impact investing

• Becoming an impact investor How do you become an impact investor? The short answer is to choose investments that solve social or environmental problems. For most of us, however, that is easy to say and not so easy to do. As a retail investor, there are few places where one can invest to gain a financial return while supporting [...]

• On the impact investing horizon: Six impact investing initiatives to watch for in 2013 Note: This blog was originally posted on SocialFinance.ca. It has been reposted here with permission from the author.  Since watching Marty McFly in Back to the Future and Rufus in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure as a young boy, I’ve always been interested in the perils and possibilities of the future.

• What a year it’s been! Things are always busy at MaRS, and 2012 was no exception. We hosted many exciting events, made many exciting announcements and saw our community grow greatly both in real life and online.

• Breaking perceptions: Unlocking capital for impact investing I am a relative newcomer to the world of social finance and impact investing in Canada. I have spent parts of the last 20 years working with investment funds in emerging markets (primarily in Africa) where, almost by definition, all small and medium enterprise investing is impact investing.

• RBC ignites Canadian impact investing market with $1 million gift The famous Stanford marshmallow experiment tested the ability of children to defer the immediate enjoyment of a treat for two treats 15 minutes later. Some children would immediately eat their marshmallow as soon as they were alone with it, but a third of the children held out long enough to get two marshmallows.

• Who is Canada’s most promising new financial player in social finance? You tell us! From one of Canada’s largest financial institutions to a group of community investors who set out to make a difference, this year’s finalists for the Social Finance Awards represent the diversity and scope of impact investing activity in Canada. Whether they have pioneered a new financial model, strengthened the social economy or impacted an entirely [...]

• Impact Investing: Building the industry Although investments for social and environmental impact have been made for decades, the field of impact investing has really taken off over the last decade, and since 2007 in particular. This evolution has been covered in a new report titled “Accelerating Impact: Achievements, Challenges and What’s Next in Building the Impact Investing Industry,” which was [...]

• Crowdfunding As an early or growth-stage impact entrepreneur looking for investment capital, you might think your only options for cash are friends, family and wealthy folks kind enough to give you a few moments of their time. But after a few uncomfortable afternoons talking business with your Uncle Morty, you may want to think about getting [...]

• What do railroads, telephones and social enterprise share? Canada has a long-standing history of developing policy that supports the growth of emerging sectors of its economy. From transportation to health to information, much of our country’s infrastructure is a function of some form of government involvement. There is also great potential for government to support the development of impact investing infrastructure through smart [...]

• Social finance: The key to The Innovation City How do we create cities that are catalysts for growth and prosperity on the global scale? How do we overcome the complexities of urbanization to develop effective digital and transportation infrastructure? How do we create sustainable and resource-efficient metropolitan regions?