This Week in Impact

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).Story links:“⁠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.

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.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Pegasus Capital’s contrarian play for orphaned climate projects in emerging markets. How a Ugandan pension fund is creating its own new savers with investments in small business and agriculture (07:45). And, should impact have a veto in investment decisionmaking(12:07)?Story links:“⁠Ever contrarian, Pegasus Capital eyes orphaned climate projects in emerging markets⁠,” by David Bank and Amy Cortese“⁠Uganda’s pension fund is creating new savers with investments in small business and agriculture⁠,” by Lucy Ngige and David Bank“⁠Should impact have a veto in investment decisions⁠?” by Blink’s Ana Pimenta

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Unsolicited advice for the Gates Foundation following the announcement that it would increase its giving and spend down its endowment by 2045; How California's massive public pension funds find alpha in emerging fund managers (09:45); And, glimmers of hope for blended finance in the face of a global foreign aid pullback (15:27).Story links:“⁠Impermanence is the future: Four unsolicited ideas for sunsetting the Gates Foundation⁠,” by Gary Community Ventures’ Santhosh Ramdoss“⁠CalPERS and CalSTRS find alpha in emerging managers that have earned ‘the right to win’⁠,” by David Bank and Roodgally Senatus"⁠Blended finance loses a big investor and some of its steam⁠," by Jessica Pothering

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Two views on the future of impact investing from Calvert Impact and Innovative Finance Initiative. Temasek makes the case for the private equity opportunity in climate adaptation and resilience (09:10). And, how Mati Carbon plans to leverage its  $50 million X-Prize to remove carbon and support farmers in tropical zones (14:15).Story Links:“⁠Calvert Impact’s market-shaping strategy for the future of impact⁠,” by Calvert Impact’s Jenn Pryce.“⁠Innovative Finance Network’s fund designs for radical impact⁠,” by Innovative Finance Network’s Aunnie Patton Power and Doughnut Economics Action Lab's Erinch Sahan.“⁠Temasek on hot sectors for PE investment in climate adaptation and resilience⁠,” by Amy Cortese and Jessica Pothering“⁠Mati Carbon leverages its $50 million XPRIZE to remove carbon and support farmers in tropical zones⁠,” by Jessica Pothering.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor Jessica Pothering. Up this week: With US markets all over the place, investors at the Milken Global Conference shift their focus to ownership, AI, and the rest of the world. How impact investors are responding to proposed cuts to health and medical research (8:33). And, forget your astrological sign – Phenix Capital proposes four archetypes for impact fund managers (15:23).Story links:“⁠With markets down, up and sideways, investors look to ownership, AI and the rest of the world⁠,” by Amy Cortese and David Bank“⁠KKR’s Pete Stavros: Employee ownership is a competitive advantage in private equity (Q&A)⁠,” by David Bank and Roodgally Senatus"⁠With medical research funding in peril, one biotech VC firm pushes innovation forward⁠," by Jessica Pothering"⁠Illusionist, Learner, Achiever or Champion: What kind of impact fund manager are you?⁠," by Phenix Capital’s Daniel Moreno and Mohit Saini