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Policy Corner: Reimagining slums: The business case for infrastructure investments in informal settlements

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By: Sebastian Welisiejko

Originally published In ImpactAlpha’s Policy Corner on May 16, 2023. Read the article here.

More than one billion people around the world live in urban areas without formal access to basic infrastructure such as potable water, sewage, and electricity. The UN predicts that this number will continue to rise, with as many as three billion people living in slums and informal settlements by 2050.

There is a clear case for public-private sector partnerships to invest in the rehabilitation of informal urban areas. That case is built on strong community focus and engagement, the potential for social value creation, and the need to avoid massive, long-term social costs to be faced if nothing is done.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Endorses New Legislation to Advance Employee Ownership

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance celebrates the introduction of a bipartisan, bicameral bill that will help catalyze employee ownership across the United States.

Owning a business is a key pathway to creating wealth and economic opportunity. Employee ownership models help democratize that pathway, by empowering workers and giving them a stake in the long-term success of not only their business, but their local economies.

The Employee Equity Investment Act (EEIA) builds on the existing Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program to attract private investment capital to help create and grow employee owned businesses.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Voices Support for ESG Integration in Investment Decision-Making Ahead of House Committee Hearing

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The integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making is an important tool for investors to consider financially relevant information. Actions at the federal and state-level to attempt to block consideration of ESG factors threaten investors and retirement savers who are depending on long-term financial returns.

In advance of a hearing in the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, “ESG Part I: An Examination of Environmental, Social, and Governance Practices with Attorneys General,” the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance emphasized its support for protecting the rights of investors to access ESG tools and strategies with Committee leaders.

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Policy Corner: Public investment alone cannot achieve the goals of U.S. industrial policy

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By: David Wood, Aaron Cantrell, Melanie Brusseler

Originally Published In ImpactAlpha’s Policy Corner On April 18, 2023. Read The Article Here.

A new paradigm for U.S. industrial strategy

The IRA, IIJA, and CHIPS Act iconize a new era in US green industrial strategy: a narrow definition of redressing “market failures” is giving way, on both sides of the aisle, to a more constructive vision of the public sector’s role in building an equitable and sustainable economy.

Industrial policy incorporates a wide range of carrots and sticks, including trade and procurement policies, financial and industrial regulation, and labor policies. But it is public investment that, when done well, can create a center of gravity that other policy tools can’t provide: for building infrastructure and productive capacity to deal with the climate crisis, driving equitable growth, and enhancing resilience in historically marginalized communities.

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Investor and Business Coalition Voices Support for Department of Labor Nominee

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The Coalition on Inclusive Economic Growth wrote to congressional leaders endorsing Julie Su’s nomination to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor ahead of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this week.

Read the Coalition’s full letter.

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SEC’s Disclosure Agenda Will Drive Transparency and Protect Investors

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In anticipation of SEC Chair Gensler’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee this week, the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance reiterates our support for the agency’s investor-driven transparency and disclosure agenda.

Access to clear, comparable information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors empowers investors and paves the way for more transparency across the capital markets. This is why the Alliance supports urgent SEC action on corporate and asset manager disclosure requirements around financially relevant factors like climate risks and workforce diversity.

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Historic Funding Disbursed for Community Lenders

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance has long called for robust support for the community lenders that serve as the backbone of the community investing ecosystem. Especially in light of the COVID-19 crisis, these community development financial institutions (CDFI) and minority depository institutions (MDI) were critical in flowing capital to the small business owners and community members who needed it the most.

This week, we celebrate the Treasury Department’s announcement that the CDFI Fund has awarded over $1.73 billion in grants to 603 CDFIs through the Equitable Recovery Program (ERP).

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Policy Corner: Get ready: ESG critics are coming for ‘S’ issues

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By: Fran Seegull

Originally Published In ImpactAlpha’s Policy Corner On April 4, 2023. Read The Article Here.

The year ahead promises to be a momentous one for progress on ‘S,’ or social issues, in public policy solutions, as a recent ImpactAlpha Call explored. From the SEC’s imminent proposal on human capital management disclosures to historic levels of federal funds flowing into rural and low-income communities, there is a groundswell of activity aimed at supporting workers and creating more equitable economic opportunities for all Americans.

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Policy Corner: How the U.S. can boost community financial institutions to counter bank consolidation and bridge racial wealth gaps

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By: Beth Bafford And Bulbul Gupta

Originally published In ImpactAlpha’s Policy Corner on March 29, 2023. Read the article here.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank sent depositors fleeing into the arms of large “Systemically Important Banks,” even after the federal government stepped in aggressively to restore confidence and calm markets.

Too-big-to-fail banks may help individuals and businesses feel better about the safety of their accounts in the short-term. But the shift will be devastating for lower-income families, small businesses, and communities of color if the federal government doesn’t counterbalance their emergency efforts with major, long-term commitments to the community finance sector.

Such support is not only good policy. It is essential to build trust with communities who feel that large banks – which often exclude community members from financial inclusion and access to capital – are always bailed out at their expense.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Applauds President Biden’s Actions to Protect American Workers’ Financial Security

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance is encouraged by the Biden-Harris Administration's continued support for the financial security of American workers. Today, President Biden vetoed a politically motivated attempt to reverse a Department of Labor (DOL) rule that allows the consideration of financially relevant environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in certain retirement savings plans.

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Policy Corner: The state of impact investing public policy – and opportunities for 2023

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The past year has been one of both exciting growth and unexpected challenges for the impact investing industry. Amid an uncertain macroeconomic forecast and complex geopolitical circumstances, the market eclipsed $1 trillion in assets under management for the first time. The field’s evolution has been driven by steady investor demand for impact and ESG products, increased focus on impact measurement and management, and of course, critical public policy developments. 

The question on the minds of many leaders in this field is: “Where do we go from here?” The answer, I believe, is to drive toward more and deeper impact, taking care that the field scales with impact integrity.  

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Submits Recommendations to Federal Policymakers on Community Investing Best Practices

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance writes in support of a cross-agency initiative by the federal government to reflect on their collective role in generating positive economic outcomes for communities, with an eye toward racial equity.

Specifically, the Alliance responded today to a request for information (RFI) from the newly formed Interagency Community Investment Committee (ICIC) on how to improve the impact of federal community investment programs.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Testifies Before House Subcommittee on Corporate Human Capital Management Disclosures

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Earlier today, Fran Seegull, President of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, testified at a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets hearing on E, S, G and W: Examining Private Sector Disclosure of Workforce Management, Investment, and Diversity Data.

Seegull’s testimony emphasized the need for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pursue a rulemaking on standardized corporate human capital management disclosures, which are critical factors for investor decision-making.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Applauds New Rule from Department of Labor that will Protect the Economic Security of American Workers

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance celebrates a clear win for American workers today with the release of a final rulemaking by the Department of Labor (DOL), which ensures their retirement savings will be invested in line with prudent risk management practices.

The rule thoughtfully modernizes expectations for fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to consider financially material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors including climate change to protect retirement savers and promote a resilient economy.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Comments on the Midterm Elections and What it Means for Advancing an Equitable Economic Growth Agenda

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Even as ballots are still being counted in Congressional, state and local elections, it is clear that voters want an economy defined by equitable opportunities for themselves, their families and their communities. Though the exact policy prescriptions are subject to debate, Americans are united around attaining this shared prosperity.

The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance has long held the belief that the principles of impact investing are nonpartisan and capable of bringing together allies across the political spectrum to champion the flow of private capital for public good.

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Policy Corner: Reclaiming ESG as pro-business and pro-worker

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By: Fran Seegull

Originally Published In ImpactAlpha’s Policy Corner On September 14, 2022. Read The Article Here.

Right-wing politicians at both federal and state levels have started latching onto the well-known term of “ESG” as the new scapegoat for all things wrong with the economy. While ESG refers simply to an assessment framework for risk and opportunity that is widely accepted and growing in popularity among the investor and business communities, anti-ESG pundits have called it everything from “woke” to “leftist” to “the devil incarnate.”

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Podcast: State of the Field and Practice of Impact Investing: Episode 68 of Money + Meaning

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Impact investors increasingly see their work alongside broader movements, such as reimagining systems, shifting power, promoting equity, combating the climate crisis and more. Tune into the Money + Meaning Podcast to hear from Fran Seegull, Monique Aiken and Cathy Clark on their reflections on the state of the impact investing field and predictions for the year ahead.

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Celebrating Government-Led Commitments to Equity and Community Investing Priorities

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This week, leaders from the public, private, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors convened at the Treasury Department’s Freedman’s Bank Forum to consider their joint role in addressing economic disparities and promoting economic opportunities in communities of color. The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance congratulates the newly announced members of Treasury’s Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, representing community development finance experts, philanthropies, investment professionals and more.

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U.S. Impact Investing Alliance Supports Latest Regulatory Win for Investor Transparency

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The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance expressed support for the latest iteration of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) disclosure agenda to improve transparency for investors. In addition to expressing broad support for the SEC’s objectives to combat greenwashing and equip investors with decision-useful information, the Alliance’s comments focused on ways the Commission could expand the scope and refine certain provisions in the final rule.

 

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