Investment

As deforestation continues at an alarming rate, the &Green Fund has set itself a bold ambition. It wants to prove that responsible investment in large-scale agricultural production helps to protect tropical forests.

Steel has been grey to investors for hundreds of years – literally and figuratively. New technology is changing how they view one of the world’s most polluting industries.

A report from the International Finance Corporation shows sharp growth in global impact investment in 2020. The IFC also underlines that the private sector’s impact investments remain a tiny fraction of its overall investment.

Critics say a broad global equity portfolio cannot be considered impact investing if it includes mining and tobacco companies. Noel O’Halloran, chief investment officer at KBI Global Investors, disagrees.

This weighty academic tome tells you everything you want to know about the theory of impact investing, but less about the practice. It warns impact investors are overlooking human capital.

This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic has shifted priorities. This week: sustainability consultant Willem Schramade on ‘impact washing’ in times of crisis.

TCX, a forex hedging boutique, helped match Lendahand crowdfunding investors with solar developers in Ghana. According to TCX this is the first time that a retail lending platform managed to extend a local currency loan.

This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic shifted priorities. This week: Philip Tan, managing director of Polestar Capital.

EKA Ventures, a new €80mn venture capital fund, aims to foster the development of UK-based early-stage consumer technology companies whose businesses tackle social or environmental challenges at scale.

A new impact investment fund, Impact 12, aims to finance mission-led social ventures coming out of UK universities, for which traditional funding models do not provide high enough levels of support during their early-stage development.