Investment for Environmental and Social Impact

Investment for Environmental and Social Impact

AbstractCompanies have been making the business investment decisions with the emphasis not just depending on the profitability of investments & projects however also on environmental & the social effects & also impacts of such investment decisions. Initially this paper has been focused on the examples of real companies by discussing few of their investments which have been relevant for this statement. Secondly this paper is focused towards examples of laws or taxes which have been created & research conducted through others for explaining why and how? Then come the impact that this law is having on the decision making process for Chief Financial Officers & financial managers of the companies & impact which this is having directly on the companies.

Table of Contents TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770665″Abstract PAGEREF _Toc306770665 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770666″Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc306770666 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770667″Introduction PAGEREF _Toc306770667 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770668″Investment Decisions PAGEREF _Toc306770668 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770669″Size of the Investing PAGEREF _Toc306770669 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770670″Investing have to do with it PAGEREF _Toc306770670 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770671″Social investing PAGEREF _Toc306770671 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770672″Philanthropy Non-profits PAGEREF _Toc306770672 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770673″Bottom of a Pyramid PAGEREF _Toc306770673 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770674″Private sector Activity in poor Countries PAGEREF _Toc306770674 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770675″Corporations PAGEREF _Toc306770675 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770676″Inclusive Business PAGEREF _Toc306770676 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770677″Examples of Real companies PAGEREF _Toc306770677 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770678″Intellecap PAGEREF _Toc306770678 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770679″Investing for Good PAGEREF _Toc306770679 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770680″Laws or taxes PAGEREF _Toc306770680 h 8

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770681″For whom is Impact investing important? PAGEREF _Toc306770681 h 8

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770682″Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc306770682 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc306770683″References PAGEREF _Toc306770683 h 10

IntroductionThousands of people & institutions in this globe believe that this era requires a newer kind of investing. They had been already experimenting with that & most of those have been continuing even in midst of the financial & the credit crisis. That has been why an idea about using the profit seeking investments for generating the social & the environmental good has been moving from the periphery of activist investors to core of the main-stream financial institutions.

Nobody may know how much money could be invested or has been seeking the investment which mat generates both the social & the environmental values and also the financial return. However the best guess has been that total size of a market might be as big as the $500 billion within the coming 10 years.

Investment DecisionsInvestors are willing to move beyond the socially responsible investment that is focuses on avoiding the investments in the harmful companies or encouraging the improved corporate practices which are being related to environment, the social performance or the governance. Rather it actively seeks to place the capital in the businesses & funds which may provide the solutions at the scale which surely philanthropic interventions often may not reach. Such a capital could be in the range of forms which includes the equity, the debt, the working capital lines of the credit & the loan guarantees. For Example last 10 years consist of a lot of microfinance, the community development finance & also the clean technology investments (Tinto, 2000). What has been much interesting these days is that it has not being identifying such a new promise. Rather, we may argue that such a moment has been the messy transition and is made messier by the financial crisis in the year 2008 and in the evolution of activity which has been old since many decades. How such a transition has traversed, & how faster, it may determine scale & total impact that such a newer domain of investing may & will have.

The focus on impact investing has not been a way diminution of crucial role of the philanthropy or the view which impact investing may & should be vastly supplant that. Such times remind us how it has been easy for us to slide in the market triumphalism, where we may lapse into sloppy thinking which the investment & the market mechanisms are having solutions to our problems. But magnitude & nature of problems which humanity faces needs harnessing of the add-on investment capital.

Size of the InvestingAs this has been a new style of investing and is diverse & in initial stage of the development, there has been no way for telling how big this really is. However higher level of the activity & innovation in particular segments & geographies where data has been present suggest that industry is poised of growth. Actively placing the capital in a business’s & funds which generate the social & the environmental good & minimum return nominal principal to investor.

Investing have to do with itSocial investingThis term is having many uses however this usually refers towards investing which considers the social & the environmental issue. Social investing consists of the investments made with an intention of having the positive impact, the investments which exclude the harmful activities. Impact investing has been the subset of a social investing as it refers to social investing which actively seeks for having the positive impact.

Philanthropy Non-profitsThis has been traditionally concerned on the gifts made through the individuals & the organizations for benefiting the society & environment. Impact investing with the need of just return of a principal has been distinct from the grant making activities. However the Impact investing may be the important vehicle to the philanthropists for realizing its objectives. Same way non-profit organizations may act both as the impact investors & also as the recipients of the impact investments for enhancing its impact.

Bottom of a PyramidBottom of a Pyramid has been referred to the broader set of business activity which has been focused on four billion people that living on less than $2 per day. Impact investing usually overlaps with few Bottoms of Pyramid activities to an extent which involves investments with intention of the social or the environmental impact for the less income communities.

Private sector Activity in poor CountriesIncreasing the private sector activity usually creates the economic value however this has been done with lot of intentions. Impact investing just includes such investments which are made with explicit intentions of having the positive social and the environmental impact.

CorporationsVarious terms have been emerged which articulate role of the corporations while addressing the social & the environmental problems (Twose, 2003). Impact investing consists of those activities which are focused on deployment of the capital with an intention of having the positive social and the environmental impact.

Inclusive BusinessInclusive business is a sustainable business opportunities which have been profitable & benefits the lesser income communities. Such companies could also be considered as the social purpose businesses or the social enterprises.

Examples of Real companies

Intellecap

Founders of the Intellecap have been harness the interest in a market based solutions towards social problems & combining rigor of investors with a passion of the social entrepreneurs. Intellecap was founded in the year 2002 as the pioneering social investment banks for bridging in gap between the capital & the social businesses. Intellecap’s start up capital outlay had been only $2,500 & has been focused to support growth & the intermediation of the investment in the microfinance.

Investing for Good

Investing for Good had been founded by those individuals, who are being working in financial services sectors, came of believing the poverty, the destitution & also the environmental damage which are not inherently a problem. However they have been the symptoms of a capital markets which disregard the long term down-stream consequence. It has been inspired through newer breed of the entrepreneurial organizations which directly tackle world’s pressing problems however realized that the financial advisors, the financial intermediaries & the asset managers lack capacity for advising properly on deals in impact investing space. They have developed the business for providing the investment advice & market information.

Laws or taxes

Government policy & the tax incentives have also played the important role while driving the supply of capital for the investment. Increase in capital gains tax in the year 1969 restricted inflow of the funding in the private equities in the year 1970. However in the year 1978, federal government has changed Employee’s Retirement Income Security Act, thus enabling the pension fund to invest in the venture fund & then increasing a supply of the capital available.

For whom is Impact investing important?Impact Investors may be found in all the segments of investing public. On private side it ranges from the Limited Partnerships with small start up investment amount to dedicated High Net worth Individual & the philanthropic organizations for those whom social & the ecological improvements are having the particular goals. Institutional Impact Investor consists of everybody from the large financial institution & also the private equity fund to the insurance companies & the pension funds.

Growing global cadre leaders such as the Chief Financial Officer & the financial managers which have been committing them & their institutions towards a new style about the investing are having single belief in common and that is that they have insisted few levels of the financial return & the social or the environmental impact may have been achieved together.

Growing group of the investors in this world has been seeking to make the investments which generate the social & the environmental value and also the financial return. Such an upcoming industry of the impact investing is having potential of becoming the potent force to address the global challenges. Investing for impact may have the powerful new role in this world.

ConclusionThis report has been prepared as the guide for innovative leaders which may accelerate progress of the impact investing and the investors, the advisors to investors, the entrepreneurs, the philanthropists. Present state & shape of industry is at the crucial moment in their development. Therefore we may locate our self in present landscape, which reflects on their opportunities & challenges & understood what has catalyzed the rest of the industries at such a phase of evolution. Also how the impact investing may evolve so that we may develop the understanding about what future can hold which includes promise & the tradeoffs of the pursuing various strategies. The approach for accelerating growth & impact of such a style of investing so that we may assess what we may do for seizing business opportunities inherent in that & understand what might be achieved through joining with the others.

ReferencesTinto, R. H. (2000). ma k i n g g o o d bu s i n e s s s e n s e. World Business Council for

Sustainable Development .

Twose, D. P. (2003). Public Policy forCorporate Social Responsibility. WBI SERIES ON

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVENESS .