GIIN in the news Press releases

  • 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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  • Sarona, Liberty, Oppenheimer to Invest $57.5m in Wananchi

    via The East Africanby Cosmas Butunyi

    May 21, 2011

    Summary

    GIIN Investors' Council member Sarona Asset Management tells the East Africanabout an investment made to provide information and communications technology access in East Africa.

    From original article:

    "'Building accessible and affordable information and communication pathways is critical to a society's economic development,' argues Mr Pries [President of Sarona Asset Management]."

    "He adds: 'We believe that our investments in information and communication technology (ICT) companies will allow millions of East Africans the opportunity to affordably connect to the Internet, receive quality communications and programming, and improve the speed at which they make financial transactions.'"

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  • Why An Incubator?

    via The Guardianby Stephen Rockman

    May 10, 2011

    Summary

    Merism Capital founder Stephen Rockman explains why social enterprises can benefit from hands-on training to help them ready their organizations for investment capital. Merism Capital partnered with Hub Westminster to create Hub Venture Labs, which will support social entrepreneurs looking to scale-up their businesses.

    From original article:

    "We'll help entrepreneurs to think like investors and vice versa. I believe there's a need to expand the number of impact investors. Peer networking will be a constant, facilitated by Hub Westminster's ability to create a collaborative environment for the participants. We'll leverage the Hub's global network by running video sessions with other Hubs and utilising remote resources."

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  • What's Cooler than a Million Dollars? Changing a Million Lives

    via New York Timesby Ciara Byrne

    May 08, 2011

    Summary

    The New York Times VentureBeat blog sheds light on the emerging interest in impact investing, and highlights the activities of the Omidyar Network, a GIIN Investors' Council member and leading impact investor.

    From original article:

    "Impact investors look for businesses that have a positive social or environmental impact as well as the potential for financial return. These enterprises can be anything from schools to mobile carriers serving the poor. Can profit-led companies solve social problems? Impact investors think they can."

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  • Aleem Walji of the World Bank Institute's Innovation Team on the Future of International Development

    via Huffington Post Businessby Rahim Kanani

    May 05, 2011

    Summary

    In a conversation with the Huffington Post about the rise of social enterprise, Aleem Walji of the World Bank Institute's Innovation Team on the Future of International Development discusses the importance of standardized impact measurement.

    From original article:

    "The challenge has been in measuring non-financial impact. Investors may be willing to accept lower financial returns if they can measure precisely they are achieving in meeting health, education or water outcomes. The emergence of industry standards for social metrics, industry associations like GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network) are all very promising and will help unlock additional sources of capital motivated by some combination of financial and social objectives.

    "Capital is often but not always the primary constraint. The challenge is matching the right kind of capital with the needs of entrepreneurs at a particular stage of development. Cash-flow based lending and access to working capital for example, are still rare in much of Africa and South Asia and yet that's what many early stage entrepreneurs need. Rationalizing the deployment of capital — that is understanding when grants are the right instrument, when equity can play a role, and when debit is appropriate — is key to helping the sector grow. And from the perspective of the World Bank is critical in leveraging private resources to complement public capacity in meeting the needs of the poor."

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  • Amory and Me

    via Seattle Post Intelligencerby Drummond Pike

    May 04, 2011

    Summary

    Principal at Equilibrium Capital Drummond Pike details his own evolution as a grant-maker and investor in clean energy alternatives. Now, as a principal at GIIN Investors' Council member Equilibrium Capital, Pike reflects on the decades of commitment by socially-minded investors which have led to development of the current impact investing industry.

    From original article:

    "Impact 3.0 firms like Portland-based Equilibrium Capital Group are emerging to build out this strategy: Think about the emerging 'sustainable' economy, consider who the winners and losers will be in the changing landscape, and then back the right folks pursuing the right strategies that will succeed in our resource-shy world. It just makes sense."

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  • The Social Entrepreneurship Spectrum

    via Inc. Magazineby Issie Lapowsky

    April 30, 2011

    Summary

    In its social business issue, Inc. reports on impact investors who support mission-driven entrepreneurs with for-profit investment capital. The GIIN's

    IRIS standards

    are highlighted as a solution to the challenge of impact measurement.

    From original article:

    "Impact investors seek to quantify social return, which is far less tangible than financial return. The Global Impact Investing Network has developed a set of reporting standards known as Iris. An acronym for impact reporting and investment standards, Iris helps impact investors speak the same language so they can compare social returns from one investment to the next."

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  • Social Investing Poised to Make an Impact

    via Financial news (Dow Jones)by James Rutter

    April 24, 2011

    Summary

    Two former investors are developing a social stock exchange in the U.K., where social and environmental businesses can list to raise capital.

    From original article:

    "Campanale was previously a fund manager at Henderson Global Investors while Jethi developed new products at the London Stock Exchange. They want to create a market for any enterprise globally whose core business addresses a social or environmental need, such as healthcare or social housing, and needs to raise risk capital...

    "...Should it launch, the Social Stock Exchange would offer a focal point - as well as a marketplace - for a diverse community of philanthropists, activists, entrepreneurs and investors that has been growing quietly for 20 years or more. Thanks to the financial crisis and its aftermath, this movement has a golden opportunity to make a lot more noise."

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  • Building Prosperity Through Small Business Entrepreneurs

    via Huffington Postby Randall Kempner

    April 20, 2011

    Summary

    Investing in small and growing businesses with a social or environmental mission can help to stimulate developing economies while creating real benefits, says Randall Kempner, Executive Director of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs.

    From original article:

    "In developing countries, there are many other firms with good ideas that can both address a social challenge and earn profits. However, the vast majority of small business entrepreneurs lack access to resources they need to thrive."

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