Promoting Economic Pluralism (PEP) is launching an accreditation scheme to identify, recognise and encourage university masters programmes that take a pluralist approach to teaching economics. PEP advocates for the mainstreaming of economic pluralism – recognising that there are multiple ways of thinking about, teaching and...
How should we understand the social impact of banking? An article in Prospect Magazine takes a look at the intimate interaction between banking and society, and the potential social impact of financial services. Whilst financial inclusion is often seen as the primary potential positive impact...
Private capital must play a far greater role in green projects throughout the developing world if governments are to deliver on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), S&P Global Ratings has warned. A report by the credit ratings giant - titled It's Time For A Change -...
As impact investing grows, investors are beginning to better understand the relationship between risk, return, and impact. Beyond Trade-offs is a series that includes research from the Economist Intelligence Unit on the factors driving this growth, and perspectives from leading investors who have moved beyond the trade-off debate to...
Authentic Investor have released a new collection of short articles written by millennials working in investment. Millennial Voices brings together the stories of six young investment professionals, all working in sustainability roles across Canada, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Their reflections show the...
Ahead of the UN climate talks in December, the Green Climate Fund has pledged $1 billion for 19 new projects and programmes in developing countries. The approved proposals include climate resilience projects in Indian coastal communities, renewable energy in Tonga and finance-focused programmes in Africa...
Should banks measure their social impact? A recent article, focusing on banking in the USA, argues exactly that - and suggests that the financial sector could learn a lot from the non-profit world about how to measure and evidence the impact they are having on...
According to a new survey from the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the value of the impact investment market has doubled in the last year, and is now worth $228 billion. Whilst this figure sounds impressive, it’s substantially less than the $5-7 trillion needed to...
Finance Matters’ partners Finance Innovation Lab have opened applications for the Lab Fellowship 2018-19 - and this year’s theme is data. The Lab is on the hunt for brilliant innovations that harness the power of data to make finance serve people and planet – whether that’s...
The Economist has an interesting piece on Impact Shares - a non-profit money manager who is developing exchange-traded funds in partnership with non-profits. Impact Shares has drawn on the expertise and experience of non-profits to determine criteria for ethical stocks around particular social justice issues....
EIT Climate-KIC – the EU’s largest public-private partnership for climate innovation – is focusing on finance at their upcoming Climate Innovation Summit: Mission Finance in Dublin on 6-8 November. Speaking to Environmental Finance, Climate-KIC’s CEO Kirsten Dunlop highlighted the need ‘to rewire the financial system...
A new report, based on data from the Financial Conduct Authority, has revealed that women in financial services are still very much in the minority at senior levels. Only 14% of partners at private equity firms, hedge funds and other financial services companies are women,...
Edie reports that the ethical investment market in the UK will reach £48bn by 2027. New research from Triodos Bank, which surveyed 2020 UK investors, shows a growing appetite for socially responsible investment. Given that this commitment is particularly high among millennials and Gen Z,...
Bloomberg has an interesting article on corporate sustainability claims and reporting, highlighting the role that investors have played in pushing for accountability. Whilst greenwashing remains a problem, the piece argues that investors are creating greater transparency by introducing their own tools and and reporting mechanisms. Read...
Online investment platform Wealthify has added ethical portfolios to their product offerings. Money Observer reports that Wealthify joins other robo-advice websites Moola, PensionBee and Wealthsimple in offering customers ethical investment options, representing a growing demand for investment opportunities that align with customer values. Wealthify customers...
Worthstone, the social impact investment firm, have announced the launch of a series of ethical investing awards, to celebrate and recognise best practice in impact investment. Award categories include best impact product, best impact firm and an award for individual advisors. Submissions are open now...
BusinessGreen reports that environmental legal charity ClientEarth has written to 14 large pension funds in the UK, outlining how they could face legal action if they do not do more to respond to the risks posed by climate change. The letter outlines how they are...
The Chartered Banker Institute has launched the world's first professional qualification in green finance: The Green Finance Certificate. Finance Matters’ partners The Finance Innovation Lab are proud to have authored the textbook for the course, which covers: The scientific background to green finance, including climate change and...
Sustainable Brands reports that the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), in partnership with climate risk advisory firm Acclimatise, has published a new report, Navigating a new climate, containing methodologies to support the banking industry to understand and assess climate risks and opportunities. The methodologies...
Bloomberg reports that several of Europe’s biggest banks have announced new sustainable finance initiatives, representing the growing willingness of financial institutions to get involved in climate action. Examples mentioned include a sustainable investing strategy at UBS, a colour-coded risk ranking related to the environmental credentials...
Good with Money has collated a useful selection of reports from the last few years that show that the demand for ethical investment options is here, and growing. The reports, including from The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, UKSIF and Morgan Stanley, offer a range of...
In his annual Mansion House speech last Thursday 21 June, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the government will establish a new Green Finance Institute, co-funded with the City of London Corporation. The Institute is tasked with developing the UK’s green finance market but has...
The Treasury Committee has published a report calling for a cultural shift in the financial services sector to address the lack of gender diversity at senior levels. The report looks at the barriers facing women in finance, and found that most stemmed from the ‘alpha-male’...
A new survey of over one thousand high-net-worth individuals suggests a substantial lean towards feelings of societal responsibility and interest in impact investing among younger generations. The survey, commissioned by RBC Wealth Management, asked respondents a range of questions on topics such as how their...
A new paper from the Grantham Research Institute argues that while investors are increasingly taking action on climate change issues, few are integrating social concerns into their strategies - tackling not only the challenge of ‘stranded assets’, but also the risk of ‘stranded workers’ and...
The Financial Times reports that hedge funds are committing an increasing proportion of their assets to responsible investment strategies. According to a survey of 80 investment managers, 40% of hedge funds have already hired a responsible investment specialist or plan to do so, while with...
On the margins of the recent IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced the launch of the Sustainability Awareness Bond. The Bond, which will initially focus on the water sector, aims to support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable...
Last year, the UK Government commissioned an independent Advisory Group to publish a report with recommendations for growing a culture of social impact investment and savings in the UK. Following publication of the Advisory Group’s report, Prime Minister Theresa May has now asked Elizabeth Corley, vice chair of Allianz...
Good with Money reports that Barclays has launched a new Green Home Mortgage, offering discounted rates for those buying energy efficient properties from selected housebuilders. The move follows the launch of its multi-impact growth fund, which enables its customers to invest in some of the...
The GIIN (Global Impact Investing Network) has released a number reports on the financial performance of impact investing, aiming to set sector benchmarks and build a strong evidence base for impact investment. Private debt and fixed income instruments are among the most significant asset classes in impact investing, accounting for...
While there is plenty of available research on the demand from investors for social investment opportunities – and periodic research into the demand for finance from charities and social enterprises – there is little ongoing, up-to-date information available about the nature of this demand for...
On 31 March, the UN Environment Programme Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Finance System came to the completion of its mandate. The Inquiry, launched in 2014, aimed to advance options to align the financial system with sustainable development, and spurred the development of...
Will AI help people understand their financial options or increase bias and exclusion? How can automated advice take account of people’s social and environmental motivations? And how can AI reflect changing values over time and between generations? The Finance Innovation Lab has released a new briefing...
The call for entries has now opened for the 2018 Finance for the Future awards, celebrating finance teams that champion sustainability. The awards, are free to enter and open to all individuals and organisations globally, including businesses, charities, social enterprises and those in the public sector. The awards are unique...
The Green Finance Taskforce has published its report to UK Government, with 30 recommendations aiming to unlock private finance to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. The recommendations are grouped around ten overarching themes, including: Creating a unified brand for green finance in the UK Launching a...
When introduced to the idea of integrated reporting – communicated how an organisation creates value in the short, medium and long term – companies typically raise three concerns: complexity, cost, and litigation risk. To address these issues, Bob Eccles of Said Business School and Mike...
A new index measuring the progress of the world’s financial centres towards sustainability has ranked London in first place. The Global Green Finance Index, published by campaign group Finance Watch and consultancy Z/Yen, seeks to measure perceptions of the quality and depth of green financial products...
The European Commission has released its new Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, following the publication of its High-Level Expert Group’s recommendations for supporting the sector. The Action Plan has three main aims: reorient capital flows towards sustainable investment manage financial risks stemming from climate change, environmental degradation...
The Prime Minister has commissioned an industry taskforce to progress the recommendations in the ‘Growing a Culture of Social Impact Investing in the UK’ report, released in November 2017. The taskforce will work on generating a faster rate of innovation in the financial services industry...
Access and New Philanthropy Capital have launched impactsupport.org, an online platform co-designed with charities and social and enterprises to offer practical support for impact planning, data and culture. The site – built with “ real insight, experience and grit from across the voluntary, public and private...
Should we scrap the phrase ‘investment readiness’? Nick Temple, the new CEO of the Social Investment Business, argues in Civil Society that too much support is focussed on getting social enterprises and charities ready for one potential outcome, rather than strengthening their flexibility, resilience and...
Earlier this year, the European Commission's High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance published its final recommendations, including a call for Europe to create a robust classification system for 'green' or 'sustainable' investments. Now it's reported that EU finance ministers have accepted the need for a classification system, according...
The MBA has long been seen as the essential qualification for business leaders, but in a recently published extract from her book Makers and Takers, Financial Times journalist Rana Foroohar argues that the qualification is failing the economy and society. Foroohar argues that "MBA education today is basically an education...
B Lab UK has released new research showing that registered B Corps grew 28 times faster than UK GDP over the past 12 months. Average year-on-year growth of B Corps- businesses that achieve a high level of social or environmental outcomes - was 14% in the past year. 150 B Corps have registered...
World clean energy investment totalled $333.5 billion last year, up 3% from 2016 and the second highest annual figure ever. Solar investment globally amounted to $160.8 billion in 2017, up 18% on the previous year, with just over half of the world total ($86.5 billion) spent in...
In tandem to highlighting the Circular Phone report, we've sourced a few examples of the opportunities and challenges of implementing the circular economy techniques in practice. In November the Ellen MacArthur Foundation released a visionary report outlining a new system for the fashion industry based on...
This month, Sustainable Finance Lab, Circle Economy, Fairphone, PGGM, ING, ABN AMRO, NBA, Allen & Overy, and Circularise, have teamed up within a Community of Practice and launch the report The Circular Phone. The report provides practical answers to common financing pitfalls for circular businesses,...
Generation Investment Management has released its 2017 Sustainability Trends Report - the first of its kind after 13 years in operation. The report investigates 5 areas where Generation's research and investment teams have seen significant advances in sustainability: Mobility, Energy, Built Environment, Food Systems, Wellbeing. In each...
When do impact investments create real change? This panel debate on Stanford Social Innovation Review's website features leaders from the U.S. and U.K. impact and sustainable investing world weighing in on the question. Bridges Ventures says focus on under-served geographies; Big Society Capital says look for...
In case you missed it, Ashoka announced the launch of its Social Investment Toolkit, working with UBS. The Toolkit covers an introduction to social change, measuring impact, business model, scaling strategy, financial model, legal structure, financing terms, and pitch. The order of the modules is telling: start...
The Carbon Disclosure Foundation (CDF) published its latest report examining investments across its corporate members. The Global Water Report 2017 notes 535 companies (70%) now have board level oversight of water issues. Diageo, Colgate, Palmolive and Nestle, are now attaching values to water use in order to account for social...
An ambitious strategy setting out how the UK is leading the world in cutting carbon emissions to combat climate change while driving economic growth was published 12 October 2017 by Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark. ‘The Clean Growth Strategy: Leading the way to a low carbon...
SRI-focused asset manager Change Finance has announced the launch of its first ETF – the Change Finance Diversified Impact US Large Cap Fossil Fuel Free ETF (NYSE Arca: CHGX). The ETF tracks an index that uses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide its...
Bloomberg New Energy Finance published its most recent analysis and revealed that green bonds issuance is set to reach $134.9 billion by the end of 2017, a new record so far. Year to date, green bonds issuance has been $96 billion and another $39 billion...
Under the title, Towards a Green Finance Framework, the European Banking Federation published a report that assesses the role of the banking sector in the context of the discussion on green finance on September 28. The EBF report focuses on the technical, legal and regulatory...
As reported last week, the so-called Current Deals Library was launched Monday by the Impact Investing Hub, offering a public website listing live impact investment opportunities for potential investees. The site collates basic information about current deals in the impact investing ecosystem, outlining the forecast financial return and social...
A new report from TheCityUK and Imperial College Business School makes the case for the UK to better seize the opportunities presented by its position as a leading centre for green finance. It argues that the sector should become an integral part of mainstream financial...
Barclays announced the launch of its Multi-Impact Growth Fund, offering retail and institutional investors the opportunity to generate long-term capital growth, whilst, the bank emphasizes, making a positive contribution to society The Multi-Impact Growth Fund invests primarily in specialist third-party funds, which have been identified and...
New research commissioned by HSBC shows that 68% of global investors intend to increase their low-carbon related investments to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Growing investor appetite for low carbon investments is strongest in Europe (97%), the Americas (85%) and Asia (68%)....
China will promote cross-border green bond flows and green finance investment as part of efforts to fulfill its commitment to ensure sustainable growth it was reported last week. Chen Yulu, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, was quoted saying the nation will stay...
The green finance market has been buoyed by news that British energy company SSE has issued the biggest ever green bond by a UK company. The bond will provide capital to be used to refinance SSE’s portfolio of onshore wind farms. The €600m bond provides capital...
On 29 August, SEB released its latest Green Bond Research Report summarising year to date development in the Green Bond space. The green bond market continues to grow rapidly, with USD 84.6 bn of issuance YTD, standing 53% higher than 2016 volumes Year-over-Year (YoY). According to the report....
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in a report launched 29 August, propose the creation of national green financing vehicles to catalyze environmentally and financially sustainable infrastructure investments in Asia and the Pacific. The report, Catalyzing Green Finance: A Concept for Leveraging Blended Finance for Green...
Seymour Burchman and Barry Sullivan draw parallels between sustainability metrics and quality metrics introduced by manufacturers in the 1980’s in executive compensation incentives in a recent article in Harvard Business Review. The quality metrics where shown to focus executive attention and ensure quality initiatives actually...
IFR Asia convened a panel of specialists in Hong Kong on July 11 to discuss the progress made so far and debate the challenges ahead. 2017 YTD has been a comparatively quiet year for China’s domestic market. However, the arrival of first-time issuers from the...
Millennials are driving the nearly $9 trillion sustainable investing market, according to Morgan Stanley's Institute for Sustainable Investing. Sustainable investment products have grown at a rate of more than 33% between 2014 and 2016 in the US, according to data from the US SIF Foundation...
JPMorgan Chase is expanding its strategy to advance environmentally sustainable solutions for clients and its own operations according to a press release. The firms two new strategic goals include firstly, renewable energy, meaning the firm will source renewable power for 100 percent of its global...
Diversification is the main portfolio management challenge for green bond funds as issuer numbers are limited and concentrated in certain sectors, Fitch Ratings report. The size of the investible green bond universe depends on the specific definitions and characteristics of each fund, but Fitch estimate...
For anyone looking for an interesting podcast for vacation listening (or the commute to work) the latest Wharton Social Impact Initiative Podcast is recommended. In it, Impact Investment Exchange founder, Durreen Shahnaz, discusses impact investing. Durreen Shahnaz started her career with Morgan Stanley in 1989...
The Climate Bond Initiative recently launched a study entitled Post-Issuance Use of Proceeds – Trends and Best Practice. The report is Climate Bonds Initiative’s first detailed study of current practice around post-issuance reporting of green funding and monitoring of green bond allocation. The Post-Issuance Use...
In a push to foster sustainable markets and instill trust in investors, the European Commission has discussed plans to introduce labels for clearer classification of green financial products. In order to achieve the ambitious climate goals set at the Paris Agreement, the European Commission predicts that...
UN Environment published their Green Finance Progress Report last week showing the development of new financial products and encouraging policies to bridge the funding gap in sustainable investment. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the UN agency, said: “The world has committed to creating a better future...
13 July, the EU’s high-level group on sustainable finance published its interim report prompting the European Union to stop all public funding for fossil fuel industries such as coal, oil and gas. The upcoming revision of the EU’s multi-annual budget is “a significant opportunity” to increase investments in clean...
On July 12, California Governor Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg launched America’s Pledge on climate change, a new initiative to compile and quantify the actions of states, cities and businesses in the United States to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of...
The PRI produced a report published July 5 outlining how investors and credit rating agencies (CRAs) are incorporating environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) in credit risk analysis. Shifting perceptions: ESG, credit risk and ratings – part 1: the state of play looks at why ESG factors...
Bio Base: London, UK Position: Chief Investment Officer, Nesta Impact Investments Tenure in current role: 2 years By: Clare McCartney Nathan, can you tell us a bit about your story and how you arrived at Nesta? I started off life as an engineer but always had a keen interest in business...
“What if we told you how to avoid stocks that go bankrupt?” BofA Merrill Lynch’s US Equity & Quant Strategy team boldly claim in this context, Environmental, Social and Government (ESG) factors are too critical to ignore. From their stock take on US equities, they...
On June 29, industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), released three final key documents that aim to serve as building blocks to describe and support the implementation of the Task Force’s recommendations. The Task Force, chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg, was established by...
Miles Johnson reports (paywall) in Financial Times wealth section on June 23, that according to the most recent Financial Times Investing for Global Impact report, which surveyed 246 family offices and foundations about philanthropy and impact investing, one of the biggest challenges for these investors...
The OECD published its Green Growth Indicators 2017 report on June 20. The report uses a uses a range of indicators covering everything from land use to CO2 productivity and innovation to show where 46 countries rank on balancing economic growth with environmental pressures over 1990...
The Central Bank of China announced on June 16 measures to support the establishment of five green finance pilot zones. The aim of the pilot zones is to boost the development of green finance products including interest discount and tax incentives from central and local...
In its Quarterly Bulletin 2017 Q2 published June 16, The Bank of England announced they will initiate a review of climate-related risks in the UK banking sector. The work will be carried out in a similar way to the assessment of insurance companies it launched...
Bio Base: London, UK Position: Director of Financial Sector and Investor Engagement, Big Society Capital (BSC) Tenure in current role: 3.5 years By: Clare McCartney Evita, please tell us a bit about your background. My background has mainly been in financial services, although my first job straight out of university...
The mid-term review of EU’s Capital Markets Union Initiative was published on June 8th. The report contains a section dedicated to green and sustainable finance, marking another step towards mainstreaming green finance in Europe as reported by EURACTIV’s Frédéric Simon. Once regarded as “exotic”, sustainable...
A summary of the story evolving so far… In the wake of U.S President Donald Trump announcing the intention for the US to withdraw from the 2015 Paris accord June 1st Jess Shankleman on Bloomberg, provides a useful Q&A of what comes of the accord without...
A report was released on May 30 by the Green Digital Finance Alliance, founded by UN Environment and Ant Financial. The report gave an update on Ant Financial Services Group, in association with UN Environment large-scale pilot in greening citizens’ consumption behavior through the use of mobile payment platforms, big...
The seventh NatWest SE100 Data Report, launched in London last week. This is the largest survey of the UK social enterprise sector’s turnover, growth, profitability, and employment. It compiles data from 2,120 social enterprises with a total turnover of £8.5bn. The report indicated that in spite...
On May 24th 2017, Andrew Whiley from The Climate Bonds Initiative published an analysis on the EUR 500m green bond issued by Repsol SA, this being the first green bond issued by an oil company to date. According to Whiley, using the “brown” balance sheets of...
The GIIN published its Annual Impact Investor Survey this week. The Survey analyses the activities of over 200 of the world’s leading impact investing organisations, covering the entire universe: fund managers, foundations, banks, development finance institutions, family offices, pension funds and insurers. The Survey’s 208 respondents...
WHEB, a London-based asset manager published an impact report last week measuring the social and environmental impacts of its Sustainability Fund. The sustainability specialist is one of the first investors to report using the recommendations from the G20’s Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD),...
In American Banker, John K.S. Wilson writes about the threat to shareholder resolutions posed by Republican attempts to dismantle Dodd-Frank and replace it with the Financial Choice Act. According to Wilson, Shareholder proposals allow investors to put questions related to a company’s environmental, social and...
Together with Sumerian Partners, a manager of philanthropic capital for foundations, Oxfam recently released the report Impact Investment: Who are we helping? The report questions some of the common assumptions around impact investment, arguing that most articles on the topic focus on the needs and...
Meaghan Kilroy at Pensions & Investments reported last week from the Big Path Capital's Impact Capitalism Summit in the US. The panelist argued that one of the challenges of adding public investments to an impact portfolio is the difficulty of measuring the generated social or...
Axa, one of the biggest European insurers recently announced they are ending insurance support to coal-intensive businesses, i.e. those with more than half of their turnover coming from mining or coal burning operations, Megan Darby at Climate Home reports. The move will align Axa Insurance with...
Last week, London Business School hosted the Net Impact Conference 2017: Return on Impact. Interest in environmentally and socially responsible investment has grown by 33% since 2014 - today constituting almost $9 trillion in actively managed assets globally according to some measures. Increasingly, investors are asking: how...
Triodos, a leading sustainable bank in Europe opened registrations for its first ever UK personal current account this week. The account, described as the most sustainable current account ever brought to the UK market, will begin with a phased rollout this summer. Triodos has been operating...
Tensions between rich and poor countries were running high at a recent meeting of the Green Climate Fund board, the UN's flagship climate finance initiative Megan Darby at Climate Home reports. Projects worth a total of $755m were approved by the Fund's board, including $265m for renewable...
In an essay Darren Walker, the President of the Ford Foundation, explains the Foundation's decision to gradually invest up to $1 billion of its endowment in MRI funds (Mission-Related Investments), to be phased in over the next 10 years. According to Walker, the Ford Foundation is...
Following the Bloomberg/Carney task force recommendations that companies should include climate data in their mainstream financial reporting, an EY survey reveals that the majority of investors value ESG and non-financial reporting by investee companies. The survey – Is your non-financial performance revealing the true value of...
Financial Times features an article this week by Dan McCrum on investment in the climate change era, which looks at the ways investors take climate into account when deciding what to buy and sell. Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist at the asset manager GMO argues...