(From the Archives) There is a growing recognition that addressing the climate crisis will require tapping into the knowledge, insights, and expertise of the whole population. If we want climate solutions that create a just transition for everyone affected, we need everyone involved – as innovators, entrepreneurs, workers, policymakers, customers, and investors.
Calvert Impact has invested in women since our founding nearly 30 years ago. As an investment firm dedicated to investing in solutions that people and planet need, we helped grow the microfinance and community development financial industries, both of which are important sources of capital for female entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, we began experimenting with a more formal approach to investing in women. (Dec. 2022)
Calvert Impact Capital, Inc. announced the formation of Calvert Impact, Inc. as its new holding company and as the overall brand to expand its impact investment activities. The changes will facilitate the launch of new impact investment products and service offerings that advance Calvert Impact\’s goal of better connecting the capital markets with organizations that positively affect communities and the planet.
“The results of GIIN’s new market sizing study should fill us with optimism and determination. We should be optimistic about the capacity of the impact investing market to enact positive change, and we must be determined to continue to grow the use of impact investing as a critical strategy to address the challenges of our time” said GIIN Co-Founder and CEO Amit Bouri.
Here’s the first in-depth, multi-faith analysis of the extent to which faith groups align their values with their investment portfolios. There\’s been a huge rise in interest in values-driven investing in recent years, including among faith groups who are increasingly aware of the importance of investing in line with their faith values to help them achieve their environmental and social goals.
Jesus called out economic injustice. He turned over the tables in the temple, because of the way the financial system of the temple treated the poor. The poor would bring what they had, but it was not in the currency of the temple. So, they exchanged it with unscrupulous money changers to get the right currency. Jesus recognized this abuse and rejected it.
On the theme of values-based investing, a speaker at a Christian MBA networking conference I attended explained the importance of having a framework to look at how a company treats all of its stakeholders, namely, its customers, employees, suppliers, host communities, the environment, and broader society. The bottom line was her assertion that what is right is also, in many cases, good for business and investors.
Community investing combines prudent management and economic sustainability of traditional investments with an understanding of the challenges faced by orgs seeking to bring opportunity and long-term financial viability to those on the margins of our society. Where charity seeks to do good work, community investing seeks to leverage charitable and community resources to expand that “good work” by multiples
Faith-based investors have an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to exert influence on businesses to maximize the human welfare of shareholders, broader stakeholders, and society at large. Such investors may align investments with their belief system, like Quakers eschewing any business dealings with companies involved in the slave trade, or early Methodists avoiding investments in alcohol, tobacco, gambling or weapons.
There is a reawakening among faith investors to address global challenges through the power of mobilizing assets in alignment with their values. Over the decades, faith leaders charted a course that has engaged both values-aligned investors and financial professionals. Today, we are witnessing some of the first “impact investing” pioneers coming together with a new generation of faith-based asset owners and networks.
