10 Arguments for Sustainable Investing for Advisors, Swiss Report

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May 15, 2017

ssfcover — Source: Swiss Sustainable Finance

A publication by Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) could be used as a tool to help advisors and intermediaries gain a grasp of and prepare for discussions in sustainable investing.

Based in Zurich and Geneva, SSF is a 90-member network of asset managers, private bankers, investors, universities, business schools and public financial entities.

Minding the Gap

There is a “major gap,” TruValue Labs says, between investors and their advisors during sustainable investment discussions.

More women and Millenials are interested in ESG and sustainability investing than their advisors, who presumably are older, are more male or are affected by misinformation or cognitive bias.

Swiss Private Banking’s Influence

“Private banking was invented in Switzerland,” says Boris Collardi of Julius Baer, a global Swiss Private Bank for institutional and private banking in the Financial Times. “This is a place where you keep your money . . . an island in the world for stability, solidarity.” Trends in Swiss Private Banking therefore, can be a bellwether for private investing trends elsewhere or in other regions.

Source: Swiss National Bank, via The Financial Times

Significantly and during the U.S. administration under President Obama however, Swiss private banking has declined, as scrutiny and taxes have increased. As of 2016, 150 Swiss Private banks remain (see figure).

Still, the industry is fighting back, expanding into emerging markets in Russia, Africa, Emirates and in China, where this week the One Belt, One Road Summit is in progress.

Its roots for preserving wealth for future generations and protecting assets for inheritance remain unchanged. Of the total CHF 190 billion invested in sustainable assets in 2015, CHF 48 billion were invested by private investors. It is in the spirit of those values that SSF has released its publication.

Highlights of the 10 SSF Arguments for Sustainable Investing

An increasing body of research large indicates that companies performing well on sustainability measures are more profitable.
Investing in sustainability can improve relationship trust between investor and advisor.
Trust earned can captivate the attention of the next generation of investors, whose wealth is estimated to be $41 trillion.
The use of meaningful and impacting “success” stories like those of Tesla in the U.S. offer additional discussion opportunities for advisors.
Investor clients that are informed about the sustainability of their portfolios tend to look at longer horizons.
Cite research and any performance data, financial and social, that indicate how it “pays to be sustainable.”
Sustainability is a way of mitigating risks in terms of poor corporate behavior and potential damage to reputation.
Adding a mix of sustainable investments (i.e. microfinance, low carbon indices) contributes to portfolio diversification.
Most Swiss banks now have sustainable investment products among their offerings.
Sustainable investments present an opportunity to differentiate Swiss private wealth management from others.

***

“Clients are interested in sustainable investing, but where to start as an advisor? In an effort to support this journey, four tools are outlined below:

(1) Prepare thoroughly for the initial forays into sustainability topics. A taxonomy of events and situations that are specifically suitable for initiating the conversation about sustainable investing;

(2) Prepare for a client conversation. Where to get information for an in-depth conversation once client interest has been voiced;

(3) Keep answers for common misperceptions handy. A list of potential misconceptions that could come up, together with corresponding answers;

(4) Be prepared for nasty questions. A list of questions that might come up during client discussions related to the personal stance of the advisor or bank on sustainable investment.”

Sources: Financial Times, Swiss Sustainable Finance

TPG ‘s Rise Fund Invests $50M in Indian Dairy Dodla

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 12, 2017

Hyderabad-based Dodla Dairy Ltd has tapped $50 million in private equity from TPG Growth to help fund its business supplying India’s growing demand for dairy products across 66 regions in the country.

The deal also helps sustain the dairy company’s procurement chain, which sources milk from approximately 250,000 smallholder farmers in the country. “Most of India’s smallholders are only earning a few dollars a day, surviving on the brink of poverty,” said Bill McGlashan, TPG Growth Founder.

Global social impact fund TPG Growth’s Rise Fund made the private equity investment in Dodla Dairy, in exchange for a “significant minority stake in the company post the deal,” says Vish Narain, a partner at TPG Growth. This follows news in March that TPG Growth was nearing acquisition of a 25% stake in Dodla held by Proterra Investment Partners for $47 million.

The notable deal with Dodla is TPG Rise’s first foray in AgTech and its second impact investment deal since EverFi.

Intentionality in Business

Founded nearly twenty years ago in 1998, Dodla Dairy today sells about 900,000 liters of milk and six tons of milk products from milk it sources from smallholder farmers in 7,000 villages.

Its milk procurement strategy from smallholder farmers is intentional. “Working closely with thousands of local farmers to bring our product to market has helped us not only reach our leading position in the marketplace, but also positively impact our local communities,” said Sunil Reddy, founder of Dodla.

“India has more dairy farmers than any other country, and is the world’s largest and fastest-growing producer of milk. Yet many of the small farmers who produce that milk do not have access to the basic tools and networks necessary to sustainably and reliably generate profits.” adds Bill McGlashan, TPG Growth Founder and Managing Partner and Co-Founder and CEO of The Rise Fund.

Dodla engages with smallholder farmers closely, assisting in affordable animal feed and veterinary services. It also connects farmers to regional banks – it claims to have helped more than 2,300 farmers gain access to financing to help sustain milk production.

Dodla is well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for milk, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% to 200 million tons in 2022 from 138 million tons in 2014.

https://youtu.be/kCB5kf2sBz8

Sources: Deal Street Asia, Business Wire, Dodla Dairy, Crunchbase

Investors Leading Advisors to ESG, Morgan Stanley Says

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 11, 2017

esggender — Source: Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing

Investors, Millenials in particular, are leading and in some cases, educating, their advisors during ESG investment discussions, instead of the other way around.

It’s a “major gap,” according to Morgan Stanley Sustainability Institute in a compilation of analyses by TruValue Labs, a provider of environmental-social-governance, or ESG data, sustainability metrics and real-time analytics based in San Francisco, California.

Key Reasons

Client demand is the primary factor. More women and younger investors are more interested about ESG and sustainability investing than their advisors, who are presumably older and/or are more male.

Source: Morgan Stanley Sustainability Institute

More than half of advisors surveyed showed “little to no interest” in ESG, according to a supporting survey by Morgan Stanley Sustainability Institute.

Cognitive biases and persistent myths on the performance of conventional investing versus sustainable investing was another reason. Nearly 90% of advisors say ESG discussions are initiated by clients.

Another is the apparent disconnect between investors and their advisors. A Schroders Global Investor Study found that advisers underestimate the extent to which investors care about making responsible and sustainable investments.

Persistent and cognitive bias in investing is a big deal – read our previous post.

More Reasons

Some are playing catch-up. Bank of America which runs its Merrill Lynch wealth management unit, found that while 38 percent of its affluent clients are interested in impact investments, only 17 percent of its advisors know how to meet their clients’ needs.

Active managers are now competing with emerging passive ESG products. MSCI and Morningstar each launched products in 2016 to provide investors with how well underlying issuers in a wide variety of mutual funds are performing on ESG issues.

And nearly 90% of advisors say most ESG conversations are client-initiated. 82% of high net worth individuals say they find ESG investments appealing, as do 88% of millennials.

Sources: Thomson Reuters, Morgan Stanley Sustainability Institute, Schroders

Home Ownership Remains Subdued, U.S.

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 11, 2017

The housing market in the U.S. remains healthy overall but tepid, buoyed by an economy with, currently, low unemployment, tame inflation and low interest rates, according to an analysis by Hedged Equity.

Still, home ownership is at its lowest in 50 years, housing affordability has been contracting in the past 5 years (see chart), more consumers are renting versus buying, and more homes in the U.S. are increasingly being purchased by foreign buyers.

Key Trend Takeaways

Geopolitical and global macroeconomic uncertainties have been the drivers of US real estate purchases by foreigners.

Uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration has driven up mortgage rates, which rose above 4% for the first time since 2015.

US commercial real estate has become a safer bet for foreign yield-seeking investors due to negative interest rate policies in the EU and Japan.

While loans to commercial real estate remain healthy, deals and transactions are declining.

Residential Home Appreciation in Selected US Markets

Price appreciation in US residential real estate markets have risen (see chart) but remain tempered by restrained supply versus demand.

U.S. Outlook

“Of foremost importance to the real estate market in 2017 will be 1) a more restrictive interest rate policy outlook and its consequences on residential mortgage rates 2) the U.S. economic outlook and 3) a potential pickup in inflation on the activity of real estate investor decisions.

There are emerging signs of frothiness in major urban centers including New York, San Francisco and Miami. Prices in Manhattan for the higher-bracket market, namely properties above the $1 million threshold, fell 8.7% year over year in Q4 2016 and 2.2% quarter over quarter. Foreign buyers, especially active in luxury residential properties, are now feeling the pressure of a strong dollar on their willingness to purchase.

What will be important in 2017 is the continued strong showing of the US economy and relative attractiveness of yields. This is of special importance as 37% of all homes sold in the U.S. last year were purchased for investment purposes.

The homeownership rate in 2016 was the lowest in 50 years, as renting has been increasingly the more frequent choice compared to purchasing. Were interest rates or inflation surprise to the upside in 2017, the negative price movements of the last months are likely to not only persist, but become more significant.”

Real Estate Markets Outside U.S.

As a way of benchmarking, an HSBC study of more than 9,000 people in nine countries finds that 40% of Millennials currently own their own home – U.S. underindexed at 35%.

Housing affordability remains persistently an issue for Millennials. 34% are being held back because they cannot afford the types of property they like, compounded by growth in house prices that are, in countries like the U.S. and Australia, more than twice the growth in real wages.

Sources: Seeking Alpha, Hedged Equity, The Economist, National Association of Realtors

Impact Investing Deal Report – May 10, 2017

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 10, 2017

Agrihive – this week’s spotlight, received funding to deliver Farmecco, to capture and streamline financial components of farmers’ businesses digitally and generate real-time reporting of costs and revenues. Over 70,000 beef farmers are expected to benefit from the initiative. $600 thousand in seed funding from Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Meat & Livestock Australia. Based in Australia.

Ceres – captures, processes, and delivers high-resolution spectral imagery-as-a-service for agriculture. $5 million in Series A to total $8 million to date. Based in Oakland, California in the U.S.

Cornershop – an on-demand grocery delivery service focused on Latin America markets in Chile and Mexico, has raised $21 million in Series B to now total $30.2 mllion from 13 investors. Based in San Francisco, California in the U.S.

Devicare – develops remote-monitoring devices for patients with chronic illnesses. It plans to use the funding to launch clinical trials for Lit-Control, a sensor-enabled sample cup used to measure urinary pH and Tao-Control, to help patients take oral anticoagulants. €3 million in seed funding. Based in Barcelona, Spain.

Go-Jek – Uber-rival and Indonesian motorbike ride-hail service, has raised $1.2 billion in new funding led by Tencent at a $3 billion valuation. In March, Uber notably scrubbed a non-compete deal with the Go-Jek. Based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Intrinsic Therapeutics – is developing therapies to treat disc herniations in the spine for discectomy patients. It is also developing spinal implants to treat the causes of sciatica and low back pain. $49 million in new venture capital and debt financing. Based in Woburn, Massachussetts in the U.S.

Kreditech – is developing credit ranking and finance products for the unbanked and underbanked. Its competition includes Experian-partner Lenddo and San Francisco-based LendUp. €110 million in new equity funding. Based in Hamburg, Germany.

Lantern Pharma – develops drugs for novel targeted cancer therapeutics. $3.7 million in Series A funding. Based in Dallas, Texas in the U.S.

Soylent – food replacement product-maker and advocate of meatless, non-dairy food food alternative from sustainable sources, has raised $50 million in new VC funding. The young firm has recently been subjected to a barrage of controversies: algae-caused illnesses and product recalls. Based in Los Angeles, California in the U.S.

Vivet Therapeutics – develops gene therapies, or experimental techniques that use genes to treat or prevent diseases, that are delivered with synthetic adeno-associated viruses for rare, inherited metabolic diseases. €37.5 million in Series A funding. Based in Paris, France.

Taranis – aims to make a dent in the $300 billion a year product losses due to pest and crop disease. It aims to build a precision agriculture intelligence platform that identifies, predicts and prevent crop diseases. $7.5 million in Series A funding. Based in Israel.

Territory – the prepared food delivery service which targets customers in gyms and other healthy living outlets with its calorie-controlled meals, has raised $6.7 million in Series A funding. Based in Washington D.C.

Other Relevant News of Interest

Following Macron’s successful bid for the French presidency, investors are betting less on U.S. stock markets in favor of those of Europe’s.

Ford’s CEO is under the spotlight now as Tesla’s market capitalization has exceeded Ford’s.

500 Startups is targeting nearly $22 million for a seed fund focused on Canada and up to $10 million for another seed fund focused on Vietnam.

New California bill would make it easier to sell home-cooked food.

Hampton Creek terminates senior managers, after it couldn’t raise more than $7 million towards its $150 million goal. The company is notable for its vegan egg-less mayo spread.

The average American household would be willing to spend $3,500 on partial and $4,900 on fully autonomous car technology, according to a study.

Among the six top areas that artificial intelligence or AI is expected to impact include healthcare and clean energy.

https://youtu.be/k9Rm-U9havE

Microsoft announced a smartwatch called “Emma” for people with Parkinson’s disease. Announced during its 2017 Build Developer Conference this week, the watch’s motors “create vibrations to counter a Parkinson’s patient’s tremors, effectively stabilizing them.” The brilliant device was conceived by Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Microsoft Cambridge. More than 10 million people in the world suffer today from Parkinson’s.

Sources: Crunchbase, TechCrunch, MobiHealth News, AgFunder

Impact Fund Returns Attainable But Requires Due-diligence, Cambridge Report Says

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 9, 2017

RE Benchmark Cambridge 2017 — Source: Cambridge Associates. Impact Investing Benchmark for Timber, Real Estate, Infrastructure

Market-performing returns of real assets impact funds are attainable, even comparable with those of conventional real assets funds when weighed cumulatively. However, manager selection and due diligence are critically necessary, a Cambridge Benchmark report has found.

Internal Rate of Returns (IRR, pooled) for impact investing funds in timber, real estate and infrastructure were 5.9%, 0.9% and 2.5% respectively.

By comparison, IRR for conventional investing funds in timber, real estate and infrastructure were 3.3%, 4.9% and 6.5% respectively.

Significance of the Benchmarks

Fighting bias in investing is always a challenge, any experienced professional or academic will acknowledge. The study gives actual data that allows investors to better measure and evaluate the real performance of impact investing funds in these sectors. These benchmarks also provide a critical tool for removing barriers to industry growth in an asset class that has the potential to generate significant social and environmental impact.

The Cambridge Benchmark study specifically emphasizes the value of impact fund managers who are exacting in their methods for pursuing portfolio alphas while pursuing impact objectives for their clients.

Due diligence is a critical step in the investment process and is an important factor in obtaining superior returns and in risk management, the study contends.

Impact Objectives

The impact objectives of timber funds in Cambridge Associate’s benchmarks include sustainable timber production, land conservation, and biodiversity conservation.

Real estate funds include green real estate, affordable housing, AgTech and community services.

Infrastructure funds include renewable energy, climate change mitigation and water resource management.

Pioneering Credibility

Prior to this work, Cambridge Associates had already created the pioneering Impact Investing Benchmark, consisting of 51 private impact funds invested in purpose-driven companies and funds intending to generate social and financial returns.

That benchmark returned 6.9% annually to investors, according to the June 2015 report, compared to 8.1% returned by conventional private-investment funds.

Financial inclusion, jobs, sustainable housing and education were among the areas pursued by Cambridge for that benchmark.

***

Partial Transcript of the Conclusion Section

At this stage, given the limited sample size, it is difficult to reach definitive conclusions, but we can make some initial observations on the real assets impact investing landscape:

Market rates of return are attainable in real assets impact investing, but manager selection is paramount. To achieve superior returns and risk management, rigorous due diligence in manager selection is critical in all investment decisions, including those related to real assets impact investments.

Fund managers can rigorously pursue both financial and impact objectives. These benchmarks demonstrate that funds can pursue (and achieve) market rates of return while channeling capital to investments with the intention to generate measurable positive impact results.

Impact timber funds in the dataset have outperformed comparative timber funds for the period analyzed. While impact investments in real estate and infrastructure had pockets of both strength and weakness, impact timber funds outperformed the comparative universe in both our vintage year and fund size analysis.

Based on a limited sample size, across all three sectors analyzed, smaller funds have had the strongest performance. Impact timber funds that raised under $100 million (3 funds) returned 8.9%, besting larger funds. Similarly, impact funds under $50 million (6) were the strongest performing group in the real estate sector, with a net IRR of 10.2%. Within impact infrastructure, funds under $100 million (3) were also the best performing, producing a net IRR of 11.7%.

Maturity is an important consideration in real assets impact investing. Impact funds focused on infrastructure—particularly renewable energy infrastructure—and other assets whose success depends, in part, on advanced technologies, are relatively newer investment strategies with less evolved legal and regulatory guidelines. Investors should keep the maturity of each sector in mind when interpreting these findings and setting expectations for the future performance of funds.

Sources: Cambridge Associates Real Assets Benchmark, Cambridge Associates Impact Benchmark

BART Announces First Green Bonds

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

-

May 9, 2017

The San Francisco region’s mass transit BART system, or Bay Area Rapid Transit, is set to offer its first ever green bonds. Over $380 million is expected to be raised by the offerings, which were rated Aaa by Moody’s and AAA by Standard and Poor’s.

What “Green” Means

The bonds were certified by the Climate Bond Initiative’s rigorous Low Carbon Land Transport Standard. It signals to investors that funds raised from these bonds will be directed toward environmentally sustainable projects for BART.

BART Controversies

The bond offerings come at a time when BART has been controversial in recent news.

Crime is up about 22% in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year. A BART customer has filed a lawsuit for a crime committed against his family in March this year.

Its aging fleet, designed in the 1950s, lags those of other modern nations like Singapore’s, Japan’s and of 33 other cities, in a February best airport by train transit ranking by Milecards.

And its ridership, now almost 500,000 each week, continues to grow, and is often subjected to chronic delays, according to its own internal studies. Most of the delays occur at the MacArthur and West Oakland stations and are, by its own admission, due to “worn out parts and unreliable trains.”

***

BART’s Press Release Announcement

“BART is preparing its first-ever Green Bonds, certified by the Climate Bonds Initiative. BART plans to hold an early order period exclusively for individual investors on May 9, 2017. The Series 2017 Green Bonds are General Obligation Bonds secured by ad valorem property taxes collected in the three-county BART district.

This is not an offer to sell bonds or a solicitation of an offer to buy bonds. Investors must have access to the Official Statement for the bonds and have access to a brokerage account in order to purchase them.

The estimated $388 million of proceeds expected from the sale of these Green Bonds will be a significant investment in climate-friendly mass transportation for the Bay Area, funding continuing work on improving BART’s core infrastructure including track replacement, tunnel repair, station improvements and train control system upgrades to allow more safe, reliable and frequent service per Measure RR for the BART System Renewal Program as well as refinancing prior projects completed per Measure AA for the Earthquake Safety Program.

The bond issue meets the rigorous criteria established by the Climate Bonds Initiative relating to reporting and transparency, and will pay for projects that provide low-carbon transportation alternatives for Bay Area residents and reduce the impacts of climate change.”

Sources: BART, KRON4, Climate Bonds Initiative, Milecards

Your Zip Code May Determine Your Life Expectancy in the U.S.

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

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May 8, 2017

uslifeexpectancy — JAMA Intern Med. Published online May 8, 2017

A recent population-based report by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that where you live may be a determinant of your life expectancy in the U.S.

The report also suggests that the variation of longevity among U.S. counties is explainable – wealth, education, ethnicity, health care are among the factors cited.

Why This Matters

If zip code is more of a determinant of health and longevity than genetic or DNA code, then the study presents an opportunity for targeted policy prescription.

It would also present an opportunity for targeted social investments in areas where more measurable impact can be made, in poverty, social justice, job retraining programs, and affordable health care.

Health Care Spending

Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, World Bank country classifications
Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

Speaking of affordable health care, a pair of other studies also suggest that the U.S., the biggest economy among nations, spends the most on care for the sick, yet lags other developed nations in terms of health outcomes.

These reports come at a time when the U.S. Congress is attempting to repeal former President Obama’s signature Affordable Health Care Act.

Among uninsured consumers who pay out-of-pocket, the poorest will forgo treatment — or they’ll have treatment and be thrown into poverty because of medical costs. That problem is mostly a given in poorer nations, though the U.S. stands out among developed nations as having medical expenditures that often are so large that many land in bankruptcy.

Source: American Bankruptcy Institute, U.S. Courts 2017

***

Partial Transcript of the Report

The findings on factors related to variation in life expectancy have important policy implications. In particular, policies and programs that target behavioral and metabolic risk factors have the potential to improve health in all locations but especially those that are currently most at a disadvantage, consequently reducing geographic disparities.

This is not to say that policies that target socioeconomic drivers of disparities would not also be effective, but rather that there are multiple potential routes to more equitable health outcomes for federal, state, and local policy makers to consider.

Furthermore, researchers now recognize that the relationship between socioeconomic status and health likely reflects causal pathways running in both directions (ie, from better health to higher socioeconomic status as well as from higher socioeconomic status to better health).²⁹

Thus, policies that target inequalities in health may also in the long run be effective mechanisms for addressing inequalities in socioeconomic status as well.

This study has a number of strengths. First, this analysis used recently developed and validated small area models that have been shown to generate more precise estimates than previous methodologies.¹⁶

Second, this study did not exclude small counties or aggregate them beyond what was necessary to address historical boundary changes, allowing for a more complete accounting of geographic inequalities at the county level than previously available.

Third, in addition to life expectancy, this study considered geographic inequalities in age-specific mortality risks that have not been previously explored.

Fourth, this study is the first to systematically consider to what extent geographic inequalities in life expectancy at the county level can be explained by socioeconomic and race/ethnicity factors, behavioral and metabolic risk factors, and health care factors, both independently and in combination.

Sources: JAMA Internal Medicine, NPR, FiveThirtyEight, Ritholtz, WHO

Former President Obama Urges Courage

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

-

May 8, 2017

Barack Obama, in a speech accepting the 2017 Centennial John F. Kennedy “Profiles in Courage” award on May 7th Sunday, reflected on the meaning of courage and how it has been embodied not only by John F. Kennedy in his time, but also by former members of Congress who had helped him pass the Affordable Care Act.

Broadcasted over live video, the former U.S. President expressed his deep conviction for courage in times of despair, and hope in times of cynicism.

Key quote – “Any fool can be fearless. Courage, true courage, derives from that sense of who we are.”

Mr. Obama urged courage to champion the weak, the ill and the disadvantaged. While he did not explicitly name any officials in the current U.S. administration and Congress, he urged lawmakers to consider the impact of their actions in repealing parts of his legacy, including his signature Obamacare.

“I hope they understand that courage means not simply doing what is simply politically expedient, but doing what [people] believe in their hearts is right,” Obama said.

Fighting the “Good Fight”

“We need courage to believe that together we can tackle big challenges like inequality and climate change. At such moments, it’s necessary for us to show courage in challenging the status quo and in fighting the good fight but also show the courage to listen to one another and seek common ground and embrace principled compromise,” Obama urged.

The Award’s Lantern Meaning

The award’s lantern, modeled authentically after ship’s lanterns in the 19th century, is in keeping with John F. Kennedy’s love of sailing and his career in the U.S. Navy.

The lantern is a nautical metaphor for “the search for an honest and courageous” person as he or she seeks to find his or her own path often in the “darkness of outside pressures.”

Obama is the third president to receive the Profile in Courage Award. Gerald Ford received his in 2001 for pardoning former President Richard M. Nixon.” George H.W. Bush received his in 2014 for his controversial 1990 decision to raise taxes, despite saying “no new taxes” in his 1988 campaign.

***

Partial Transcript of former U.S. President’s acceptance speech

“It’s worth remembering this, the times in which President Kennedy led us, because for many Americans I know that this feels like an uncertain and even perilous time. The forces of globalization and technology have upended many of our established assumptions about the economy. It provided a great opportunity and also a great inequality and uncertainty for far too many. Our politics remains filled with division and discord, and everywhere we see the risk of falling into the refuge of tribe and clan and anger at those who don’t look like us or have the same surnames or pray the way we do.

And at such moments, courage is necessary. At such moments, we need courage to stand up to hate not just in others but in ourselves. At such moments, we need the courage to stand up to dogma not just in others but in ourselves. At such moments, we need courage to believe that together we can tackle big challenges like inequality and climate change. At such moments, it’s necessary for us to show courage in challenging the status quo and in fighting the good fight but also show the courage to listen to one another and seek common ground and embrace principled compromise.

Courage, President Kennedy knew, requires something more than just the absence of fear. Any fool can be fearless. Courage, true courage, derives from that sense of who we are, what are our best selves, what are our most important commitments, and the belief that we can dig deep and do hard things for the enduring benefit of others.”

Be Inspired Some More -> JFK Library, NPR, JFK Centennial

Making Food More Accessible through Impact Investing

By

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

-

May 5, 2017

“Making food accessible is our goal,” says Jason Ingle, founder of non-profit Greener Partners and a General Partner at Closed Loop Capital in a talk with Christopher Skroupa of Skytop Strategies. “I think impact investing presents a new tool in the toolkit for solutions that can scale.”

Closed Loop Capital is an early stage VC in AgTech and food systems ventures in the U.S. and Canada. Greener Partners is a nonprofit dedicated to sustainable farming and farm-based education in Philadelphia.

Closed Loop Capital is one of the growing number of social venture capitalists like Bridges, or Mission Point Partners who have invested $10 billion into AgTech.

Growing Up A Farmer

Raised in the state of New York, Mr. Ingle wanted his children to experience what it is like to grow up as he did, in farming, on an organic family farm and winery in New York’s Finger Lakes region. He wanted his children to know sustainability, and be stewards of their farms and land.

“Our job is to magnify a deep impact in our communities,” adds Mr. Ingle.

Food Innovation’s Significance

As increases in human population and wealth will lift global demand for food by up to 70% by 2050, and as climate change concerns materialize, our current methods for food production and agriculture will not be sustainable. More innovation is needed.

***

“I think you’re always going to have a need for philanthropic dollars, which is the ultimate risk capital — it’s going to zero; you’re not going to get it back. That serves a tremendous purpose in continuing to nurture fragile ecosystems.

I think impact investing presents a new tool in the toolkit for a solution that can scale. Before, you might have been able to sustain and maybe slightly ameliorate some of these challenges, but you really didn’t have the ability to create a viable, scalable entity that could really have the thrust to drive towards solutions.

There’s always going to be examples where there’s a potential solution that may never become a viable business, and therefore, philanthropy is going to be needed.

You may be in a very early stage where you can’t attract institutional, or even angel investment yet, and you ultimately need grant funding to test, beta, and prototype until it gets to a more de-risked stage far enough along that impact investment can be made.

I think it’s exciting that for the first time, an individual is able to take an integrated approach in everything they do.

So if your passion is agriculture or food or education, you can take a holistic look at that area of interest that you have a passionate commitment to and you can look across the spectrum from completely philanthropic on one side of it all the way through the continuum to traditional return-oriented and everything in between.

To me, it’s very exciting to be able to take that integrated approach and look for solutions all the way across that spectrum.”

Sources: Forbes, Growing Magazine, TED

Gino Baltazar, MS Finance

10 Arguments for Sustainable Investing for Advisors, Swiss Report

TPG ‘s Rise Fund Invests $50M in Indian Dairy Dodla

Investors Leading Advisors to ESG, Morgan Stanley Says

Home Ownership Remains Subdued, U.S.

Impact Investing Deal Report – May 10, 2017

Impact Fund Returns Attainable But Requires Due-diligence, Cambridge Report Says

BART Announces First Green Bonds

Your Zip Code May Determine Your Life Expectancy in the U.S.

Making Food More Accessible through Impact Investing

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