In The News
Investing Responsibly in Canada: Yes it's RRSP season again, and thegreenpages.ca has pulled together a useful guide of some of the key resources and RRSP-eligible funds that you can invest in. Not only is it a good thing to align your investments with your social values, but there is evidence that SRI can lower your portfolio risk and volatility. Here's some recent evidence around investing in microfinance.
The Potential for Social Entrepreneurship in Ontario (via Tonya Surman's blog): Working paper by Andrea Baldwin from Canadian Business for Social Responsibility on why social entrepreneurship can be an important driver of economic and social growth, and what conditions are needed for social entrepreneurship to reach its growth potential in Ontario.
First Loss Capital (hat tip: Tactical Philanthropy): The Lemelson Foundation in Portland has started a financing program, First Loss Capital, to help help nonprofits and social entreprises obtain debt financing through a “cash cushion” into the deal. This is meant to address one of the critical gaps in the social finance continuum, where strict lending criteria may deem many new ideas/organizations too risky - this "cash cushion" can go some way towards offsetting the risk. Something we could use in Canada? Definitely!
Investing in Microfinance Funds: Despite (or because of?) the financial turmoil in credit markets, there have recently been a string of investments in microfinance funds. The World Bank and the German government have pledged $500 million for microcredit banks, to be managed by BlueOrchard Finance, ResponsAbility Social Investments, and Cyrano Management. CDC Group, the UK government-backed fund of funds with net assets of $4 billion, has invested $30 million in two microfinance funds. The Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI) has committed US$100 million to two investment funds. And speaking of microfinance, want to know what Microfinance 2.0 looks like? Find out here.
Turning on the Development Finance Tap: An interesting article from Ethical Corporation Magazine around the potential overlap between development policy and base of the pyramid business in emerging markets. An example from Bangladesh: Danone has partnered with Grameen Bank, which lends to the small dairy farmers that supply Danone Grameen Foods, a joint venture set up to sell cheap, fortified yoghurt to malnourished Bangladeshi children. From the same magazine, also check out the series on The Changing Face of Community Investment.
Riskmetrics to Acquire Innovest: The combination of two prominent providers of ESG research and analysis, RiskMetrics Group and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, should greatly enhance the quantity and quality of data available to socially responsible investors, and go some way towards pushing the boundaries of the measurement/metrics debate.
Why Philanthropy Wins in a Web 2.0 Culture: An excellent post by Sean from Tactical Phlanthropy on the role of social media for philanthropy. The implications are profound - read it!
10 online resources for social entrepreneurs: Dan Martin's list includes Social Edge, UnltdWorld, Ashoka, and Change.org
