Does anyone know of any firms that have a strong impact investing program i.e. where they either manage a portfolio of public stocks of companies that have a positive social impact or invest directly in private companies that fall in the category. It seems like an interesting career if you want to be an investor/portfolio manager but not feel like you're making the rich richer or not adding value to society in any way.. I know a lot of financial advisers attempt to create solutions for their clients that involve things like excluding tobacco companies from their portfolios but there must be some firms attempting to approach this more formally.
It would be great if someone could provide some best in class names in this field.
okay maybe I'll open this up to any managers and not just best in class managers...
Are you talking impact investing or SRI? Eventide does well
Google is your friend.
The benefit of this website is to talk about these things with people in the industry with first hand experience, a little more intimate and arguably more informative than google
I did quite a bit of research into this topic. It's a fairly new field with not a lot clearly defined definitions or methods of evaluation (Is a firm that makes a big impact but negative returns better than one with a little impact and huge returns?, what is impact?, do you measure immediate impact or include indirect?, the list goes on..).
There are many players, however, and none seem to be exactly the same. Check out the following link to learn about the big guys. Just make sure to do your research on what exactly these guys do and how they define impact. Most careers in the space, but definitely not all, are out of the US and require proficiency in other languages so take that into consideration as you may need to work in places like Kenya if English is your only language.
http://www.impactassets.org/publications_insights/impact50
Great answer! Thank you!
Some of the big MF families have some SRI and ESG funds, but its a pretty small piece of the pie at the moment (at least at my firm). Not exactly impact investing but that's the route traditional AM seems to be going in terms of "moral investments," which some clients seek.
Slightly unrelated, social impact bonds seem like an interesting idea
Ackman? His short thesis' are somewhat based on "benefitting America" - think HLF
I know Morgan and Merrill are making a big push in this area, but I'm of the opinion that until you start to see tax benefits from some of these things, they won't catch on much past the mass affluent. anecdotal evidence, I know, but it seems like just a way for companies like mine to come up with a new product to sell and I think the wealthy get that (based on my limited amount of experience). they would prefer to invest however is best for them and then donate to charities that they believe do the most good, rather than do that with their investments.
Hey man - thebrofessor any chance you know the exact group names of the guys at MS or Bamml? I've seen both corporations put out marketing material on impact investment operations, but it's hard to nail down who exactly is doing what...
For big players like this , I'm pretty sure many of their domestic investments/strategies have some kind of tax play. The deal structures get pretty crazy, and from what I've seen there are countless ways to get layers and bankers to sneak around the irs, lower tax burden via a project or investment, and report the savings as some kind of income >> positive npv
all of the ones I've seen don't have tax benefits. and I'd rather not post that info here, but a quick google search should yield some results. it's a great PR move, after all.
Expedita nam necessitatibus impedit voluptas explicabo quaerat. Velit qui ut sequi in commodi quas. Optio sunt illum laborum rem amet amet exercitationem. Tempora minus molestiae ut accusantium repellat optio harum ipsa.
Expedita et voluptatem a cupiditate qui. Aperiam deleniti dolores molestiae sed odio est. Consequatur ea sint quae aspernatur nemo molestiae eligendi. In unde vero officia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...