impact investing
The recent stampede of asset managers into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is reminiscent of another time and another industry, says Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA.
Lynn Blake, CFA, discusses State Street's new gender diversity exchange-traded fund (ETF), the benefits of bringing more women into the finance industry, and the wisdom and experiences she's accrued during her nearly 30 years in investment management, in an interview with Susan Hoover.
Impact investing is punching way above its weight, attracting the attention of the news media and investors as well as politicians, academics, and even the pope. As interest has expanded, the need for curated video content on the subject — content that is suitable for investment professionals — has grown increasingly clear. With this in mind, I have compiled five of the most informative and useful videos on impact investing.
The young green bond market has grown fast. Since the market's initial inception in 2007, the total yearly green bond issuance has expanded to $36.6 billion for 2014, triple that of 2013.
Time and money are of the essence in containing a viral outbreak, such as in the current Ebola crisis. The international community and several development organizations have made more than a billion dollars available for aid. If impact investors rose to the challenge with innovative funding vehicles, they could mobilize large amounts of capital to complement the existing efforts.
Impact investments are expected to increase globally this year, with countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia among the top beneficiaries. This could bode well for India’s nascent sector, which is one of the most active in the region.
Islamic finance and the forms of finance generally referred to as sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) are yet to actively collaborate with each other. One would think that to strengthen their position in a market dominated by conventional finance, Islamic finance and SRI would be sharing their successes and failures, coming together for joint ventures, and supporting each other on issues for which they have similar views. But such collaboration has not occurred. Building bridges between the two remains an opportunity that is waiting to be seized upon by the industry leaders from the two sides.
One of the toughest challenges for the growing field of impact investing is measuring and reporting social and environmental impact. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has developed a number of tools to help.
Harry Hummels explains impact investing and shares his insights on how impact investing is similar to and different from traditional investing.
Do investment professionals know about impact investing? A clear majority of the respondents to our poll are unaware of impact investing. This result is not surprising given that impact investing is a new field.