Returns On Investment

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with Amy Cortese and Dennis Price. Up this week: How investors at Climate Week NYC shook off the Trump doldrums (. And how, from Singapore to London, even fund managers that shun the label are driving alpha with impact (12:45).Story links:“At Climate Week NYC, investors look to shake off the doldrums and start deploying capital again,” by Amy Cortese.“Even for GPs that shun the label, ‘impact’ drives portfolio performance,” by Dennis Price.

As climate action shifts east and south, some would-be Climate Week attendees are staying away due to visa hassles, fears of invasive immigration procedures and risk of detention. The rollback of US climate policy likewise has global effects as the Trump administration strongarms nations into buying US gas and weakening climate policies and upends global trade with mercurial tariffs. “The Europeans are not buying it,” Carbon Tracker’s Mark Campanale told Amy Cortese on the latest Agents of Impact podcast. 

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Foundation leaders “unite in advance” of expected attacks in the supercharged political environment; how the carbon credit platform Rubicon Carbon is using diversification and ratings to strengthen the market for voluntary carbon credits (07:20); and the bumpy road to the sustainable future as charted by Generation Investment Management’s annual Sustainability Trends Report (15:05). Bonus: a preview of next week’s Agents of Impact interview with Carbon Tracker’s Mark Companele.Story links:“⁠Foundation leaders ‘unite in advance’ of expected attacks on spending and speaking⁠,” by David Bank.“Rubicon’s ‘all of the above’ plan to diversify and rate the market for carbon credits,” by Erik Stein.“Ten slides that chart the bumpy road to the sustainable future,” by Amy Cortese.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The All Aboard Coalition's effort to mobilize $300 million for venture capital co-investments in first of a kind climate-tech projects; the role of fashion brands in supporting regenerative cotton in Peru (06:55); and why decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePINs, are a promising model for sustainable community services (11:00).Story links:“All Aboard Coalition mobilizes co-investments in climate tech as federal funding falters,” by Amy Cortese“Fashion brands step into the aid gap to back regenerative cotton in Peru’s Amazon,” by Erik Stein“A new model for digital infrastructure: Decentralized and community owned,” by Crypto Council for Innovation's Renee Pinto da Silva BartonMusic by Isaac Silk and DELOSound

Jacqueline Novogratz joins David Bank to discuss Acumen's evolution over 24 years, focusing on three key areas: patient capital, scale, and systemic change.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: ​​ How green lenders are scrambling to salvage investable deals as a federal appeals court maintains a Trump freeze on billions of dollars from the greenhouse gas reduction fund. Employee ownership takes a big leap forward as a company with 100,000 employees sells a 30% equity stake to an employee ownership trust (07:15). And, a look at fusion nuclear energy, a sector receiving the attention and billions of dollars of investments from family offices among other very patient investors (14:15).Story links:“⁠In-home caregivers get a stake in Consumer Direct Care Network as bigger companies discover employee ownership trusts⁠,” by Roodgally Senatus“Green lenders scramble to salvage deals as appeals court OKs freeze on accounts,” by David Bank and Amy Cortese“As fusion energy advances, so does its capital stack,” by Amy Cortese.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editors and journalists from our team. Up this week: Jessica Pothering discusses a new financing tool from Roots of Impact, Simple Agreement for Future Impact. Eric Stein joins from Medellín to talk about impact investing trends he's been seeing during recent travels across Latin America (8:30). And, Jessica shares how a medical oxygen company in East Africa managed to secure financing after the DFC reneged (16:40)."Forget SAFEs. Impact investors are incentivizing growth and impact with SAFIs," by Jessica Pothering and Erik Stein. “Peruvian impact investors are mobilizing capital for inclusive growth in the Amazon,” by Erik Stein"Kenya's Hewatele lands $10.5 million to produce medical oxygen locally, " by Lucy Ngige

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with ImpactAlpha editors and journalists. Up this week: Amy Cortese discusses the “billionaire buyers club” of wealthy donors buying up tons of carbon just to lock it away. Roodgally Senatus dishes on the big changes underway at Turner MIINT (7:45). And, dealflow editor Jessica Pothering runs down the impact deals and fundraises catching her eye this week (12:38).Story links:“⁠Billionaire Buyers Club: Wealthy donors are buying tons of carbon just to lock it away⁠,” by Amy Cortese“⁠Impact Capital Managers takes the helm of Turner MIINT to advance the next generation of impact investors⁠,” by Roodgally Senatus."⁠Grupo Gaia is bringing a Big Ag financing tool to Brazil’s smallholder farmers⁠," by Gilberto Lima.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Can open deal data and standardized reporting might help fix blended finance? How the Singapore-based Tsao family office deploys its capital towards impact (10:00). And, goodbye accelerators, hello venture studios – how emerging market investors are helping startups survive the valley of death in reaching impact at scale (15:07).Story links:“Can AI collapse transaction costs and make high-impact investments viable at scale?” by Human Planet’s Florian Kemmerich.“Fix for blended finance: Open deal data and standardized reporting,” by Erik Stein“From Singapore, Tsao Family Office expands the LP pool for impact strategies in Africa,” by Jessica Pothering"These DIY investors are notching impact and exits with venture studios to build startups from scratch," by Lucy Ngige.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: How air capture aims to capture the market for carbon my cost effectively removing it from the air. How Boldline Capital seeks to meet the short term liquidity of impact and emerging fund managers (10:34). And, who actually lands a job in impact investing? Harvard Business School’s Project on Impact Investments crunches the numbers (17:55).Story links:“⁠Capturing the market for carbon by removing it from the air more and more cheaply⁠,” by David Bank.“⁠Impact and emerging GPs to get a ‘bold line’ of credit to streamline capital calls and accelerate dealflow⁠,” by David Bank and Roodgally Senatus.“⁠Who lands the jobs in impact investing? Successful candidates take nontraditional paths⁠,” by Shawn Cole, Jonah Zahnd and Marcus Sander.

In this Agents of Impact podcast David Bank speaks with CapShift CEO and co-founder Adam Rein ] about the growing demand for impact investing among high net worth individuals and how Capshift is addressing this need through its technology-enabled platform. ImpactAlpha and CapShift are launching Advisors' Corner, a new hub of practical resources to help financial advisors dive into impact investing.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor Amy Cortese and senior reporter Lucy Ngige. Up this week: How nearly $3 billion in Biden era climate financing, thought to be frozen in legal limbo, made it out to some private equity giants. Why biochar is having a moment (09:00). And, how global superstar Rihanna is investing in women-led ventures in Africa via her Nairobi-based investment fund Gather Ventures (17:40).Story links:“Coalition for Green Capital places $2.65 billion in green bank funds with Apollo, Brookfield and Energy Capital Partners,” by Amy Cortese and David Bank“Beyond storing carbon, biochar’s co-benefits give it early customers and revenues,” by Lucy Ngige“With Gather Ventures, Rihanna expands her toolkit for investing in women-led ventures in Africa,” by Lucy Ngige

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: New urgency around investments in climate adaptation and resilience in the wake of the tragic flooding in Texas. How Community Development Financial Institutions in Indian country are positioned to step up – with or without promised federal funding (09:02). And, highlights from David's recent interview with Blue Haven Initiative’s Liesel Pritzker Simmons about the ways that family offices are engaging with impact investing during these perilous times (14:15).“Investments in adaptation and resilience acquire new urgency as the climate future arrives,” by Amy Cortese“Native CDFIs are positioned to step up, even without promised federal funds,” by Erik Stein“Blue Haven’s Liesel Pritzker Simmons on family office impact investing in perilous times (Q&A),” by David Bank

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Doing more with less – the blended finance fallout from shrinking development aid and a shuttered USAID. A call for responsible investors to invest in… defence companies (09:30). And, remembering B Lab’s Andrew Kassoy, an Agent of Impact who launched a movement to align capital with purpose (14:40).Story links: “Blended finance at a crossroads: The fallout from shrinking aid and a shuttered USAID,” by Convergence’s Joan Larrea“Development finance institutions lag on transparency and disclosure around capital mobilization,” by Jessica Pothering“Calling responsible investors in Europe to invest in… defense,” by Venture ESG’s Susan Winterberg and Johannes Lenhard“⁠Declaration of Interdependence: Reconciling profit and purpose⁠,” by B Lab’s Andrew Kassoy

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor Jessica Pothering. Up this week: Teeing up November's Global Climate Summit COP 30 in Brazil with inclusive nature-based, Indigenous-led and catalytic climate capital. A new tool that helps direct scarce concessional capital for adaptation finance to where it's most needed (09:45). And why more investors are taking an aging-lens to their impact investments (13:38).Story links:"Teeing up COP30 in Brazil with inclusive, nature-based and catalytic climate capital," by Gilberto Lima.“⁠Fund managers center Indigenous communities to drive capital to the Amazon⁠,” by Erik Stein."New tool for adaptation finance directs concessional capital where it's needed most,” by Erik Stein.“A market hiding in plain sight: The case for aging-lens investing,” by SCAN Foundation's Brendan Ahern and Xenia Viragh.

Hopelab’s Margaret Laws and Amy Green join ’s David Bank on the latest episode of the Agents of Impact podcast. See all of ImpactAlpha's Healthy Youth coverage: https://impactalpha.com/browse/inclusion/healthy-youth/

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: What the $785 billion private equity giant Apollo has learned in the five years since launching its $1 billion private impact fund; from MasterCard Foundation's Africa Growth Fund to local African funders, a look at the small business investing landscape on the continent (07:45); and to mark this year’s Juneteenth commemoration, contributing editor Napoleon Wallace makes the case for shared prosperity his new remix, ‘The Reconstruction Will Not Be Televised’ (15:20).Relevant links:⁠RSVP for next week's Call⁠.“⁠Ownership, collinearity and KPIs: Apollo’s impact strategy turns five⁠,” by Amy Cortese"⁠Mastercard Foundation knows how stakeholders feel about its Africa Growth Fund⁠," by Jessica Pothering“⁠‘The Reconstruction Will Not Be Televised’ remixes a classic to build the movement for shared prosperity,⁠” by David Bank. Listen to the song on ⁠YouTube⁠.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Turning the stranded pipeline of green loans into investable deal flow for private capital. Plus, for European investors, material risks are still… material (10:30). And, Taylor Swift, Ryan Coogler, and the emerging ownership economy in music and film (15:10).Story links:Green lenders are all dressed up and ready to rollFor European LPs, material risks are still material, and American GPs come callingTaylor Swift, Ryan Coogler and the emerging ownership economy in music and film

In this special episode of This Week in Impact, Brian Walsh discusses the evolution of ImpactAlpha with editor-in-chief David Bank and newly named CEO Dennis Price. The discussion centers on the leadership transition and the new teams and tools being developed at ImpactAlpha to support Agents of Impact. Read the full announcement.

David catches up with Navajo Power CEO Brett Isaac and COO Michael Cox to learn how the indigenous-owned company is building out utility-scale solar projects, not just in Navajo Nation but on tribal land across the country.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Navajo Power and Its Mission03:11 The Transition from Fossil Fuels to Clean Energy05:45 Community Engagement and Project Development09:11 Navigating Regulatory Challenges12:10 Financing the Future of Navajo Power14:57 Building a Sustainable Economic Ecosystem18:08 The Role of Indigenous Sovereignty in Energy Projects20:55 Future Prospects and Community Impact