Members

Profile coming soon.

Accion is a global nonprofit dedicated to building a financially inclusive world, with access to economic opportunity for all, by giving people the financial tools they need to improve their lives. A world pioneer in microfinance, over the last 50 years Accion has helped build 62 microfinance institutions in 31 countries on 4 continents. Those institutions are currently reaching millions of clients. The Accion U.S. Network is the largest microfinance network in the country and, since inception, has served hundreds of thousands of clients with loans and support. In the area of investing, Accion provides early-stage equity, quasi-equity financing, and loan guarantees to help MFIs become independent of donor funds, build their capital base, attract deposits, and attain financial leverage to expand their reach.

Accion began investing in 1984 with the launch of the Accion Bridge Fund, which guarantees local currency borrowings and the issuance of fixed-income instruments that link MFIs to commercial banks and capital markets. In the ensuing decades, Accion has launched, sponsored, and/or managed three equity vehicles: Accion Gateway LLC Fund, the Frontier Investments Group, and Accion Investments. The Accion Gateway Fund enables Accion to invest in emerging market microfinance partners and currently holds shares in MFIs throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Through Frontier Investments, Accion invests in the financial technology sector and disruptive business models that create impact by enhancing the way that financial services are delivered to the poor. Accion Investments is a third party fund that invests in MFIs worldwide, and is managed by Accion Investment Management Company, LLC (AIMCO). Accion's Bridge Funds, Gateway, and Frontier Investment funds combined represent USD 190 million under management. Accion Investments has USD 91 million under management.

Read a profile of an Accion impact investment >

Acumen is working to create a world beyond poverty by investing in social enterprises, emerging leaders and breakthrough ideas. Acumen invests patient capital in business models that deliver critical, affordable goods and services to the world's poor, improving the lives of millions. Since 2001, Acumen Fund has invested more than USD 70 million in enterprises that provide access to water, health, energy, housing, and agricultural services to low-income customers in South Asia and East Africa. Acumen is also building a global community of emerging leaders that believe in creating a more inclusive world through the tools of both business and philanthropy.

Acumen was incorporated on April 1, 2001, with seed capital from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation, and individual philanthropists. Headquartered in New York City, Acumen also has offices in Kenya, Pakistan, India, and Ghana. Individual investments range from USD 300,000 to 2 million.

Read a profile of an Acumen Fund impact investment >

Established in 1948 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, the Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation dedicated to building better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation provides grants and investment capital to support innovative, cost-effective responses to children and families' needs. The Foundation's grants support work at the state, city, and local levels.

"Social investing" is part of the Casey Foundation's broader strategy to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. In 2002, the Foundation established a formal Social Investments program, and increased the allocation of the endowment dedicated to social investments to $100 million in 2004 and to $125 million in 2010. Today, the Foundation manages a range of social investments, including Program-Related and Mission-Related Investments that focus on family economic success and community change. Additionally, the Casey Foundation makes mission-driven deposits strategically in federally insured depository institutions to support its programmatic priorities.

Armonia LLC is the U.S. investment office of the Lunt family of Belgium, which was a leading family in the sugar industry for generations. Led by Larry Lunt, Armonia is diversifying the family assets by exclusively expanding the portfolio to include impact investments.

Armonia's portfolio is concentrated in triple bottom line investments in social enterprises, sustainable land management, green real estate, the carbon market, and investments that serve the base of the economic pyramid. Armonia is currently most focused on two investment areas: wellness and grassland management. Armonia has also invested in Expansion Capital, RSF Finance, Root Capital, SJF Ventures, and Bamboo Finance's Oasis Fund.

Big Society Capital Ltd (BSC) is an independent financial institution established in 2012 to develop and shape a sustainable social investment market in the UK. The overarching aim of Big Society Capital is to help frontline social sector organisations increase their social impact by improving their access to long term, effective finance. BSC is financed with GBP 400 million from the English share of dormant bank accounts (i.e. those that have been inactive for 15 years or more), which will be transferred to BSC as equity investment capital over four years. In addition, four banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, and RBS – are each investing GBP 50 million in BSC.

To achieve its goals, BSC invests in social investment finance intermediaries (SIFIs) that provide appropriate and affordable finance and support to social sector organizations. SIFIs include social banks, social funds and social impact bonds. By supporting SIFIs, BSC connects socially motivated investors with social sector organizations, thereby bringing more capital into the social sector than BSC alone could provide. BSC invests both equity and debt in SIFIs that focus on broad areas of financial inclusion, education, employment and skills, housing and shelter, mental health, physical health, social cohesion, and well-being.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people--especially those with the fewest resources--have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, WA, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

The foundation has allocated USD 1 billion to program-related investments (PRI) in the form of guarantees, debt, and equity investments. Through this initiative, the foundation structures its investments as assets or contingent liabilities on its balance sheet; returns generated from debt and equity investments are allocated back to the USD 1 billion fund. The foundation has made investments across a variety of asset classes and in support of each of its program areas (Global Health, Global Development, and the U.S. Program).

Read a profile of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation impact investment >

Profile coming soon.

Calvert Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides the opportunity for both retail and institutional investors to achieve financial returns while empowering people living in low-income communities around the world. Calvert Foundation manages more than USD 387 million raised from thousands of investors through its Community Investment Note, which starts at USD 20 and is available in various terms and rates up to two percent, or through Community Investment Partners, Inc., Calvert Foundation's wholly-owned subsidiary and Registered Investment Advisor, which provides impact investors with a range of asset management services. At the maturity of the Community Investment Note, investors get their money back with interest. While invested, their dollars are used to revitalize poor communities in all 50 United States and over 60 countries.

When an individual or organization invests in a Community Investment Note, the investment is pooled and placed in a professionally-managed portfolio of affordable loans to more than 200 leading nonprofit organizations and social enterprises working to alleviate poverty, create jobs, and help to protect the environment. Calvert Foundation's on balance sheet loan portfolio is approximately USD 184 million, with loans extended across multiple sectors, including microfinance, agriculture, and affordable housing. Since Community Investment Notes are consistent with guidelines for program-related investing, many private foundations have purchased them to support their own programs. Over its 16-year history, Calvert Foundation's loan program has a repayment rate of over 99 percent, and has created hundreds of thousands of jobs worldwide, built over 20,000 affordable or transitional housing units, and financed the development of thousands of community facilities and programs such as charter schools and healthcare centers.

Read a profile of a Calvert Foundation impact investment >

Capricorn Investment Group is a private, independent investment firm designed for clients who desire a global portfolio driven by consistent returns and underpinned by a principled philosophy. Established more than seven years ago, Capricorn currently manages approximately USD 3.5 billion in total capital across a highly diversified, global blend of investment funds and opportunistic direct investment strategies. Capricorn's vision is to provide consistently strong investment performance and disciplined risk management, true independence, and a principled investment approach. On behalf of its clients, Capricorn has developed strategy, process, and relationships to generate equity-like returns through a diversified global portfolio of leading funds and proprietary direct investments with mitigated permanent capital loss risk at the portfolio level.

Capricorn believes that achieving strong investment returns does not preclude a principled investment approach. Principled, to Capricorn, means seeking uncompromising quality, ethical, fair, long-term oriented investments which are not directly or intentionally harmful to the world or people. Capricorn has invested in the development of green field agriculture in Africa, both working with large farms and engaging smallholder farmers in preparation of land and education about sustainable farming techniques. In the long-run, Capricorn believes that being mindful of sustainability elements in an investment program can improve the return opportunity and risk management.

CDC is the United Kingdom (U.K.) government's development finance institution, owned by the Department for International Development (DFID). CDC is a provider of scarce long-term capital to private sector entrepreneurs in developing countries, and as such is one element of the U.K.'s endeavor to reduce poverty and help people prosper in the poorest countries in the world.

Under a new business plan announced in May 2011, CDC redefined its investment policy to focus exclusively on the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where 70 percent of the world's poor live. CDC's aim in India is to invest in the eight poorest states. To maximize development impact, CDC will avoid sectors that are already well-served by other investors. It will also utilize a wider range of investment instruments, enabling capital to be put to work in more difficult markets. This mix of instruments will include debt, direct equity investments, and guarantees. From 2011 to 2015, the CDC aims to invest GBP 2 billion, averaging GBP 400 million per year. Debt and direct investments will each represent up to 20 percent of CDC's portfolio by 2015.

Christian Super is a not-for-profit superannuation fund based in Sydney, Australia. Operating since 1984 and with a strong non-denominational Christian focus, the pension fund serves 20,000 members from over 1,800 ministry organizations across Australia, managing over USD 650 million in retirement savings. It offers members a choice of five ethical portfolios with differing risk and return profiles across asset classes.

Christian Super searches for investment opportunities that provide both strong investment returns and a valuable contribution to society and the environment. The firm seeks to invest capital according to Christian values, including respect for life and sustainability, and with a vision that sees finance as a tool for long-term value creation. The fund invests in areas such as microfinance, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and social enterprise. Christian Super is a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment.

Citigroup is a global financial services company that does business in more than 140 countries and has approximately 200 million customer accounts. The New York-based Citi Foundation is committed to individual and family economic empowerment, and targets its strategic giving across four priority focus areas: microfinance and microenterprise, small and growing businesses, education, and financial education and asset building.

Having supported the microfinance sector philanthropically for more than 20 years, Citi recognized that, as the microfinance sector matured and grew, leading microfinance institutions (MFIs) would benefit as clients and partners of banking service providers. At the same time, MFIs also began to seek this type of support. In 2005, Citi institutionalized this business by creating Citi Microfinance, which leverages Citi's businesses to serve more than 100 MFIs, networks, and investors in more than 40 countries as clients. Citi Microfinance offers a diversified set of financial services to the sector, including direct and structured financing; local currency financing, leasing, foreign exchange, and interest rate hedging; cash management solutions; and product distribution partnerships with MFIs for micro savings, remittances, and life insurance products.

Community Capital Management, Inc. (CCM) is a registered investment adviser and manages fixed income impact investing portfolios. The firm was founded in 1998 on the belief that portfolios of government-related securities could produce competitive returns while promoting community development. CCM's primary goal is to offer investment vehicles that produce above-average, risk-adjusted returns while benefitting the community and the environment.

CCM offers investors two impact investment products--the CRA Qualified Investment Fund and separately managed accounts. Launched in 1999, the CRA Qualified Investment Fund is a high credit quality, fixed-income mutual fund initially created to help banks gain positive consideration on the investment test portion of their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) exams. The CRA was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1977 to ensure that regulated financial institutions do not discriminate in their provision of lending, investing, or other services to low- and moderate-income or minority communities. Today, the Fund also offers two other share classes--one for non-bank institutional investors and one for individual investors. CCM offers separately managed accounts for institutional investors that include pension funds, foundations, religious organizations, and insurance companies. These institutional investors can choose to support specific community development initiatives or geographies through their investments.

Founded in 1856 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Credit Suisse is a global financial services company with expertise in the areas of private banking, investment banking, and asset management. It provides specialist advisory services, comprehensive solutions, and innovative products to serve companies, institutional clients, and high-net-worth clients worldwide from 550 offices in 50 countries, and also serves retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse engages in impact investing across three areas of operations: (1) a dedicated business line which structures, manages and offers impact investing products to retail, high-net-worth, and institutional clients; (2) in-house research which publishes reports on industry developments and impact sector trends; (3) capacity building grants through the Credit Suisse Foundation which strengthen the impact investing industry, its institutions, and their management.

Within its impact investing business line, Credit Suisse manages USD 1.8 billion in impact investments, primarily focused on microfinance and sustainable agriculture, on behalf of approximately 4,000 clients, including private individuals, institutional investors, and development finance institutions. The bank has a decade-long history of engagement that includes managing microfinance funds for its clients and facilitating capital markets transactions in microfinance (e.g. IPOs and structured finance). In January 2012, in collaboration with Swiss fund manager responsAbility, Credit Suisse structured and distributed the Fair Trade Fund which provides working capital to agricultural cooperatives supporting small farmers in developing countries. As Credit Suisse continues to expand its impact investing practice, the bank is also exploring new impact areas that include health and education.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation created in 1964 and guided by some of the same innovative approaches that helped transform a small electronics shop in a garage into one of the world's leading technology companies. The Foundation, based in Los Altos, CA, invests in issues its founders cared about most, including conserving and restoring the earth's natural systems, improving the lives of children, advancing reproductive health, and investing in its local community.

Since 1980, the Foundation has made a diverse array of program-related investments (PRIs) to extend its impact, encompassing all of the Foundation's program areas. The Foundation currently has a USD 180 million allocation for this purpose, which is available for investments that advance specific programmatic strategies of the Foundation, while maintaining preservation of its capital to serve future needs. The Foundation has made loans, guarantees, and equity investments. It has the ability to make both PRIs and other types of mission-related investments from its USD 180 million capital allocation; to date all of its investments have been structured as PRIs as the most suitable tool to achieve its programmatic objectives.

Deutsche Bank AG is an international commercial and investment bank with headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The bank operates in 76 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and the emerging markets.

Deutsche Bank's impact investing activities are concentrated in community development and microfinance, and are carried out by the bank's New York City-based Community Development Finance Group. In the U.S., Deutsche Bank has invested more than USD 1 billion in community development, which includes affordable housing, green real estate, new business development, and support services. Internationally, Deutsche Bank has provided loans, sub-debt, guarantees, and other financial products to microcredit institutions since 1997 and currently manages five microfinance funds totaling approximately USD 200 million. In addition, Deutsche Bank has a community development loan and investment portfolio of USD 400 million. Separately, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation has an USD 8.8 million program-related investment portfolio, which supports social enterprises in education, housing, environment, and community development throughout the world.

Stichting DOEN, or DOEN Foundation, was set up in 1991 by the Dutch Postcode Lottery. DOEN Foundation's ambition is to help build a sustainable world in which everyone can make a contribution. DOEN actively seeks enterprising people and organizations who can contribute to this mission. DOEN finds these pioneers within three new themes: Climate Change, Culture & Cohesion, and The New Economy, and frequently supports them at the outset of inspiring initiatives by issuing subsidies, providing a loan or equity investments, and also increasing their interconnectedness in the various parties in its network. DOEN Foundation funds initiatives from annual contributions received under long term contracts from its founder, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, and the two other Dutch charity lotteries, the BankGiro lottery and the Friends Lottery.

The impact investing activities of DOEN Foundation total approximately USD 180 million and are concentrated in the areas of micro, small, and medium enterprise financing, fair trade, renewable energy, and social ventures. Portions of DOEN's impact investments are carried out through its own investment fund, DOEN Participaties BV. Investees in this fund include Tendris Holding, two green venture capital funds within Start Green, and Gray Ghost Social Ventures DOEN, a social venture fund that invests in transformative, scalable, and high impact, socially conscious business opportunities. DOEN is also an investor in ProCredit Group, a group of 21 microfinance banks; Progreso Fund, an agricultural trade finance facility; and several SME investment funds, such as Agora Ventures in Nicaragua and Business Partners International in Africa.

Enterprise Community Partners is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For 30 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations, and others that share its vision to create vibrant communities. Enterprise has raised and invested more than USD 11 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve nearly 300,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes. Enterprise leads research and undertakes policy advocacy work in U.S. community development, and investment in affordable housing, green retrofits, and community facilities across the U.S with support from its two subsidiaries Enterprise Community Investment and Enterprise Community Loan Fund.

Enterprise Community Partners' two subsidiaries lead its impact investing activities. The first, Enterprise Community Investment, is a financial intermediary that structures investments for institutional investors to finance affordable housing, community facilities and commercial development in economically distressed communities. Additionally, it provides long-term multifamily mortgage financing, and is a leading syndicator of Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity and a top recipient of New Markets Tax Credits. Annually, Enterprise Community Investment finances and develops nearly USD 1 billion in high-quality affordable housing and related community facilities. Enterprise Community Loan Fund (ECLF), the second subsidiary, is a U.S. Treasury Department-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that offers predevelopment and acquisition loans, green retrofit financing, and construction or bridge loans to developers and nonprofit organizations. In September 2011, ECLF launched the Enterprise Community Impact Note, a fixed income product with a minimum investment of USD 5,000 to help finance affordable housing and community development projects. In partnership with other financing organizations, ECLF manages several local funds, including regional Transit-Oriented Development Funds and the New York Acquisition Fund.

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation (EF) is one of the largest independent grant-making institutions in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Founded in 1961, EF works to improve quality of life throughout the U.K. The foundation makes grants to support diverse organizations working in the arts, education and learning, environment, social change, and sustainable food. In 2008, EF launched the GBP 21 million Finance Fund to make mission-focused investments that combine social and financial impact.

Through the Finance Fund, EF seeks to support the development of the impact investing market and to attract investment funds to the voluntary sector (e.g. non-governmental organizations, social enterprises, and community-based projects). The Finance Fund invests both through intermediaries and directly in charities and social enterprises, offering equity, debt, and loan guarantees. As of April 2012, the Finance Fund had 50 investments, representing GBP 8.8 million of funds drawn and another GBP 9 million in commitments made.

Read a profile of an Esmee Fairbairn Foundation impact investment >

The F.B. Heron Foundation (Heron Foundation) was created in 1992 to help people and communities lift themselves out of poverty. Today, the foundation is focused on building a better economy in the United States, one in which reliable employment and income are available to every willing worker or household. The New York-based foundation aims to deploy its entire endowment towards that mission, and invests all of its assets through a single capital deployment office, removing the traditional foundation’s operating distinction between investments and grantmaking.

The Heron Foundation seeks investment opportunities in enterprises with a track record of positive social and financial returns. Portfolio companies and organizations increase and maintain reliable employment, advance systematic innovations to help communities be resilient to the changing nature of work, and contribute to society in a way that leaves everyone better off. Heron Foundation’s capital is most commonly used to support an enterprise’s growth, or to support a change of business model that improves, preserves, or sustains an enterprise in order to increase employment and livelihood for people in the community. The foundation invests in direct debt and equity, and also invests in bonds and fixed income securities, private equity, and public equity through active managers. As of February 2013, Heron Foundation has committed approximately 40 percent of its USD 260 million endowment – or USD 90 million – to program-related investments and mission-related investments to date.

Founded in 1970, FMO is the Dutch development bank. FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing markets by investing in ambitious companies. It believes a strong private sector leads to economic and social development, empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO specializes in sectors where its contribution can have the highest long-term impact: financial institutions, energy, housing, and agribusiness, food, and water. When financing companies and projects in other sectors such as telecoms and infrastructure, FMO works with a worldwide network of partners with thorough expertise in that area. With an investment portfolio of EUR 5.9 billion, FMO is one of the largest European bilateral private sector development banks.

FMO's solid profile, rated triple-A by Standard & Poor's, and high quality portfolio allows it to invest in higher risk markets, either with its own capital or on behalf of the Dutch government. FMO principally provides long-term finance, although it also offers shorter-term project financing. It works with clients to understand their specific needs, tailoring the financial package to fit. FMO's participation often acts as a catalyst--attracting interest from other suitable investors who would otherwise avoid what are still considered higher-risk projects. FMO also deploys capital through government funds: the Emerging Markets Fund (FOM), which uses medium- and long-term facilities to encourage Dutch companies to invest in emerging markets; the Access to Energy Fund (AEF), which creates sustainable access to energy services; Massif, a fund which increases financial resources to intermediaries such as funds and local banks to develop financial services for MSMEs; and the Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF).

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the Foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Ford Foundation began making program-related investments (PRIs) in 1968, and has invested more than USD 550 million in PRIs since then. Today, the Foundation's PRIs complement grant-making across its program initiatives and advance its mission. The Foundation currently manages a USD 280 million PRI allocation, which is invested in the form of equity investments and long-term loans, primarily through intermediaries. While the PRI Fund is available to support all of the Foundation's program initiatives, the current pipeline is concentrated in investments supporting livelihood development, affordable housing, and provision of financial services.

The Gatsby Charitable Trust, endowed by David Sainsbury, has more than 40 years of grant-making history. Gatsby's grant-making in the U.K. supports research on plant science and neuroscience, science and engineering education, government effectiveness, mental health, and the arts. Additionally, Gatsby has a significant program supporting African economic development. Gatsby supports Aquifer Ltd, a company created in 2004 to help create jobs and improve incomes for the poor in sub-Saharan Africa. Aquifer seeks to develop businesses that can earn market rates of return, even if the company itself takes a subsidised return to get those enterprises to scale.

Gatsby has funded programs in Africa since the mid-1980s with the aim of stimulating economic growth. The Foundation has a strong heritage of disseminating agricultural research to smallholder farmers and providing assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In 2004 Gatsby created African Agricultural Capital (AAC), a venture capital fund that invests in agriculture-related SMEs in East Africa, with a goal of unlocking opportunities in agricultural value chains. More recently, the focus of Gatsby's grant-making has shifted to include support for large-scale programs aimed at developing sub-sectors of an economy, and there are now programs supporting the cotton, textile, and tea sectors in Tanzania. Gatsby also uses program-related investments as a complementary instrument to strengthen its initiatives, with early allocations going to AAC and to microfinance institutions across East Africa.

Generation Investment Management, co-founded in 2004 by Al Gore and David Blood, is an independent, private, owner-managed partnership with offices in London and New York. Generation's investment approach is based on the idea that sustainability factors--economic, environmental, social, and governance criteria--will drive a company's financial returns over the long term. Sustainability factors are examined and integrated into a traditional investment research process. Some key factors examined are: climate change, pandemics, poverty and real needs, water, human capital, lobbying, corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, bribery and corruption, and demographics.

Generation's Global Equity portfolio strategy is focused on concentrated, long-term, global public equities. Additionally, Generation's Climate Solutions Fund invests growth capital to help scale both private and public companies focused exclusively on solving the climate crisis.

Founded in 2001, the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group’s (UIG) mission is to invest Goldman Sachs’ capital to help transform distressed communities into sustainable and vibrant neighborhoods of choice and opportunity. UIG provides flexible financing for community development projects that respond to the needs of low- and moderate-income communities and support public sector priorities. The group, based in New York, is also responsible for implementing the Access to Capital component of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, which provides USD 300 million in lending and philanthropic capital to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to expand their capacity to deliver financing and technical assistance to small businesses in underserved communities.

Since its inception, UIG has committed approximately USD 2.4 billion to revitalize underserved and emerging urban areas in the U.S. UIG follows a place-based strategy, partnering with developers, non-profits, governments and other local stakeholders to finance a comprehensive community development strategy that includes affordable housing, small business creation, neighborhood-serving retail, and community facilities such as charter schools and health clinics. Utilizing its expertise in complex financing structures, UIG develops new strategies and structures to solve the challenges of low- and moderate-income communities and deploys capital through a variety of debt and equity products.

Gray Ghost Ventures (GGV) is an impact investment firm dedicated to providing market-based capital solutions to entrepreneurs who are addressing the needs of low-income communities in emerging markets. Founded by Bob Pattillo, the Atlanta, GA-based GGV has served as creator, sole funder, investor, general partner, and limited partner in operating companies and investment funds around the world. GGV's focus areas include microfinance, social venture investment, and affordable private schools.

With the establishment of the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund in 2003, GGV became one of the earliest private investors in microfinance. Today GGV's USD 69 million microfinance portfolio helps create and finance locally-managed regional microfinance funds through a combination of debt and equity. In 2009, GGV, along with the DOEN Foundation (DOEN), formed the Gray Ghost DOEN Social Ventures Cooperatief, a leading impact investment fund focused on early- and seed-stage enterprises in the developing world that use innovative applications of proven technology to address the needs of underserved populations. Most recently, GGV initiated efforts to provide financing to affordable private schools in emerging markets. The Indian School Finance Company (ISFC), based in Hyderabad, is a centerpiece of this activity. GGV also manages the USD 10 million mission-related venture capital investment portfolio of the Gray Matters Capital Foundation.

Read a profile of a Gray Ghost Ventures impact investment >

IGNIA is an impact investing venture capital firm based in Monterrey, Mexico that supports the start-up and expansion of high-growth social enterprises serving the base of the socio-economic pyramid in Latin America. IGNIA empowers entrepreneurship and generates social impact with investments in health services, basic utilities, and education, while targeting market-rate financial returns for its investors.

IGNIA has raised USD 77 million of equity funding in addition to USD 25 million raised for a credit facility from the Inter‐American Development Bank. Typically ranging from USD 2-10 million per portfolio company, IGNIA's investments take the form of common stock and are usually disbursed in stages. To increase the possibility of its entrepreneurs' success, the fund has created IGNIA Shared Services, an in-house company designed to streamline the finance and administrative platforms required for portfolio companies.

Read a profile of an IGNIA impact investment >

Impact Community Capital LLC is a for-profit corporation founded by leading insurers in 1998 to promote socially responsible investments in underserved communities across the United States, with a focus in California. Impact Community Capital structures, manages, and administers impact investments for its founding owners, which currently include eleven major insurance companies as well as foundations and other institutional investors. To date, Impact Community Capital has committed over USD 1.6 billion to finance affordable housing and community facilities that benefit low-to-moderate income individuals, families, and communities that meet insurer requirements for the prudent management of policyholder funds.

Impact Community Capital is certified by the U.S. Treasury Department's CDFI Fund as a Community Development Entity, and by the state of California as a Community Development Financial Institution. It manages investments through its subsidiary, Impact Investment Adviser LLC, a registered investment adviser. The firm has pioneered the pooling and securitization of community investment portfolios and the use of U.S. New Markets Tax Credits to finance community childcare and healthcare facilities through a combination of equity and debt. Impact Community Capital invests in private equity funds focused on commercial real estate, affordable housing, mezzanine business financing, and historic property preservation.

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB) is a multilateral finance institution that supports the efforts of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries to reduce poverty and inequality. The IDB is the largest source of development financing in the region and has 48 member countries, including 26 Latin American and Caribbean borrowing members. It serves national, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as non-governmental organizations and private sector companies primarily through loans, grants, and technical assistance. The IDB's funding is primarily raised through borrowings from international capital markets, and through contributions from its member countries.

The IDB Group is a leader in channeling impact investing capital to Latin America, particularly to countries underserved by commercial banks. Each of the IDB Group's four private sector windows engages in impact investing: 1) the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) supports access to finance, markets, and basic services through loans, guarantees, equity and quasi-equity, as well as grants and technical assistance; 2) the Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ) invests in innovative business models that provide high-quality goods and services to low-income people; 3) Structured and Corporate Finance (SCF) leads the IDB's non-sovereign guaranteed lending in areas of infrastructure, financial markets, services and industries; 4) Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) provides direct debt and equity financing and technical assistance to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). The windows invest in a wide range of sectors, including education, health, infrastructure, renewable energy and access to finance. To further its development impact, the IDB Group partners with other impact investors, primarily through loan syndications and equity funds.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Established in 1956, IFC is owned by 184 member countries with offices in nearly 100 countries. IFC’s vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. IFC addresses development challenges in emerging markets through direct investments and advisory services to firms. IFC also works at a policy level to improve business environments and set standards of social and environmental practice.

As of June 30, 2012, IFC had a committed portfolio of USD 45.3 billion, and in fiscal year 2012 it invested 15.5 billion in 576 projects. IFC’s financial products and investment services include loans, syndicated loans, equity finance, structured finance, risk management products, local currency financing, and trade finance. Through the IFC Asset Management Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of IFC, the IFC raises funds targeted at large institutional investors interested in increasing their exposure to emerging markets. These funds include the IFC Capitalization Fund; the IFC African, Latin American, and Caribbean Fund; IFC Russian Bank Capitalization Fund; and the Africa Capitalization Fund. All IFC investments adopt the IFC Performance Standards and corresponding performance indicators which reflect the IFC’s commitment to sustainability and which are intended to identify social and environmental impact and risks for each investment.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a global financial services firm with assets of USD 2 trillion. Operating in more than 60 countries, the firm is a leader in investment banking, consumer financial services, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity.

J.P. Morgan's Social Finance business provides financial services to the growing market for impact investments, meaning those investments made with an intent to generate impact beyond financial return. Social Finance was launched in 2007 with a double-bottom line objective of achieving positive impact on low-income and excluded populations around the world, while simultaneously earning a reasonable rate of return. The group publishes research to provide thought leadership to the market, commits J.P. Morgan capital to impact investments, and provides investment services to its clients.

Please note that Community Development is managed separately from Social Finance at JPMorgan. The following information and data, with the exception of Community Development AUM, only pertains to Social Finance.

Jonathan Rose Companies is a green real estate investment, development, and advisory firm. Its mission is to repair and strengthen the fabric of communities, while preserving the land that surrounds them. Founded in 1989, the firm currently manages over USD 1.5 billion in real estate projects across the United States through three complementary business lines: Rose Investments (investment management), Rose Development (multifamily and mixed-use development) and Rose Urban Solutions (real estate project management and planning services).

Through its Rose Investments practice, Jonathan Rose Companies seeks to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns by investing in market-based, cost-effective strategies guided by real estate investment principles and environmentally responsible practices. Rose Investments' strategy is to acquire existing, often underperforming, real estate assets in major urban markets and provide hands-on asset management and tailored capital improvements that can reduce operating costs and enhance tenant experience, particularly through energy-saving green retrofits. The firm manages four funds totaling USD 160 million, which focus on affordable housing and office buildings suitable for renovation. They are: (1) the Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund, which acquired and retrofitted buildings in walkable, mass transit-based communities; (2) the Rose New Jersey Green Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, a partnership with Goldman Sachs, which acquires existing Community Reinvestment Act-eligible affordable housing in mass transit-accessible communities and preserves their long-term affordability; (3) the Rose Green Cities Fund, a partnership with Citi Community Capital, which acquires, retrofits, and preserves multifamily properties along the East Coast; and (4) the Rose Value-Add Office Retrofit Fund, which seeks to reposition, rebrand, and retrofit well-located but undermanaged office assets. Many Rose Investments' projects have become national models of best practice, generating positive social and environmental benefits, as well as the potential for strong returns.

LeapFrog Investments is an impact investment fund pioneering a different way of doing business in emerging markets. The USD 135 million fund invests in companies that aim to serve the "next billion" emerging and underserved consumers with essential financial tools, focusing on insurance. LeapFrog targets both attractive financial returns and social impact by reaching this market. Through its portfolio companies, the fund aims to reach 25 million underserved people, 15 million of them women and children, providing protection against life's tragedies and ending cycles of poverty.

Launched in 2008, LeapFrog is the largest investor globally in microinsurance and other essential financial services. The fund's priority countries include India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Beyond financial capital, LeapFrog provides investee companies with support in business planning, product design, regulatory and risk management, and development of efficient high-volume distribution channels. LeapFrog's profit-with-purpose approach targets strong returns for its investors, and has attracted leading banks, funds, reinsurers, and microfinance institutions as investors.

Read a profile of a LeapFrog impact investment >

Lok Capital is a venture capital fund investing in enterprises serving the lower income and base of the pyramid (BoP) segments in India. Lok Capital has two funds with a combined corpus of almost USD 90 million under management as of June 2012. With a focus on financial inclusion, education, health, and livelihoods, Lok Capital aims to promote inclusive growth by supporting the development of high potential social enterprises that deliver basic services to the BoP in a scalable, affordable, and commercially viable manner.

Lok Capital is complemented by Lok Foundation, a charitable trust set up in 2001 to promote financial and social inclusion by means of targeted grants, technical support, research, and advocacy. Founded by Rajiv B. Lall, Lok Capital manages two funds. Lok Capital Fund I closed with USD 22 million in 2006 and is fully deployed, with investments primarily in the microfinance industry. Lok Capital Fund II, which closed with USD 65 million in the end of 2011, will expand into sectors such as healthcare, education, and employability as well as broader areas of financial inclusion such as affordable housing finance and mobile banking. As of June 2012, Lok Capital has 12 active investments across both funds, all in the form of equity or quasi-equity. The Lok portfolio includes Ujjivan, Basix, Janalakshmi, IFMR Rural Channels (KGFS), RuralShores, and Hippocampus, among others.

Founded in 2005, the Lundin Foundation (LF) is the philanthropic arm of the Lundin Group of Companies, which has invested actively in Africa for over 35 years. LF embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the Lundin family, investing in high potential small- and medium-sized businesses across Africa, with a view to generating wealth and employment needed to alleviate poverty on a sustained basis. In addition, strategic grants are deployed to provide investees with technical or managerial assistance, while innovation grants support pilots or field-testing of innovative pre-commercial products or services.

Since inception, LF has seeded and sponsored three venture capital funds in sub-Saharan Africa, focused on high-potential small and medium enterprises along the agribusiness value chain. LF also invests in third-party fund and invests directly in select companies that meet both its financial and social/environmental objectives.

Read a profile of a Lundin Foundation impact investment >

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, investment management, and wealth management services. The firm serves clients worldwide, including corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals, in 43 countries.

Morgan Stanley's Global Sustainable Finance (GSF) group harnesses the power and discipline of the capital markets to enhance environmental sustainability, advance economic opportunity, and support community development. Launched in 2009, GSF works with investors and companies to support the development of long-term business models capable of achieving compelling financial, social, and environmental returns, and to build a suite of impact investing products. The firm has intermediated more than USD 700 million of microfinance equity, debt, and structured product securities to the benefit of more than 30 microfinance institutions worldwide. In addition, since 2006, Morgan Stanley has provided more than USD 5.3 billion to develop affordable housing, build small businesses, create jobs, and strengthen communities in the United States. The Firm has also invested over USD 2 billion of its own capital in large-scale wind, solar, and geothermal power generation projects.

Created in 1996, National Community Investment Fund (NCIF) is an independent nonprofit private equity trust fund that invests capital into Community Development Banking Institutions (CDBIs), certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and Minority-owned and focused Depository Institutions (MDIs). NCIF has partnered with impact investors-foundations, large banks, pension funds, and faith-based and socially responsible investors-with the mission of increasing the flow of resources into the most distressed markets around the U.S. Working toward this same goal, NCIF also pioneered Social Performance MetricsSM that have measured U.S. banks' social outputs by mining data on 8,000+ banks since 1996. These metrics are complemented by NCIF's Model CDBI Framework, which identifies and certifies banks as CDBIs. NCIF also expects to create a rating mechanism for CDBIs using the Social Performance Metrics, the Model CDBI Framework, and qualitative analysis.

NCIF pursues its mission through four lines of business: 1) core investing in Tier 1 capital of banks/credit unions that have a social mission; 2) facilitating deposits into these mission-oriented banks/credit unions; 3) helping mission-oriented banks book loans using New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC); and 4) building capacity in governance, risk management, capital raising, and other key functions for The NCIF Network of Banks. NCIF's total assets under management are USD 150 million, including USD 128 million in New Markets Tax Credits. Since its inception, NCIF has invested in 45 financial institutions across the U.S. that direct loans to low-income borrowers and low- to moderate-income communities. Cumulatively, NCIF's portfolio of banks and credit unions has generated over USD 5.4 billion in 109,000 development loans.

Read a profile of a National Community Investment Fund impact investment >

Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Omidyar Network is structured to support the notion that philanthropy is not a type of funding, but rather about improving the lives of others through all available tools. Consequently, the organization works across social and business sectors, operating both a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and a 501(c)(3) foundation. Investments in for-profit companies are made through the LLC, while grants and program-related investments are made through the 501(c)(3) entity. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than USD 330 million in grants and for-profit investments.

Omidyar Network's activities are organized around two initiatives: Access to Capital and Media, Markets, and Transparency. Through its Access to Capital initiative, Omidyar Network aims to foster entrepreneurial behavior, economic activity, and job creation by investing in organizations that improve access to financial services, business opportunities, and property rights. Omidyar Network's Media, Markets, and Transparency initiative supports individual participation in media, markets, and government. Through this initiative, Omidyar Network invests in technology that connects individuals with shared interests, helps people engage in critical issues, and increases access to credible information.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is the U.S. Government's development finance institution. Founded in 1971, OPIC mobilizes private capital to help solve critical world challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets by catalyzing revenues, jobs, and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide.

As a development finance institution, OPIC makes investments that other private investors would not make, paving the way for other private sector capital to successfully enter emerging markets. OPIC's instruments are also more flexible than those of traditional investors, with loan tenors of up to 20 years and transaction sizes ranging from USD 100,000 to 250 million. Since 1971, OPIC has supported USD 188 billion of investment across nearly 4,000 projects in developing countries and emerging markets. OPIC projects have also generated USD 74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs to date. OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers and has returned money to the federal government for 33 consecutive years. From 2006 to 2010, OPIC contributed over USD 2 billion to the federal budget. OPIC's impact objectives focus first on doing no harm: projects are required to adhere to stringent international standards on environmental, labor, and human rights. Second, OPIC aims to maximize positive social and environmental impact through investment, with a current focus on renewable environmental resources.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential) offers a variety of products and services through its business lines, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. As of December 2011, Prudential had USD 901 billion in assets under management. Prudential has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Impact investments made by Prudential and The Prudential Foundation are managed by an internal asset management group called Social Investments. Social Investments invests in U.S. economic development and education sectors though private placement debt and equity. Special emphasis is placed on investing in urban communities where Prudential has a significant business presence, including Newark, NJ. The group has expanded its geographic reach to Latin America and Asia with microfinance and social venture investing. The group currently manages USD 329 million in assets. Since its creation in 1976, the unit has invested almost USD 1.5 billion in impact investments.

Profile coming soon.

The Rockefeller Foundation, a global philanthropic organization based in New York City, supports work that expands opportunity and strengthens resilience to social, economic, health, and environmental challenges-affirming its pioneering mission since 1913 to "promote the well-being" of humanity. Foundation initiatives focus on strengthening food security in sub-Saharan Africa, protecting economic security for American workers, promoting access to affordable and high-quality health systems in developing countries, and developing strategies and services that help vulnerable communities cope with the impact of climate change.

The Rockefeller Foundation realizes that there is not enough public and charitable capital to solve the world's social and environmental problems. In response, the Foundation created a USD 42 million Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing initiative, as a complement to charity and government in an effort to bring social and environmental solutions to scale. This initiative gives grants to catalyze the leadership that this emerging industry needs at this crucial stage in its development. The Foundation also oversees a USD 25 million program-related investment (PRI) portfolio, in the form of loans, equity, and guarantees, which aligns with the Foundation's issue areas.

Read a profile of a Rockefeller Foundation impact investment >

Root Capital is a nonprofit social investment fund that grows rural prosperity in poor, environmentally vulnerable places in Africa and Latin America. Root Capital aims to fill the "missing middle" of finance - the underserved gap between microfinance and commercial banking- by providing loan capital, delivering financial training, and strengthening market connections for small and growing businesses. Root Capital employs a value chain financing model that provides short- and long-term loans against signed purchase orders between grassroots businesses and their buyers, which are primarily located in North America and Europe. Investors earn an average return of 2.5 percent.

Since its inception in 1999, Root Capital has provided more than USD 368 million in loans to 367 small and growing businesses, representing more than 500,000 farmers in 40 countries throughout Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa (all numbers as of 12/31/11). Root Capital partners with global buyers such as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Home Depot, Starbucks, The Body Shop, and Whole Foods Market to strengthen global supply chains for sustainable natural products such as coffee, cocoa, shea butter, and honey.

Read a profile of a Root Capital impact investment >

Based in Toronto, Canada, Sarona Asset Management Inc. was spun out of MEDA in 2011 in a management buyout. MEDA was founded in 1953 as a private investment company with a mission of generating solid financial returns with positive social impact by investing in small and medium business in poor communities in developing countries. Today, Sarona is a private equity asset manager, targeting premium financial returns with positive social and environmental values.

While Sarona manages several portfolios of direct investments, most of its assets are managed through funds of funds. Sarona is also a founder of MicroVest Capital Management and the MicroVest funds. Together, the Sarona and MicroVest funds comprise approximately USD 180 million of assets invested in developing countries. Sarona Risk Capital Fund, which is wholly-owned by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (a business association and economic development NGO), provides early stage equity and debt financing to companies with a high potential for both financial success and positive social impact. Along with a sister fund, it has assets of USD 20 million. In addition, the MicroVest funds have over USD 130 million invested in the microfinance banking industry through four funds. In 2010, Sarona launched the Sarona Frontier Markets Fund 1 LP - a private equity fund of funds. Sarona is currently raising funds for its Sarona Frontier Markets 2 LP, which is intended to achieve a first close before the end of 2012.

Read a profile of a Sarona impact investment >

The SEIU Capital Stewardship Program was created within the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in 2000 to be a center of excellence on capital and financial institutions, and to support collaboration between SEIU and the trustees, administrators, advisors, and investment managers of union members' pension savings. SEIU members participate in 48 public pension funds and 19 private funds with approximately USD 1.5 trillion in assets, representing over 15% of all U.S. pension assets.

As an advocate for SEIU members' retirement savings, Capital Stewardship promotes prudent, responsible, and financially sound investment policies. Capital Stewardship has developed areas of expertise across all asset classes, and on corporate governance, socially responsible investing, market regulatory reform, community development finance, trustee education, and fiduciary obligations. The program also supports the union in understanding the impact of investment strategies and capital flows on working families and on its members' core industries. Through its Capital Development Group, Capital Stewardship supports the development of responsible investment vehicles and has worked with investment firms committed to deploying capital in sustainable strategies in real estate, private equity, infrastructure, and fixed income funds. The Capital Development Group is currently working on innovative approaches to healthcare investing and community development finance.

ShoreBank International (SBI) is dedicated to expanding access to capital, information, and financial services for unserved and underserved small businesses, entrepreneurs, and households to build a more inclusive global financial system. To achieve this, since 1988, SBI has delivered a broad range of financial services and solutions to financial institutions, investors, and entrepreneurs across various sectors globally. Specifically, SBI provides capacity-building and advisory services to financial institutions, investors, and entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America with a focus on small business finance, microfinance, affordable housing finance, alternative delivery channels, value chain finance, and sustainable finance. Through twelve global offices, SBI works with more than 200 financial institutions and enterprises in over 80 developing and emerging economies.

During the past few years, SBI has responded to market need by developing a strong transaction advisory practice to complement its capacity-building practice. The transaction advisory practice, anchored by a core team of professionals with extensive investment and development credentials, undertakes some selected fund management mandates for clients. These include a USD 60 million debt fund to support the microfinance operations of BRAC, a Bangladesh-based development organization, in Uganda and Tanzania. In addition, SBI was recently selected together with Triple Jump to manage a global housing microfinance fund. Selectively, SBI is also prepared to invest its own capital in individual transactions where it believes triple bottom line return expectations can both catalyze the operating institution's growth trajectory in accordance with its mission and stimulate other investor participation. SBI challenges itself to measure return on a triple bottom line basis, advocating for clear and simple performance metrics.

Sonen Capital LLC (Sonen) is a specialized investment management firm dedicated to serving investors seeking competitive financial returns with lasting social and environmental impact. Sonen’s clients include family offices, foundations, and wealth managers and advisors. Founded in 2011, Sonen is headquartered in San Francisco, U.S. and has offices in New York and affiliates in St. Louis and London, U.K.

Sonen offers multi-manager, multi-themed investment solutions via pooled vehicles and customized managed accounts, across a variety of impact themes and asset classes. The firm’s public market vehicles are designed to perform against traditional financial benchmarks while maximizing exposures to impact themes. Private market strategies include investments in equity and debt operating in emerging markets themes such as financial services, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, clean energy, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

SNS Impact Investing was launched in January 2011 and is the development investment department of SNS Asset Management. SNS Impact Investing creates value for clients, investees, and society by developing, promoting, and/or distributing impact investment solutions. These solutions result in market rate returns while creating real value in emerging markets. They are typically accomplished by way of funds, but may also include mandates and advisory services.

In cooperation with Developing World Markets, SNS launched the SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund I in 2007 with investments totaling EUR 171 million. SNS Institutional Microfinance Fund II closed in 2009 with EUR 159 million of capital committed. In 2013, SNS Impact Investing is expected to launch the SME Finance Fund (SME refers to small and medium-sized enterprises) in cooperation with FMO, the Dutch development bank. SNS Impact Investing partners with FMO to identify, select, and monitor investments in SME finance.

Read a profile of an SNS impact investment >

Threshold Group, LLC is a multi-client family office that serves the financial and wealth management needs of a select number of wealthy families and private foundations in the United States. Founded in 2004 by the Russell family, which created the global investment services firm known today as Russell Investments, Threshold Group offers integrated and personalized investment, financial, legacy, and administrative services to help clients achieve their missions and priorities.

Threshold Group's impact investing activities are client-driven, and a significant and growing number of both its family and family foundation clients seek to incorporate impact investments into their portfolios. The firm works with families that want to make a difference for future generations. To date, Threshold Group's impact investments made on behalf of its clients have focused on renewable energy, education, and women's empowerment, and have included both investments into companies and funds.

TIAA-CREF, a Fortune 100 financial services organization, is the leading retirement system for Americans who work in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields. TIAA-CREF serves 3.7 million clients participating in more than 27,000 retirement plans at 15,000 institutions, and has USD 464 billion in combined assets under management, as of December 31, 2011. TIAA-CREF pursues impact investing through its Global Social and Community Investing Department within the company's Asset Management division. Investments complement the firm's other socially responsible investing strategies which include providing clients socially screened investment options and shareholder advocacy.

TIAA-CREF offers comprehensively screened investment portfolios, which seek to provide competitive returns that are aligned with investors' values by giving special consideration to companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) records. Its socially screened investment products include: the CREF Social Choice Account, a variable annuity account, and the TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity Fund, a mutual fund. Its efforts support global microfinance, community bank deposits, corporate social real estate, and green building technology. This strategy is funded by the TIAA General Account, which is not available for direct investment but supports the claims-paying ability of our guaranteed annuities. TIAA-CREF currently has over USD 18 million invested in Community Development Banks through FDIC-insured certificates of deposit. It has committed capital of over USD 120 million in microfinance through its Global Microfinance Investment Program, which aims to provide competitive investment returns and social impact through investments in responsible financial services to low-income clients in developing countries. It has committed capital of over USD 500 million in real estate assets aimed at low income and affordable housing and sustainable RE development through its Corporate Social Real Estate Portfolio.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation is an Africa-based and African-funded nonprofit institution dedicated to the promotion and celebration of excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa. As a 21st century catalytic philanthropy, the Foundation is committed to the economic transformation of Africa by enhancing the competitiveness and growth of the African private sector. Founded in 2010 by Tony O. Elumelu, MFR, the Foundation identifies and addresses systemic challenges that inhibit African entrepreneurs. The Foundation operates through a series of programs and initiatives to foster a more competitive African private sector.

The Foundation's impact investments focus on supporting innovative African businesses that create financial, social, and environmental impact in key development sectors. As an African champion for impact investing, the Foundation also works to build the field across Africa and serves as an African voice on the subject. The Foundation contributes to impact investing by making investments, as well as through programs, grants, and policy work focused on expanding the field in Africa. In evaluating a potential investment opportunity, the Foundation considers the financial viability, potential to catalyze economic change and add significant value in Africa, ability to transfer innovation from one part of Africa to another, and whether the business is in an important development sector for Africa's growth. The Foundation focuses on providing capital to early stage businesses, typically in amounts under USD 500,000 per investment, which can be structured as debt, equity, or a combination of both.

In 2009, the Triodos Group, which is comprised of Triodos Bank, Triodos Investment Funds, and Triodos Private Banking, managed EUR 4.9 billion and served 242,000 customers. Triodos Investment Management BV is a full subsidiary of Triodos Bank, a fully licensed independent bank with branch offices in The Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Spain and Germany. Triodos Investment Management is responsible for managing a number of internationally operating funds that invest in both developing countries and Europe. These funds allow individuals and institutions to invest directly in sustainable sectors, including microfinance, sustainable trade, sustainable real estate, renewable energy, organic agriculture, conservation, and cultural projects. The funds also invest in listed companies worldwide that provide sustainable products or services, or achieve above-average social and environmental performance and actively contribute to sustainable development. At year-end 2009, Triodos Investment Management had EUR 1.6 billion in assets under management.

Triodos Investment Management has been a pioneering provider of capital to the microfinance sector since 1994. Through the management of four specialized microfinance investment funds, Triodos has financed over 100 microfinance institutions in 40 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. At the close of the 2009 calendar year, Triodos' microfinance funds had EUR 227 million in total assets under management. In other areas, Triodos manages funds such as Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund which offers innovative trade finance loans that enable organic and fair trade producers in developing countries to access US and European markets, and Triodos Renewables Europe Fund which supports the expansion of renewable energy in Europe.

UBS is a global financial services firm with a 150-year heritage serving corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS has offices in more than 50 countries. The UBS Group has four business divisions, including Wealth Management & Swiss Bank, which serves high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals globally, as well as private and corporate clients in Switzerland. As of 2009, social investing, philanthropy, and strategic charitable services have been unified within the Wealth Management unit under a new dedicated Philanthropy & Values-Based Investing team.

The Values-Based Investing team supports ultra-high net worth clients in aligning their environmental and social values with their portfolios using portfolio screening, socially responsible investing (SRI) thematic investments, and impact investing. Through their unique global network, the UBS Philanthropy & Values-Based Investing team aims to expose a large universe of individual investors to impact investing.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) is focused on the welfare of vulnerable children, and supports families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that help children at risk achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Of particular concern is the impact of poverty, which limits children's access to adequate education, nutritious food, economic security, and quality healthcare. The foundation's work to address these challenges is done with emphasis on racial equity and civic engagement. The Foundation was established in 1930 by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg, and is based in Battle Creek, MI. Today it ranks among the world's largest private foundations, awarding grants in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa.

In 2007, the Foundation allocated USD 100 million of its endowment assets for a pilot program in mission-driven investing (MDI). The goal of the program is to advance the foundation's mission-aligned impact while preserving - and potentially growing-capital. Of the MDI allocation, USD 25 million is designated for investments in southern Africa, with the remaining USD 75 million targeting opportunities in the United States. An evaluation of opportunities in Latin America is underway. WKKF invests across three asset classes - cash, fixed income, and private equity - with expectation of market-rate returns.

Read a profile of a W.K. Kellogg Foundation impact investment >