GIIN in the news Press releases

  • World Bank Backs Farmland Investment

    via Financial Timesby Javier Blas

    September 06, 2010

  • The Friday Interview

    via The Guardianby Katie Allen

    September 02, 2010

    Summary

    The Guardian sits down with Caroline Mason, co-founder of Investing for Good which has advised more than GBP 25 million in impact investments since its launch in 2005. Mason, whose background is in traditional banking, shares her perspective on why mainstream investors should integrate social and environmental goals into their investments.

    From original article:

    "[Investing for Good] started out with the basic premise that 'ordinary people generally would like to see their money put to good use.'

    It was a time when figures such as Scottish tycoon Tom Hunter were hitting the headlines by giving away millions, and so the Investing for Good founders first looked into offering their financial know-how to philanthropists. But they soon realised philanthropy did not fit with their fundamental goal of helping social and environmental causes along the way.

    'This concept of making as much as you possibly can, irrespective of what it does, and then giving it away to try and give something back was a two-dimensional view of the world,' says Mason.

    And so Investing for Good turned its attention to a new philosophy of building social and environmental benefits into investment. 'Broadly, it's about positive use of money as an investment rather than as a gift,' she explains."

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  • Impact Investing Faces Hurdles

    via Forbesby Oxford Analytica

    August 16, 2010

    Summary

    This article highlights some of the key challenges facing social impact investors in developing countries as identified through a survey by GIIN Investors' Council member Gray Ghost Ventures.

    From original article:

    It is difficult to gauge the actual size of the 'impact investing' sector. Many companies are family offices or private venture capital firms that do not publish data on their size or target sector. However, a survey of 31 of the best-known funds in the sector with around $2 billion of assets under management—conducted this year for Gray Ghost Ventures, an impact investment fund—revealed a picture of the main investor categories. These include non-profit organizations and foundations, public-private partnerships, venture capital funds and corporate foundations. Most impact investment firms are headquartered in the U.S. and Europe, but an increasing number are based in developing countries, with India leading the way.

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  • eBay Founder Steps Up India Philanthropy

    via Wall Street Journalby Amol Sharma

    August 16, 2010

    Summary

    GIIN Investors' Council member Omidyar Network, founded by Pierre and Pam Omidyare, has committed up to $200 million to finance projects in India. The Omidyar Network uses a blended finance model, deploying both grants and for-profit investment to address social and environmental challenges.

    From original article:

    Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investing firm of eBay Inc. founder Pierre Omidyar, plans to plough as much as $200 million into India in the next five years. The organization's target: businesses and non-profits that can make a "social impact" and improve life for people on the lowest economic rungs.

    The organization has had boots on the ground in India for about a year and is set to launch a formal office in Mumbai in September, said Jayant Sinha, managing director of Omidyar Network India, on Monday.

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  • Song Advisors invests in Eye Q Vision, K-12 Techno Services

    via Reutersby Team Vcc

    August 03, 2010

    Summary

    SONG Advisors, which is backed by George Soros, Omidyar Network, and Google.org, makes its first investments, totaling $4 million.

    From original article:

    Hyderabad-based Song Advisors has announced debut deals worth $4 million in India's education and healthcare space. The venture fund, backed by the Soros Economic Development Fund, Omidyar Network and Google, has invested in K-12 Techno Services and Eye Q Vision.

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  • Venture Capitalists Plan to Invest $53 Million in Social Businesses

    via Economic Times of Indiaby Ahona Ghosh

    August 01, 2010

    Summary

    Traditional venture capital firms are increasing their investment into social and environmental businesses in India.

    From Economic Times article:

    In the 20-company portfolio of Nexus Venture East, a $320 million venture capital (VC) fund, three businesses stand out. There's Suminter India Organics, which does contract farming for organic produce; D.light Design, which provides solar lighting solutions; and Sohan Lal Commodity Management, which provides grain warehousing facilities in small towns and villages in 12 states.

    Nexus refers to them as 'impact investments' - businesses where the pursuit of profits is accompanied by the premise of social good.

    In the four years it has been in India, Nexus has invested $10 million in social businesses. However, in the next six months alone, it expects to match that amount. Says Sandeep Singhal, co-founder, Nexus: "Businesses are targeting the bottom of the pyramid because people have a genuine ability to pay. So, we are looking at a few good deals in this space."

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  • SKS Microfinance IPO Attracts Strong Demand

    via Wall Street Journalby Satish Sarangarajan, John Satish Kumar

    August 01, 2010

    Summary

    SKS Microfinance, the world's second microfinance institution to have an initial public offering, has attracted both institutional and retail investors.

    From original article:

    SKS Microfinance Ltd.'s $347 million initial public offering of stock was subscribed 13.8 times after drawing strong investor demand, one of the bankers involved in the deal said Monday.

    The IPO, the first in India by a microfinance institution, has attracted significant attention to an area of the economy that is still nascent as an organized sector.

    Order-taking from institutional investors ended Friday, and orders from retail investors ended Monday.

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  • Big Brokerages Must Work to Embrace Microfinance

    via Financial Timesby Tom Stabile

    July 31, 2010

    Summary

    This opinion piece, which first appeared in the Financial Times Fund Manager section, identifies an emerging market for financial intermediaries in microfinance, an investment sector that satisfies the demands of investors with social motivations.

    From original article:

    Two trains are chugging through the post-crash marketplace - one full of wealthy US investors willing to put their capital toward a mix of investment return and social good, and the other of developing world entrepreneurs and institutions hungry for modern financial tools.

    But for now, they move along separate tracks with no junction in sight.

    While "impact investing" - the concept of forgoing some percentage points of market return in exchange for a measurable social benefit - is not widespread, US advisers say they see many clients today scouting opportunities beyond simple philanthropy.

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  • Rich I.P.O Brings Controversy to SKS Microfinance

    via New York Timesby Stephanie Strom, Vikas Bajaj

    July 28, 2010

    Summary

    The New York Times writes how the impending initial public offering of SKS Microfinance shares has raised a debate about the future of its non-profit partnerships, and the future of the microlender's social components.

    From original article

    The question is whether the social good will be as amply rewarded.

    SKS Microfinance is not the first microlender to go public, and there has long been debate over whether social enterprises should be turned into giant commercial operations. Proponents of commercial microfinancing say the money raised can provide even more loans to the needy than relying only on charitable donations.

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  • Microfight

    via The Economist

    July 28, 2010

    Summary

    The Economist examines the potential trade-offs that socially-motivated microfinance institutions must weigh as they consider an initial public offering — and what these trade-offs might mean for impact investors in these institutions.

    From original article:

    The loans that microfinance companies make may be tiny but their ambitions can be vaulting. Take SKS Microfinance. Already India's biggest microlender, with 6.8m clients and 5.8m active borrowers in the year ending on March 31st (see chart), it intends to become the world's largest by 2012, with 15m clients. To fund this growth, it hopes to raise nearly $350m by selling a 21.6% stake in an initial public offering (IPO) which got under way this week.

    According to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a think-tank housed at the World Bank, the IPO is only the second by a pure microfinance institution, after the offer by Mexico's Compartamos Bank in 2007. More may follow. CGAP reckons that SKS's move "should set the stage for future IPOs in the sector." The omens are good. On July 27th SKS announced that it had raised $64m from anchor investors, including JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and India's ICICI Prudential and Reliance Mutual Fund, at the top end of the expected price range.

    Commercialisation appals some. Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank and the industry's founding figure, has described Vikram Akula, SKS's founder, as a "capable young man [who] took a wrong turn when he decided to use microcredit for making money." But Mr Akula points out that the amount lent by Indian microlenders in 2008 was less than 10% of estimated demand. He reckons that SKS should be doing more microfinance and doing it fast. That means making enough profit to attract capital.

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  • With Squeeze on Credit, Microlending Blossoms

    via New York Timesby Kristina Shevory

    July 27, 2010

    Summary

    In the recent recession, microlending organizations which began by serving small businesses in the developing world are starting to lend in the United States.

    From original article:

    Before the economic collapse, microfinance - the granting of very small loans, mostly to poor people - was a concept most closely associated with the developing world. But tight credit and the recession have increased the demand for smaller loans in the United States, giving microlending a higher profile and broadening its appeal. Both Kiva and Grameen Bank, a microfinance group that is based in Bangladesh and was started by Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his groundbreaking work in microlending, have widened their lending to Americans.

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  • I4c Campaign Invests in Environmental, Social Change

    via Denver Postby Greg Griffin

    July 09, 2010

    Summary

    Impact investing gains visibility at the Lilith Fair, thanks to musician, entrepreneur, and Denver-native Casey Verbeck, whose idea for collaboration is profiled in this article.

    From original article

    Roughly $1 from each [Lilith Fair] ticket sale is invested in three companies and one nonprofit organization chosen by Verbeck and organizers of the female-oriented concert tour. The ventures also are promoting themselves at the concerts. Verbeck would not disclose the size of the investment.

    "The people who are truly tackling today's biggest challenges are doing it through entrepreneurship and collaboration," Verbeck said. "People are realizing they can be philanthropic and profitable."

    Verbeck, who managed the Yonder Mountain String Band until he quit to help raise his children a few years ago, said he is an entrepreneur at heart. He was looking for a way to support young companies with sustainable models or "triple bottom lines" of people, planet and profit.

    A growing field of venture-capital and private-equity firms serves these businesses. Impact investing, as it is called, is similar to socially responsible investing but seeks out companies targeting social and environmental problems rather than screening out those deemed harmful.

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