Weekly Impact Investment Market Update: October 26, 2018

Impact Investing & ESG
 

Overheard at SOCAP18: The Alpha in Impact, Billions to Trillions, Women-Led Solutions, Elite Charade?
The full spectrum of impact investing was on display on Day Three of the annual SOCAP conference. ImpactAlpha’s team fanned out to catch the conversation.

3 Ways to Create a Climate Change Investment Strategy
The United Nations released a sobering report on climate change this month, stating that the Earth is warming faster than even scientists thought and that without far-reaching action, the planet is likely to warm to a dangerous level by 2040.

New Investment App Targets Millennials to Change Business with Their Dollars
Newday Impact Investing is a wealth advisory firm targeting millennials, not millionaires. Backed by senior managers from firms like BlackRock and Stone & Youngberg, the San Francisco-based startup is hoping to change the face of financial investment by shifting capital flows to “do good” companies on a massive scale.

BlackRock Bets Big on ESG Investing
The world’s largest asset manager has introduced a core ESG ETF portfolio, new ESG funds and more extensive disclosures on ESG metrics.

A Big Splash in the ESG Fixed Income Space
To date, a massive percentage of the exchange traded funds extolling the virtues of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing have been equity-based funds.

Institutional Investors Seeks ESG Opportunities via Fixed-Income Vehicles
RBC Global Asset Management recently published its third annual Responsible Investing Survey, and My-Linh Ngo, ESG investment specialist for the firm’s London-based BlueBay Asset Management division, offered PLANADVISER her take on the results.

How to Use Donor-Advised Funds to Make Impact Investments
There’s a vast missed opportunity to use DAFs for making impact investments in support of market-based solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Changing the Status Quo: How Women are Leading the Charge on Impact Investing
“It’s the first time in history that women in the U.S. control more assets, or are allocating more assets, than men,” said Barnet. “So I think the biggest shift will be in client demand and what clients are looking for, and individuals and leaders will adjust their strategies and products to adapt to that. Companies that don’t get that shift right won’t be around anymore.”

 

United States & Europe
 

U.S. Economy Grew at a 3.5 Percent Rate in 3rd Quarter
The economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s slower than the second quarter’s blockbuster 4.2 percent, but it puts the economy on pace for the fastest annual growth in 13 years.

 

Developing Economies
 

Emerging Market Debt: Into the Wild
It’s been a volatile year for emerging market debt, but conditions have settled down over the last month or two. That said, institutional investors looking to take advantage of the diversification and return possibilities that the asset class can offer need to fully understand the potential risks from fiscal, monetary and political perspectives — and they need to be patient.