The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism - Hardcover

Clark, Cathy; Emerson, Jed; Thornley, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118860810 ISBN 13: 9781118860816

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2014

Synopsis

Your money can change the world

The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism offers precise details on what, exactly, impact investing entails, embodied in the experiences and best and proven practices of some of the world's most successful impact investors, across asset classes, geographies and areas of impact. The book discusses the parameters of impact investing in unprecedented detail and clarity, providing both context and tools to those eager to engage in the generational shift in the way finance and business is being approached in the new era of Collaborative Capitalism.

The book presents a simple thesis with clarity and conviction: "Impact investing can be done successfully. This is what success looks like, and this is what it requires." With much-needed lessons for practitioners, the authors view impact investing as a harbinger of a new, more "multilingual" (cross-sector), transparent, and accountable form of economic leadership.

The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism serves as a resource for a variety of players in finance and business, including:

• Investors: It demonstrates not only the types of investments which can be profitable and impactful, but also details best practices that, with roots in impact investing, will increasingly play a role in undergirding the success of all investment strategies.
• Wealth advisors/financial services professionals: With unprecedented detail on the innovative structures and strategies of impact investing funds, the book provides guidance to financial institutions on how to incorporate these investments in client portfolios.
• Foundations: The book explores the many catalytic and innovative ways for for-profit and non-profit investors to partner, amplifying the potential social and environmental impacts of philanthropic spending and market-rate endowment investment.
• Business students: By including strategies for making sound impact investments based on detailed case studies, it provides concrete lessons and explores the skills required to enhance prospects for success as a finance and business professional.
• Policy makers: Reinforcing the urgency of creating a supportive and enabling environment for impact investing, the book demonstrates ways policy has already shaped the sector, and suggests new ways for policymakers to support it.
• Corporate leaders: The book includes essential advice on the way business is and must be responding to a new generation of Millennial clients and customers, with unique insights into a form of value creation that is inherently more collaborative and outcomes-driven.

About this title

From the Back Cover

CONCRETE LESSONS FOR IMPACT INVESTORS

“The Impact Investor is simply a must-read for those interested in the fast-growing field of impact investing and its emergence as a new and distinct approach to asset and wealth management. The book presents a definitive and indispensable guide for the seasoned entrepreneur, policymaker, investment professional, and MBA student alike.”
—Matt Bannick, managing partner, Omidyar Network; cochair, US National Advisory Board on Impact Investing

“This book comes at a critical juncture in the development of impact investing. A growing set of global investors are excited about impact investing yet remain uncertain about performance and how to achieve it. Fortunately we can now learn practical lessons from those in the trenches. If you are about to invest your first $20 on vested.org or place a client’s $10 million in impact products, you need to read this book.”
—Antony Bugg-Levine, CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund; coauthor, Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference

“The authors—all longtime leaders in the impact investing space—provide valuable insights for a new class of investors. Their new book uses real-world examples from funds that meet investor expectations of return on capital and that support impact businesses that are using market-based solutions to solve some of our greatest social challenges.”
—Jean Case, CEO, Case Foundation

“A ‘must-have’ for all interested in impact investing!”
—Annie Chen, Founder and Chair, RS Group, Hong Kong

“The Impact Investor takes the field of impact investing from theory to proven best practices, demonstrating not only that ‘the train has left the station’ but also that the destinations along the journey are proving quite attractive for both commercially and socially focused investors.”
—Ron D. Cordes, executive cochairman, AssetMark

“This is a significant contribution to the development of impact investing. It moves the debate from well-meaning rhetoric to the challenges faced by real managers making real investment decisions to solve real problems.”
—Nick O’Donohoe, CEO, Big Society Capital, London

“In these times of global transformation, aligning business and investment with our goals for positive social change is not merely a matter of preference, it is an absolute necessity. The Impact Investor introduces us to the innovators on the front lines already making change happen in markets across the globe.”
—Darren Walker, president, Ford Foundation

From the Inside Flap

“Clark, Emerson, and Thornley are leaders in the impact investing space and with this book offer an opportunity to understand the field from every vantage point—offering real examples of funds that have more than proven the theory that you can do well by doing good. Over just a short period of time, impact investing has transformed from a new concept to a robust sector, with investment opportunities available to every type of investor.”
—Judith Rodin, president, The Rockefeller Foundation

The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism is a hands-on resource that details the practices and performance of a new class of savvy investors delivering positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. The book is accessible to business and financial professionals at all levels and highlights a new form of economic leadership that is more cross-sectoral, transparent, and outcomes-oriented, and in which impact investors excel. The authors offer investors, financial advisors, corporate leaders, foundations, policymakers, and students the tools needed to engage in a generational shift to a new era of Collaborative Capitalism.

The Impact Investor reveals the types of investments that can be profitable and impactful for individuals and the strategies that will enable asset managers to succeed. It also provides an unprecedented level of detail on innovative structures and approaches of impact investing funds, providing invaluable guidance for financial institutions on how to create impact investment products or include them in client portfolios.

Foundations will discover innovative ways that for-profit and nonprofit investors can partner to amplify the potential impacts of philanthropic and market-rate investments. Public sector officials and policy advocates will learn how government is harnessing the power of capital markets to pioneer innovative new solutions to social and environmental challenges. In addition, the authors include essential advice on the way business is—and must be—responding to a new generation of Millennial clients and customers focused on a more sustainable form of blended value creation in all aspects of their lives.

Designed as an informative and practical resource, The Impact Investor highlights strategies for making sound impact investments, offers illustrative case studies, and presents concrete lessons that will build skills and enhance prospects for professional and organizational success.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1118860810
• ISBN 13: 9781118860816
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384