GIIN in the news Press releases

  • Making Social Investment More Appealing to Institutional Investors

    via The Guardianby Michael Bear

    July 12, 2011

    Summary

    There is a growing interest in social investment across a broad spectrum of potential institutional investors, from pension fund managers, banks, and private equity firms to independent financial advisers and charitable foundations.

    From original article:

    "However, while modern investors often want to achieve tangible social benefits as well as financial returns, the products on offer within the marketplace are not fully matching investor demands. Until this gap has been bridged, the social investment market will not be able to grow sufficiently to provide the requisite support for social enterprises across the UK."

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  • Root Capital Makes Money By Investing Where Wall Street Won't

    via Fast Companyby Michael J. Coren

    July 11, 2011

    Summary

    Fast Company profiles Root Capital, discussing its strategy to make impact investments in businesses that mainstream investors find too risky.

    From original article:

    "Small money, big change. That, in essence, is what William Foote was banking on when he ditched Harvard Business School to start what is now Root Capital, a "nonprofit social investment fund" that lends to small and medium rural businesses in developing countries.

    "Root Capital's business model is to go where other banks will not - the agricultural sector of poor countries - and loan rural businesses as much as $500,000 to expand or improve their operations. The strategy is posting enviable numbers: Borrowers repaid 99 percent of the $300 million lent to them across Latin America and Africa since 2000 (investors reportedly enjoyed a 100 percent repayment rate)."

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  • The Private Sector Must Assume a Central Role in Global Development

    via The Guardianby Peter Davis

    June 29, 2011

    Summary

    A leader from the Overseas Development Institute writes in The Guardian that companies can help reduce poverty, strengthen governance and improve education.

    From original article:

    "Companies are not social-development organisations, nor should we expect or even want them to be. The donor community needs to overcome its distaste for the profit motive and realise that this is what drives the innovation and dynamism of the private sector. It can present benefits as well as costs, opportunities as well as threats and advantages as well as disadvantages. In development terms, the private sector is neither a good thing nor a bad thing; it is a necessary thing."

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  • MBAs Want to Make an Impact

    via MarketWatchby Thomas Kostigen

    June 25, 2011

    Summary

    U.S. business schools are developing curriculum for aspiring impact investors, who are interested in pairing profit with social and environmental good.

    From original article:

    Scores of business school students want to learn how to make profits in the business world. That's a given. But the way in which they want to profit is changing: they want to do good.

    "Impact investing programs, which combine social consciousness with financial returns, are popping up at universities around the world.

    "'Social entrepreneurship programs have exploded in business schools across the U.S. and Europe,' says Suzanne Biegel, chief executive of Investors' Circle, a San Francisco-based impact investment group."

    "Wharton, Stanford, and other leading business schools have launched social impact initiatives."

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  • Wall Street Must Wake Up to Impact Investing

    via MarketWatchby Thomas Kostigen

    June 25, 2011

    Summary

    MarketWatch columnist Thomas Kostigen calls on the financial services industry to offer more products and advisors who can help individual investors enter the impact investing market.

    From original article:

    "It's time for Wall Street to wake up to the fact that what investors want now is very different from what investors have wanted in the past. While 'greed is good' may have been the mantra of the financial community, what people are saying now is: 'greed can do good.'

    "In small villages on tiny islands throughout Southeast Asia, people can now hear and read the news thanks to investments in local media organizations by the Media Development Loan Fund, an impact investing vehicle. In this region, governments tightly restrict television, radio and newspapers; censorship abounds. MDLF has changed the tide. And millions have benefited. People living in remote areas can become educated. Meanwhile, the fund has turned a profit.

    "There are many impact investing stories to tell like this, from Asia to Africa and beyond. And there is much profit to be made."

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  • America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs

    via Bloomberg Businessweekby John Tozzi

    June 21, 2011

    Summary

    In its annual roundup of the top 25 most promising social ventures, Bloomberg Businessweek makes note that a growing class of investors are stepping up to fund these innovative businesses.

    From original article:

    "Investors are beginning to consider social ventures more seriously. 'There's never been more interest from a more diverse group of investors in impact investing than there is now,' says Gilbert. In November, a JPMorgan (JPM) research report labeled impact investments as an 'emerging asset class' with potential investing profits in the hundreds of billions over the next decade. (The report was produced with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Impact Investing Network.) The bank distinguished impact investments, intended to create social and environmental benefits, from socially responsible investments designed to minimize the harm of business operations. 'The impact investment market,' the JPMorgan report notes, 'is now at a significant turning point as it enters the mainstream.'"

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  • Some Ways to Get Started as a Social Entrepreneur

    via The New York Timesby Susan Moran

    June 21, 2011

    Summary

    The recession may be increasing opportunities for social ventures in the United States; this article from The New York Times includes some tips for potential social entrepreneurs to get their ventures off the ground.

    From Original Article:

    "With the economy still struggling, it may seem like an impossible time to start a do-good social venture. It can be hard enough to operate any business profitably - let alone one that also tries to improve the world. But some observers believe that the tough times may be increasing interest in social ventures.

    "'I get the sense that the recession actually has resulted in more people taking interest in investing in companies that are doing the right thing right from the start,' said Wes Selke, investment manager at Good Capital, a social-impact venture capital firm in San Francisco. As one indicator, at least three social-impact funds have raised more than $100 million in the last couple of years: Ignia Fund, Leapfrog Investments and MicroVest."

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  • Philanthropy UK Quarterly

    via Philanthropy UK

    June 20, 2011

    Summary

    This issue of Philanthropy UK Quarterly is focused on social impact investment (SII), and features guests columns from some of the most prominent impact investors and advisors.

    From the issue's letter from the editor:

    "In our aim to support and educate we have talked to many experts involved in SII to gain an understanding of the landscape, the challenges and opportunities ahead, and also offer an idea of where donors can play a part. Our case studies illustrate how business, social organisations and philanthropists are coming together to create solutions.

    "We recognise SII spans a wide spectrum and incorporates many technical issues, and this magazine is intended as a resource; so dive in and take what’s useful for you, or put it to one side for reference. Don't be intimidated by the unavoidable complexity at times. There are many more resources and advisors who can help, many of which are listed in our magazine.

    "Alongside our own reports, we bring word from Europe and America. Melissa A. Berman, president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which is at the vanguard of this new approach in the US, and Serge Raicher, co-founder and chairman of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), share useful insight on aspects of social impact investment."

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  • Heather Grady of the Rockefeller Foundation Talks Impact Investing

    via World Challenge 2011by Heather Grady

    June 16, 2011

    Summary

    The World Challenge 2011 Blog, an editorial initiative by the BBC and Newsweek, features a guest post on impact investing from Rockefeller Foundation Vice President Heather Grady.

    From original article:

    "There has been a lot of enthusiasm recently about innovative financing methods for enterprises that provide not only a financial return, but also have a positive social and/or environmental impact. The Rockefeller Foundation has supported this through our Initiative called Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing. We launched this effort to account for the fact that the financial resources from governments, the philanthropic sector and charities will never be enough to solve the world's social problems. The growing field of Impact Investing is an additional channel to bring in private capital on a large scale. In 2011 this impact investment market has reached a turning point and is ready to enter the mainstream, emerging as an alternative asset class."

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  • Launch of Social Investment Exchange set to Raise Activity

    via East Africanby Cosmas Butunyi

    June 04, 2011

    Summary

    The East African reports on the launch of a new social impact exchange in Kenya.

    From original article:

    "The East African region is set to see more capital inflows with the launch of the Kenya Social Investment Exchange, a platform for brokering deals between entrepreneurs and foreign investors.

    "This will see the flow of more investments that consider social and environmental impact as well as financial returns as key.

    "A recent report prepared by JP Morgan and the Rockefeller Foundation shows impact investment is on its way to becoming the world's 'emerging asset class of the decade,' raking in up to $667 billion in profits during the period under review.

    "With the launch of the Kenya Social Investment Exchange (KSIX) in Nairobi, the region is positioning itself to ride on this new wave."

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  • Saving the World on a Shoestring

    via Financial Timesby Sarah Murray

    May 25, 2011

    Summary

    Sarah Murray at the Financial times reports on the growing sector of social businesses, designed to address social challenges such as affordable housing while receiving financing from investors expecting returns rather than grant-makers.

    From original article:

    "Providing affordable housing for the poor has always presented a challenge: how to prevent the more affluent from taking advantage of cheap accommodation.

    "In Pakistan, Tasneem Siddiqui, a social entrepreneur, is taking an innovative approach to the problem. Potential buyers must camp out on the building site during construction. To fund the development, Siddiqui sells about 75 per cent of the plots at cost to families earning $2-$4 a day. The rest are developed as prime residential plots and sold at market prices.

    "Many believe these kinds of innovations have greater potential to solve some of the world's big problems than traditional philanthropy or aid-based approaches. A growing number of philanthropists are beginning to put their funds behind organisations and individuals using market-based models to tackle everything from rural poverty to lack of access to clean water. 'Business becomes a tool to solve problems and not just to make money,' says Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and chief executive of Acumen Fund, a US-based non-profit global venture capital fund."

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  • Movers & Shakers

    via Crain's New York Businessby Aaron Elstein

    May 21, 2011

    Summary

    Rockefeller Foundation Managing Director and GIIN Board Chairman Antony Bugg-Levine discusses the emerging impact investing industry with Crain's New York Business.

    From original article:

    How much money do you think could be directed into impact investing?

    A report we did last year with J.P. Morgan concluded that up to $1 trillion could go into such areas as housing or rural water delivery over the next decade and generate $183 million to $667 million in profits.

    It's strange to think of rural water delivery as a profit-making opportunity.

    I know. But the people who control large pools of investment capital are used to having results measured, and anything we can do to encourage them to spend more to help those who need it is useful. We talk about impact investing as an asset class.

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