• Summary

    The article notes the growing interest in impact investments by high net worth individuals and institutions alike.

    "Impact investing, most commonly defined as investments made with the intention of helping to solve a social or environmental problem as well as generating a financial return, has seen growing interest from investors, particularly since the financial crisis."

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  • Summary

    New York City will be the first in the U.S. to test social impact bonds.

    "New York City, embracing an experimental mechanism for financing social services that has excited and worried government reformers around the world, will allow Goldman Sachs to invest nearly $10 million in a jail program, with the pledge that the financial services giant would profit if the program succeeded in significantly reducing recidivism rates."

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  • Summary

    The article discusses the partnerships behind pay for success bonds in the U.S.

    "Taxpayers, investors and service providers are hoping to benefit from the pay-for-success contracts and social bonds, while those in need reap the rewards."

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  • Summary

    "These investors are a mix of individual investors interested in real estate, financial advisors who manage money, and other assorted professionals who provide financial lending products, such as banks, community development financial institutions. They are interested in blending social with financial return, but are still exploring the options of this new sector."

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  • Summary

    The magazine notes the gains financial advisors can realize by getting involved in impact investing.

    "For advisors, engaging in the impact investing space can add value to their practice by helping provide solutions for clients interested in this area. It also can be a differentiator when it comes to attracting new assets — particularly among the Gen X and Y crowds as they accumulate assets and seek financial planning help."

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  • Summary

    The article discusses impact investing and Calvert Foundation's Women Investing in Women Initiative.

    "Investing for both return and social good is called impact investing. You're getting a two-fer: financial and social return. You don't need to earn big bucks or amass the kind of money needed to qualify as an angel investor."

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  • Summary

    This piece says that one of the great myths about impact investing is that the practice is ill-defined and therefore lacks integrity.

    "The two clear-cut requirements of an impact investment provide a perfectly sufficient foundation: one, that impact investments are made with the explicit intent to create social and/or environmental benefits in addition to financial returns; and two, that those benefits are quantified."

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  • Summary

    The article discusses LeapFrog Investments' work in microinsurance.

    "Of the 8.7m clients Leapfrog's portfolio companies currently reach, 6.5m would fall into categories traditionally underserved by financial services."

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  • Summary

    The article describes the U.S. Treasury's new guidance for program-related investments that allow foundations to advance their purposes and serve the public through investment in innovative, for-profit enterprise.

    "Investments must meet two main criteria to qualify as a PRI according to existing Treasury rules. First, the primary purpose must be to carry out the foundation's charitable purpose. This means that foundations must monitor their investment targets - much as they would a recipient of a grant - to ensure that the company remains focused on research and development that is relevant to the charity's mission. Second, 'no significant purpose' of the investment may be to generate income or capital appreciation. In practice, this generally means that the investment must be on terms that would not be attractive to an investor purely motivated by profit."

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  • Summary

    The Atlantic surveys the landscape, opportunities, and challenges in impact investing.

    "In the broadest view, impact investors are simply betting on fundamental trends. In a volatile and resource-constrained world, investments to provide food, water, energy, health care, education and sanitation to a growing and increasingly affluent global population arguably have lower risks and higher long-term returns. But on the ground, even innovative efforts to meet basic needs often are hampered by inefficiencies and market failures that prevent those who create value from getting paid for it.

    Enter the financial innovators."

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  • Summary

    Billionaires who have signed the Giving Pledge have expressed interest in impact investing.

    "The hottest topic, says Mr Case, was 'impact investing,' a phrase describing how to invest money to make profits and do good at the same time. Although Mr Buffett is sceptical about the idea, many of the other attendees were so gripped that they plan to convene a follow-up discussion on it."

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