Finance & Investment
New Alliance Launches to Accelerate Impact Investment Movement

Bringing together financial institutions, investors and intermediaries to continue catalyzing the impact investing moment, the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance has launched its expanded network of impact investing leaders.

The Alliance was founded last year by representatives from philanthropy, business and finance to drive impact investing in the U.S. by increasing awareness, fostering deployment of and demand for impact capital across asset classes globally and partnering with policymakers and other stakeholders to build the impact investing ecosystem.

With its launch, the Alliance introduced a broadened mandate that includes advocating for a favorable policy environment, catalyzing the flow of impact capital and growing the movement of impact investing in the U.S. and globally.

“Our vision is to catalyze a movement that will transform finance by putting measurable social and environmental impact, alongside risk and financial return, at the core of investment decisions,” said Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the Alliance and former Managing Direct and Chief Investment Officer of nonprofit impact investing firm ImpactAssets.

The Alliance’s 11-member board comprises practitioners from across the impact investing community, including private investors, foundations, intermediaries and asset managers:

• Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation; Chair, Alliance
• Tracy Palandjian, CEO & Co-Founder of Social Finance; Vice-Chair, Alliance
• Matt Bannick, President of Omidyar Network
• Ray Chambers, President of the MCJ Amelior Foundation
• Clara Miller, President of the Heron Foundation
• Nancy Pfund, Managing Partner & Founder of DBL Partners
• Rip Rapson, President & CEO of the Kresge Foundation
• Andy Sieg, Head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
• Ian Simmons, Principal & Co-Founder of Blue Haven Initiative
• Jim Sorenson, Chairman of the Sorenson Impact Foundation
• Julia Stasch, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

“The impact investing movement is a growing force in driving social and environmental change in the U.S. and around the world,” said Walker. “In philanthropy, we are moved to lead this effort, but ultimately it is about engaging with everyone from Wall Street to Main Street. We can accomplish more in partnership than we ever could achieve on our own.”

The development of the group stems from the June 2013 G8 meeting, where an international effort was undertaken to explore the possibilities for impact investing to accelerate economic growth and to address some of society’s most pressing issues. Under the auspices of that effort, the U.S. National Advisory Board on Impact Investing (NAB), the precursor organization to the Alliance, was formed with a mandate to identify and help reduce domestic policy barriers to impact investing.

The focus of the Alliance will be on the U.S. market, but it is also a part of the Global Steering Group on Impact Investing (GSG), which was established to promote a unified view of impact investment across the world, facilitate knowledge exchange and encourage policy change in national markets. Its members include 15 countries plus the EU, as well as active observers from government and from global network organizations supportive of impact investing.

The Alliance also convenes and administers the Presidents’ Council on Impact Investing, which comprises leaders from 20 private foundations, with a combined $60 billion in endowed assets, who are engaged in impact investing.

The Alliance is also launching an Industry Advisory Council of leading impact investing network organizations. Together these organizations represent over 800 members and trillions of dollars of assets under management. The Industry Advisory Council is led by:

• Dana Lanza, CEO of Confluence Philanthropy
• Amit Bouri, CEO of Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)
• Abigail Noble, CEO of The ImPact
• Georges Dyer, Principal of the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN)
• Bonny Moellenbrock, Executive Director of Investors’ Circle
• Matt Onek, CEO of Mission Investors Exchange (MIE)
• Adam Bendell, CEO of Toniic
• Lisa Woll, CEO of The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF)

“Investors are increasingly interested in aligning their investments with their values, so it is important the field continues to grow and evolve to meet that demand,” added Sieg.