ImpactAlpha Podcasts

A few years ago the Prudential Foundation committed to reaching a billion dollar impact portfolio by 2020, and they're well on their way to reaching that goal. On this episode of ROI, David Bank sits down with Lata Reddy, the Senior Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion & Impact at Prudential Financial and Chair and President of The Prudential Foundation to discuss the impact fund, their place based investing strategy, and the role of mission investing in the fight for social justice.

If impact investors are worth their salt, they’ll soon –– if not soon enough –– come up with a whole raft of investible solutions to the crushing burden of opioid addiction. The problem may have snuck up over the past decade, but there’s no escaping the costs of the crisis now. As many as 23 million addicts in the U.S. More than 64,000 overdose deaths, most of them opioid-related. The annual economic cost: an estimated $193 billion. On this episode of ROI, our panel discusses where impact investors can have a role in tackling the issue of opioid addiction.

Corporate venture capital is a thing. And that thing is converging on impact investing. The amount that global corporations put into strategic investments in startup companies last year reached $31 billion across 1800 deals, both all-time records. Today on the podcast David Bank, Imogen Rose-Smith and Brian Walsh discuss Corporate Venture Capital and Impact.

The billionaires with their family offices command on outsized share of attention from impact fund managers. But, the real dollars, as in trillions, are in the huge pension and sovereign wealth funds around the world. Today on ROI, David Bank speaks with Dave Chen, the head of Equilibrium Capital, about the burgeoning shift towards sustainability and EGS within the world of institutional investors.

A raft of new social-impact and environmental financing vehicle are emerging from labs, incubators and startup funds. By finding inventive ways to monetize social inclusion and environmental regeneration, the new models are "internalizing the positive externalities." Too wonky? Just say "impact alpha." Returns on Investment's resident blue-sky optimist, David Bank, lays bets that the best new ideas will scale up to attract real dollars. Our curmudgeon, Imogen Rose-Smith, is skeptical that many of the impact investment pilots will graduate from the kiddie table and join the adults in the real world of finance. As always, our host Brian Walsh keeps it lively. __________________________________ Support for this Returns on Investment podcast ​comes from Wunder Capital, an easy way to invest in solar energy projects across the US. With Wunder, you help finance renewable energy and earn up to 7.5% a year. Visit WunderCapital.com/roi​. I nvest in solar projects. Do well and do good.

It has been said that "for impact investing, every day is international women's day." As the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements continue to demonstrate their staying power, is it time that impact and finance at large take a closer look at gender equality within firms as well as in their investments? Brian Walsh, Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank discuss in the latest ROI.

The whole panel is together in Oakland to discuss whether or not California is charting the way forward for the inclusive economy of the future. The golden state does seem to be ahead on issues such as immigration, climate change, and shared prosperity - but is there a flip side to the coin? Listen in as Imogen Rose Smith, David Bank, and Brian Walsh discuss The California Model.

At a recent hosted at the New York offices of the fintech company Liquidnet, in collaboration with the Tristate Area Africa Funders Network, ImpactAlpha’s own David Bank moderated a panel on “Demystifying Impact Investing” featuring Georgia Levenson Keohane of the Pershing Square Foundation, Liz Luckett of TSEF and Brian Trelstad of Bridges Fund Management..

Larry Fink, the CEO of the world largest asset manager, pushed "social purpose" higher on the corporate agenda with his annual letter, warning that every company "must show how it makes a positive contribution to society.” Social activists cheered; activist investors more accustomed to pressuring CEOs for stock buybacks and dividends, groaned. As onetime corporate raider Sam Zell put it, “I didn’t know Larry Fink had been made God.” Our roundtable of Imogen Rose-Smith, Brian Walsh and David Bank pull apart not only Fink's arguments, but the critics' and the cheerleaders' as well.

Natural spaces have long provided financial value to humans, though historically this has been through the process of extracting resources. Now, as scientists better understand the key role that ecosystems play in supporting life on earth, some banks and investors are looking to incentivize the preservation of wild spaces and species. Today on ROI, the panel discusses conservation finance.