Investment

Green bonds are very popular, while only a handful of blue bonds were issued in recent years. But that might be changing.

The Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund, founded late 2019 and managed by Triple Jump, announced today it has made its first investments totalling $10mn in three off-grid solar providers in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We’re a place to look for early first ideas.” Ian de Cruz tells us how P4G has found a niche between development finance institutions (DFIs) and private capital.

On the sidelines before the pandemic, digital due diligence is playing an increasingly important role when it comes to investment decisions by impact funds.

Retail investors who want to invest in microfinance in emerging and developing countries can now do so through the Actam Impact Financial Inclusion Fund.

Jennifer Pryce, CEO and President of US non-for-profit Calvert Impact Capital wants to take the company’s model global. For Europe, it’s looking at a new product that would appeal to institutional investors.

Ed Lees, Co-Head Environmental Strategies BNPP AM, forms half of one of the most successful partnerships in impact investing. He explains how investing in ‘green companies’ and shorting ‘brown companies’ can force change.

SilverStreet Capital, an investor in African agriculture, sees opportunities where others shy away from the high risks. “We are targeting the parts of the value chain that need fixing,” says founder Gary Vaughan-Smith.

Some of the most rewarding impact investments are where traditional financiers still fear to tread. For an Expert View, we talked to TCX’s Per van Swaay about navigating the minefield of currency risk.

What started as a casual chat with Warner Philips at Rubio Impact Ventures, one of the Netherlands leading impact investors, led to existential questions about what is impact.