GIIN in the news Press releases

  • 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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  • US to Fund "Pay for Success" Prevention Programs

    via Nonprofit Quarterlyby Saras Chung

    January 30, 2012

    Summary

    From original article:

    "The White House blog recently quietly announced that the federal government will invest up to USD 20 million in 2012 for "Pay for Success" projects to provide preventative services for vulnerable populations through the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor."

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  • World's Wealthiest Turn to Impact Investing

    via Euromoneyby Helen Avery

    January 29, 2012

    Summary

    From original article:

    "If the allure of the finance industry was tarnished by the crisis, impact investing could be the saviour that steps in to solve the social problems that world governments are now ill-equipped to handle alone. The world's wealthiest individuals are now evaluating their investments, and putting them to work alongside government programmes to help solve economic and global social issues."

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  • Pay for Success

    via Good Magazineby Alex Goldmark

    January 26, 2012

    Summary

    From original article:

    "Two federal agencies will steer tax money for social programs through a new for-profit investing tool tested in the United Kingdom and Australia, according to a report co-authored by the White House and the Nonprofit Finance Fund."

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