GIIN in the news Press releases

  • Social Investment Business to Run GBP 10m Investment-Readiness Fun

    via Civil Societyby Vibeka Mair

    February 29, 2012

    Summary

    Civil Society reports on a new fund to be set up in the UK.

    From original article:

    "The Social Investment Business is to deliver a new GBP 10m government fund that will help social ventures prepare themselves to raise additional social investment or to run public services. The Investment and Contract Readiness (ICR) Fund will be fully launched by the end of April 2012, and will focus on supporting social ventures that have the potential for high growth and delivering positive social impact."

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  • Your Practice

    via Reutersby Jennifer Hoyt Cummings

    February 26, 2012

    Summary

    An article on Reuters that discusses the rise in SRI advising.

    From original article:

    "These days advisers help manage USD 3.07 trillion in assets that follow socially responsible strategies, according to the latest industry data from 2010, a nearly five-fold increase from 1995."

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  • Playing with Fire

    via The Economistby Andrew Palmer

    February 24, 2012

    Summary

    The Economist featured an article discussing social impact bonds in Peterborough, UK and other financial innovations.

    From original article:

    "Peterborough is where the proceeds of the world's first "social-impact bond" are being spent. This instrument is not really a bond at all but behaves more like equity. In September 2010 an organisation called Social Finance raised GBP 5m (USD 7.8m) from 17 investors, both individuals and charities. The money is being used to pay for a programme to help prevent ex-prisoners in Peterborough from reoffending. Reconviction rates among the prisoners recruited to the scheme will be measured against a national database of prisoners with a similar profile, and investors will get payouts from the Ministry of Justice if the Peterborough cohort does better than the rest. If all goes well, the first payouts will be made in 2013."

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  • Investing with Intent for Impact

    via SNS Impact Investing

    February 23, 2012

    Summary

    GIIN CEO Luther Ragin Jr. with Program Associate Katy Lankester discusses impact investing.

    From original article:

    "Impact investing encompasses a tremendous diversity of activity. It is not limited to the emerging markets, although some of the more innovative practices occur there. Nor are returns inevitably below market. Impact investments are made across sectors - from sanitation to eye care; across geographies - from the Netherlands to Nicaragua; across asset classes - from short-term debt to private equity; and with varying return expectations - from return of principal to venture capital returns of 20% or more."

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  • Dealing with Trust

    via Forbesby Aman Singh

    February 23, 2012

    Summary

    Forbes features an article on benefit corporations and the momentum for this new corporate form in the U.S.

    From original article:

    "'Benefit corporations,' which take a triple bottom line approach to doing business, are catching on. Seven states - starting with Maryland in April, 2010, and most recently, New York - have passed legislation that allows companies to incorporate as benefit corporations. The momentum for this new corporate form is building across the country."

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  • The Definition of Impact Investing

    via Financial Advisor Magazineby Thomas Kostigen

    February 22, 2012

  • The State and Future of Impact Investing

    via Forbesby Rahim Kanani

    February 22, 2012

    Summary

    Forbes interviews Antony Bugg-Levine, CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund and GIIN Board Member, on the state and future of impact investing.

    From original article:

    "The growing awareness that business-as-usual approaches are not working for our societies or our planet are a powerful prod for people to reexamine their assumptions. That's crucial to level the playing field to make the case for impact investing. In the last few months, the sensibilities around the Occupy movement also spurred more people to reconsider their relationship with mainstream financial services institutions.

    In the US, the "move your money" campaign led a reported 5.6 million people to open up accounts at community banks and cooperatives. We need to figure out how to harness this energy of critical reexamination to create space for impact investors. At the same time we need to fight the growing skepticism that any investment can be socially useful."

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  • Social Impact Bonds Hit The U.S.

    via FAST Company Co.Existby Ariel Schwartz

    February 21, 2012

    Summary

    FAST Company Co.Exist article on social impact bonds in the United States.

    From original article:

    "'It's the economic environment. Government budgets are tight and this is a new way in which you can think about saving customer money. Preventative interventions can cost taxpayers a lot less in the long term than remedial interventions,' explains Justina Lai, an associate at the Rockefeller Foundation, which is investing in social impact bonds both in the U.K. and in the U.S."

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  • Impact Investing

    via Wall Street Journal Chinaby Tao Zhang

    February 21, 2012

    Summary

    An article published in the Wall Street Journal China was translated and featured on the Next Billion website. The article discusses impact investing in China.

    From original article:

    "Triple bottom line investing is another term people use interchangeably with impact investing, in which investors seek to create environmental and social benefits alongside profits from their investments. As the name suggests, in addition to certain financial returns, investors are also looking for quantifiable social and environmental performance indicators to measure the success of their investments. According to a 2010 J.P Morgan/Rockefeller Foundation report entitled Impact Investments: An emerging asset class, the size of impact investments worldwide could reach USD 400 billion to one trillion in the next 10 years. At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, the organizers convened several important discussions among leading investors to look at the prospect of impact investing over the coming two decades."

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  • Two Acronyms Every Pro-Poor Business and Investor Should Know

    via Progress out of Povertyby Lindsey Alexander

    February 14, 2012

    Summary

    The Progress Out of Poverty conducts a Q&A session with the GIIN's Katy Lankester. Katy discusses IRIS and the Progress out of Poverty Index.

    From original article:

    "The Impact Reporting and Investment Standards, or IRIS, is a common language for describing the social, environmental, and financial performance of mission-driven businesses. IRIS is intended to reduce fragmentation in investors' efforts to measure impact, efforts which have historically relied on proprietary measurement systems or anecdotes alone."

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  • Impact Investing Creates Template for Responsible Capitalism

    via Huffington Postby Alexandra Tracy

    February 13, 2012

    Summary

    The Huffington Post features an article on how impact investing creates a template for responsible capitalism.

    From original article:

    "Impact investing has developed out of traditional philanthropy in an effort to find solutions that allow investors to make profitable investments that can also address social and environmental challenges. Impact investors seek to combine the seemingly conflicting aims of investing for maximum risk-adjusted returns and contributing to social good. The level of return expectation varies according to the type of investor."

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  • Insight into the Impact Investment Market

    via NextBillionby Robert Katz

    January 30, 2012

    Summary

    The Acumen Fund's Robert Katz interviews GIIN Director of Strategy & Development, Amit Bouri.

    From original article:

    "Some of the other trends the GIIN is seeing in the impact investing industry are (1) continued enthusiasm among new and existing industry actors and (2) demand for tools and resources that support the practice. With the industry's energy and momentum, the question is: how can we develop resources and tools that help impact investors effectively place capital to address the world's most pressing social and financial challenges?"

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