast another vote. Mr. Sanford’s arguments changed enough of the audience’s votes from private equity to private debt, and he was named the victor. In good fashion, both debaters felt a combination of both private equity and private debt is the best path to success when investing in Emerging Markets.

You can watch the debate in its entirety below:

https://vimeo.com/272817056

Impact Investing was an overarching theme at this year’s 20th Global Private Equity Conference. Several panels and breakout sessions focused on impact investing, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, and the growth of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was Secretary Madeleine Albright’s opening statement that truly connected emerging market investing and impact investing.

“Good Emerging Market investors are all impact investors, and some of the best opportunities in Emerging Markets don’t just serve one country but many geographies,” Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, 1997-2001.

Dr. Jim Kim, President of The World Bank, spoke with David Rubenstein, Co-Founder of The Carlyle Group. Dr. Kim discussed the need to make capitalism work for everyone on the planet and suggested that private investments will play a critical role in providing the capital and expertise needed in emerging markets. Mr. Rubenstein predicted that more private capital would enter emerging markets over the next 10 years as growth trends and the economic climate in emerging markets improve.

“We have 8 billion people with middle class aspirations,” Dr. Jim Kim, President of The World Bank.

TriLinc Global would like to thank EMPEA and the IFC for continuing to advance an industry by way of organizing, educating, and inspiring so many through its Global Private Equity Conference. We’re honored to have been asked to participate in a special way this year and look forward to next year. For more information on EMPEA, visit their website: https://www.empea.org/

Joan Trant Participated in Panel on the Impact of Fixed Income at Total Impact Conference

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TriLinc Global Managing Partner, Joan Trant, recently attended the Total Impact Conference and participated on a panel – Making Impact with Fixed Income.

The Total Impact Conference is a collaborative event with the Good Capital Project and ImpactPHL. The conference aims to help financial advisors and investors who are seeking to simultaneously achieve financial and social returns. Sustainable investment experts, academics, and development leaders spent two days demonstrating how to integrate impact across asset classes.

The Making Impact with Fixed Income panel focused on municipal bonds, social impact bonds, microfinance, community notes and other fixed income products in the market working to achieve social impact across the fixed income risk-return spectrum.

“ESG and impact requirements not only help mitigate governance, social and environmental risks; they help ensure execution of fiduciary duty,” said Joan Trant, Managing Partner, from the panel.

Joan Trant put forth the idea that investors and advisors can use fixed income investments to build their own impact investment portfolios.

“Fixed income investments that combine rigorous credit analysis, impact intentionality, measurement, and reporting demonstrate how investors can activate all asset classes to construct a strategic and tactical impact investment portfolio.”

TriLinc team members will be speaking at various events in the upcoming weeks. Some events include: the IFC’s 20th Annual Global Private Equity Conference in Association with EMPEA on May 16th, LPGP Connect Private Debt Conference and Women in Private Debt Conference in New York on May 22nd-23rd, the CAIA LA Impact/ESG Investing Summit on June 7th, and the IPA Women’s Initiative Network Forum on June 20th.

TriLinc Global believes in the power of collaboration and endorses key impact industry initiatives, conferences, and thought leadership that are working to build a more standardized and effective industry. TriLinc is a private impact investment fund sponsor that empowers investors to use their private capital to make positive social impact at scale, without compromising return.  By intentionally pursing investments with the potential for market-rate returns and positive measurable impact, TriLinc helps investors do well by doing good.

To learn more about our global impact, click here.

The State of Emerging Markets Webinar Replay

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On December 6, 2018, Paul Sanford, Chief Investment Officer of TriLinc Global, hosted an educational webinar – The State of Emerging Markets.

The webinar covered several areas, including:

  • A look around the globe
  • Public assets vs private assets in emerging markets
  • The difference between an emerging market and a frontier market


Click here to download a copy of the webinar deck.

Joan Trant, Managing Partner, Kicks Off UCLA Impact Week 2018

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On April 9th, TriLinc Global Managing Partner, Joan Trant, kicked off Impact Week at UCLA Anderson School of Management with a fireside chat and engaging Q&A with students and program graduates. Joan covered topics on impact investing, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and impact measurement. TriLinc team members also participated in Networking Night following the fireside chat.

Impact Week is a collaboration between Impact@Anderson and the UCLA Anderson Net Impact Chapter. This year featured thought leaders and founders of mission-driven businesses and their powerful insights in the form of design workshops, panels, screenings, network mixers and more. ULCA Impact Week is a unique student-led event focused on finding the intersection of purpose and profit. Participating organizations included TriLinc Global, Patagonia, Morgan Stanley, BuzzFeed, Google, OpenIDEO, California Community Foundation, Sagewise, and CalSTRS.

 

Joan spoke about her career path first in international financial services in the Spanish, Mexican, and Argentine markets, and how that led to nonprofit development work in Latin America, then to global microfinance investment, and eventually to small and medium enterprise investment, given the sector’s catalytic effects on job creation and economic development.

“The world is an exciting, adventurous place where we all want the same things for ourselves and our families, but we don’t all have the same opportunities. TriLinc harnesses the power of capital markets to create the kind of world we want to live in.”

She also addressed the combined role of philanthropy and investment.

 “There will never be enough working philanthropic capital to solve all the world’s problems. That’s why we need to engage the capital markets.”

TriLinc Global is a private investment fund sponsor that empowers investors to use their private capital to make positive social impact at scale, without compromising return.  By intentionally pursing investments with the potential for market-rate returns and positive measurable impact, TriLinc helps investors do well by doing good.

To learn more about our global impact, click here.

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Presents: #GIINRoadmap

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The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) released its Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing: Reshaping Financial Markets. Commenced at the ten-year anniversary of the coining of the term impact investing, the Roadmap assesses industry progress to date, presents a vision for the financial markets, and outlines 18 specific actions needed to exponentially enhance the scale and effectiveness of impact investing across the world. The GIIN is the leading organization dedicated to increasing the scale and effectiveness of impact investing as well as transparency, credibility, and consistency in impact performance reporting.

TriLinc Global, LLC (“TriLinc”) is a founding member of the GIIN and actively supports the GIIN’s efforts to unlock significant private investment capital to help solve pressing global challenges.

“TriLinc is a founding member of the GIIN, and we have always shared the vision and dedication to improve the world through investing,” said Gloria Nelund, Founder and CEO at TriLinc Global, LLC. “Our management team are former senior executives of global banks and investment firms, with significant experience in impact investing. We are committed to contributing thought capital, as well as to providing investors with access to products that pursue market-rate returns alongside meaningful socioeconomic and environment impact.”

The Roadmap was developed with inputs from 350 individuals, including TriLinc’s Managing Partner, Joan Trant, who participated in the Senior-level Consultation to identify and refine the bold actions needed to integrate the broader financial markets into impact investing to achieve a better form of capitalism.

 “As a fund sponsor, at TriLinc it is our goal to harness the power of the capital markets to make a difference in communities across the globe,” said Joan Trant, Managing Partner at TriLinc . “We believe the pursuit of meaningful financial return and positive social and economic impact are mutually reinforcing, and industry research increasingly supports our position that a disciplined investment process that incorporates environmental, social, and governance screening and impact metrics can enhance risk-adjusted returns through identifying and mitigating potential risks.”

Learn more about this ambitious vision for transforming financial markets to create a world where social and environmental impact are routinely integrated into investment decisions. Find out how we can collectively take action to attain this vision here: https://roadmap.thegiin.org/

For more information about TriLinc’s impact investing philosophy, visit https://www.trilincglobal.com/impact/our-philosophy/. TriLinc Global is a founding member of the GIIN and its registered investment adviser subsidiaries actively use the GIIN’s Impact Reporting & Investment Standards (IRIS) to measure investments’ social, environmental, and financial performance. For more information about our reporting standards, visit https://www.trilincglobal.com/impact/reporting-standards/.

View TriLinc’s 2017 Sustainability and Impact Report here.

 

Podcast EP 1- Emerging Markets & The Impact Opportunity

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The TriLinc Global Invest with Impact Podcast brings listeners insight and commentary from experts on the front lines of impact investing.

TriLinc Global is a private investment fund sponsor that empowers investors to use their private capital to make positive social impact, without compromising return. TriLinc believes in the power of the capital markets to solve social and environmental challenges. Listen and learn why.
 

In this Episode:
 

TriLinc Global Founder and CEO Gloria Nelund and CIO Paul Sanford join us in studio to discuss emerging markets and the impact opportunity. McKinsey estimates by 2025 consumption in emerging markets will reach $30 trillion annually. This represents what we believe to be the largest growth and impact opportunity in the history of capitalism. Listen and learn why Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) hold the potential to create tremendous sustainable social impact.

Click here to listen on iTunes.

 

DISCLAIMER

There is no guarantee that TriLinc’s investment strategy will be successful or will avoid losses. Investment in a pooled investment vehicle involves significant risk including but not limited to: units are restricted; no secondary market; limitation on liquidity; transfer and redemption of units; distributions made may not come from income and, if so will reduce the returns, are not guaranteed and are subject to board discretion. TriLinc is dependent upon its advisors and investment partners to select investments and conduct operations. TriLinc is not suitable for all investors. TriLinc Global LLC (“TLG”) is a holding company and an impact fund sponsor founded in 2008. TriLinc Advisors, LLC (“TLA”) is a majority-owned subsidiary of TLG, and TriLinc Global Advisors, LLC (“TLGA”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TLG. TLG and TLGA are SEC registered investment advisers. Unless otherwise noted, TLG, TLA and TLGA are collectively referred throughout this podcast as “TriLinc.”

Nothing in this podcast is to be construed as the rendering of personalized investment, legal or tax advice. Podcast content is for general purposes only and does not represent a recommendation or offer of any particular security, strategy, or investment.

 

TriLinc Global Honors International Women’s Day

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TriLinc is pleased to honor and celebrate International Women’s Day today March 8th, and every day, through its fund-level and borrower company-level activities. We are proud to be a female-founded, female-led, and 51% Female owned firm.

According to a McKinsey study, if women play an identical role in labor markets to men’s, as much as $28 trillion could be added to global annual GDP in 2025 – a 26 percent increase. To raise awareness for gender equality, TriLinc tracks at the borrower level its portfolio companies’ female employment numbers and their policies and practices related to fair recruiting, maternal leave, and equality and empowerment.

At TriLinc we believe that better data on women business owners and employees will help governments establish more enabling policies, and assist the private sector in meeting women’s unique financing needs and workplace objectives. That’s why we focus on the UN Sustainability and Development Goals (SDG) number 5, Gender Equality, and SDG number 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth. We believe tracking borrower company data related to female ownership and employees, as well as policies such as Fair Hiring& Recruitment, Fair Career Advancement, Fair Compensation, Maternity and Paternity Leave, Child Care Support and Anti-Sexual Harassment, TriLinc seeks positive, measurable impact alongside market-rate financial returns to foster a more equitable society.

TriLinc’s mission promotes job creation through financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are a proven engine for employment and GDP growth in select developing economies where access to capital is significantly limited. To raise awareness for gender equality, TriLinc tracks at the borrower level its portfolio companies’ female employment numbers and their policies and practices related to fair recruiting, maternal leave, and equality and empowerment.

Help us spread awareness for female-led and female-focused investments with #InvestWithHer on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Lean how TriLinc aligns with the UN SDGs, go to: https://www.trilincglobal.com/sustainable-development-goals-commentary/

For information on International Women’s Day, go to: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Gloria Nelund featured on Impact Mania

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Original Article on Impact Mania

 

Gloria Nelund, Chairman & CEO of TriLinc Global, on Impact Investment

BY PAKSY PLACKIS-CHENG

Gloria Nelund cofounded TriLinc Global after serving as CEO of the U.S. Private Wealth Management Division at Deutsche Bank. TriLinc is set out to prove that profit and purpose go hand in hand.

Nelund retired at 44 and went into her “wilderness journey.” At one point she was a volunteer teacher for at-risk youth in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She spoke with impactmania about how one person, a man like her father, can impact thousands of people and how she decided to be in finance as a source of good.

How do you respond to market perception, where even professional investors are looking at impact investments and saying that they generate no or low financial returns?

It’s one of the reasons I started TriLinc Global. It was to prove to investors that they don’t have to give up the investment return to do good. If an impact investment is a real investment, then investment managers should be following the same investment discipline that they would for any investment in that asset class.

We believe that there are a number of funds that are impact funds that are probably not market rate. They focus more on promoting the impact. But we know there are a number of funds, including our own, that generate both a market rate return and positive impact. They’re not mutually exclusive, or they don’t need to be.

One of the things that we tried to do in the industry is work with other firms … to help define and promote the idea that investment discipline is just as important as measuring and monitoring and reporting the impact.

Could you provide an example of how you measure non-financial returns?

We ask all of our borrower companies to identify the impact that they intend to have. One of the requirements for getting money from us is that you have to be a good financial investment, and meet our investment criteria.

The second is that you have to be a sustainable company. They have to meet our environmental, social, and government screens, which really speaks more to the policies and practices of the company — how they run their company.

Then, third, we require them to have intent to create a positive measurable impact in their community. We let them self-identify what that impact is. Agriculture productivity is a positive impact that a company can have.

There are IRIS metrics [designed to measure the social, environmental, and financial performance of an investment] associated with agriculture productivity.

Once they’ve told us, for example, “We’d like to improve the energy efficiency of the farming practice,” then we go in and do a baseline assessment to say, “Okay, where are you today?”

Then we reassess. We then track, measure, monitor, and report out that impact to investors. We hold them accountable to achieving positive impact.


Are there certain industries that are better suited for impact than others?

We have seen impact across the board. We believe that any company, regardless of what they do, can have a positive impact in their community. It’s really more about their intent, and their ability to achieve that impact. The company doesn’t necessarily have to have a social mission to achieve great positive impact in a community.

We have a mine-remediation company in South Africa. Mine remediation itself may not be impactful. Their business model is that they’ll buy the land and they actually get the tailings; let’s say it’s precious metal. There are leftovers that aren’t worth mining, piles of dirt that have these things called tailings in them. This company has a process for extracting those tailings. Then they sell the tailings.

When they get through extracting all of the tailings, which is also cleaning up the land, they remediate the land, and in this case, they are donating it actually to a group that is going to build low-income houses.

Investors often say, “When I invest, I need to focus on maximizing financial returns. If I want to do good, I’ll just write a check and I’ll make a donation.” What is your response to that?

It’s interesting because I hear that all the time. Even when I was running Deutsche Bank’s Special Loans Management Department, it was surprising to me how even wealthy people separate those two thoughts in their mind. Basically everybody has two buckets. They have their investment bucket and their philanthropy bucket. Anything that they believe is concessionary — I’m not going to get the market return for that asset class — goes in their philanthropy bucket. It is very bifurcated.

High-net-worth investors typically with their whole portfolio are trying to maintain their lifestyle. Whereas retail investors in the U.S., they just want to make sure they don’t outlive their money. They can’t afford to lose any money.

A retail investor’s perspective is going to be even stronger as it relates to impact because if they believe that it’s concessionary, they can’t afford to do it. They really can’t afford to give up investment return. They might outlive their money. Retail investors typically haven’t had the opportunity, until recently.

With the trillions of dollars changing hands from one generation to another, are you seeing the next generation investing it more wisely?

This next generation of investors, because they really do care about changing the world, will get more behind it: number one because they care, but two, if we can really prove that there isn’t a trade off…

I sincerely believe that you don’t have to give up investment return to do it. Impact investments should target achieving a market return.

Our goal is to have more companies like ours who believe that it’s all about accountability and transparency and having the same discipline on the impact side that you have on the investment side. We hope to drive the industry towards that objective.

We believe we can get more people behind it even now.

You retired at age 44 from serving as the CEO of the Private Wealth Management Division at Deutsche Bank. Then you went into a couple of years of what you call “wilderness journey.” What advice do you have for people in this phase?

Take the time to experience that journey, find out what your calling is and what’s really important.

For me, through that journey, I realized that this really was my calling, It’s what I love and was really good at doing. It was about adapting the career that I loved in a way that also allowed me to have a positive impact.

I was personally missing that self-fulfillment of being, having some positive impact in the world and doing something good.

I went to volunteer for a number of organizations and realized, “Wow, this is not for me.” I so much more appreciated the people who do those things. I also realized it was harder on them having me there. I have passion about solving the problem. But I realized my contribution was supposed to come differently.

What did you learn from being a volunteer teacher of at-risk youth at the Los Angeles Unified School District?

Wow, I would say the biggest “aha!” came for me when I [realized] that we all can relate to each other on a very personal and emotional level, if we truly allow ourselves to be vulnerable and look for ways that we can relate as opposed to looking at how we’re different.

I probably learned as much in those years teaching these kids as I could have ever taught them. They have lives that none of us could even imagine. Yet they still need the same thought processes, problem-solving skills, encouragement, and ability to know how to act outside of their situation. They still need all that same stuff — or they’ll always be in it.

It was amazing; they’re just amazing people.

Who is one of your favorite impact makers — someone who left an imprint on your professional DNA?

Probably the person who got me really thinking a different way was Muhammad Yunus [a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and banker who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance]. I got involved in microfinance, as it was getting a lot of notoriety back in the late ’90s. Yunus talked about using business as a force for good. … He spoke of people wanting to … take responsibility for their lives.

It all just made so much sense to me. I applied it differently. I didn’t do it in the microfinance space. It certainly was one of those things that got me thinking differently; realizing that you could use capitalism to solve problems, not just to make money.

Was it something you read, or did Yunus speak somewhere?

When I was at Deutsche Bank, he came and spoke to us. Deutsche Bank was very involved, early on at least, in our foundation. … It’s the first time I ever heard about microfinance really.

And directly from Yunus — that’s great.

Exactly. Then, I started researching it on my own. The Women’s World Banking Group did some events. Eventually, I was able to see it more in practice.

And then, this really did help shape me, even TriLinc: My father [Mac McMonagle] was a small businessman as I was growing up in my career. He started a number of businesses and grew them very successfully. I didn’t realize it until much later in my life that — watching my father and how he grew his businesses and how he treated employees, community members, suppliers, and customers — everybody was part of our family, and he was very ethical. When he would have a success, he would do something to give back to the community. As a result, whenever he started a new business, everybody supported him.

It was interesting because there was a time in my career when I was investing and I looked at it and was like, “Well of course; companies that do good things ultimately are going to perform better.”

Watching my dad and how he treated people certainly had a big impact on what I viewed as possible. It has shaped what we do at TriLinc.

He was a great person. He passed away a couple years ago; even then it was evident that just one person can have such an impact. We had thousands of people at the funeral.

What is one word that would describe your journey so far?

Let me think about that… interesting…

That’s the word?

That’s the word. It’s funny because the first word that came to mind was fun. I was surprised that that came to mind. I would say the majority of the time it’s fun.

I’ll take it: fun with some interesting in between.

Yes, fun with interesting in between. [Laughs.]

Prior to co-founding TriLinc, Gloria Nelund held fiduciary responsibility for more than $50 billion in investment assets. In addition to her role as divisional CEO, she served as the only female member of the Global Private Wealth Management Executive Committee.

Melissa Walker interviewed Monica Yunus. The daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, one of Gloria Nelund’s impact makers.