Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor Jessica Pothering. Up this week: Climate insurance in California that incentivizes landowners to reduce wildfire risks. Plus, making subsidies smarter by targeting the operating needs of agriculture businesses and the funds that support them.

Chapters

• (00:00) Innovative Climate Insurance Pilot in California
• (08:17) Concessional Capital and Africa's Farmers

Story links:

“Innovative climate insurance in California gives landowners incentives to reduce wildfire risks,” by Jessica Pothering

“Making subsidies smarter by targeting Africa’s farmers and the funds that support them,” by Jessica Pothering

• Event RSVPs:

  • Boston: Saturday, April 12 - ⁠Boston International Film Festival⁠
  • North Carolina: Friday, April 4 - ⁠Building models for shared prosperity⁠, UNC Chapel Hill
  • Washington, DC: April 8 - ⁠Purple Party⁠,

• Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: With proxy season here, how shareholders can apply a system stewardship model for the companies they own; why strategies to share the wealth via employee ownership are attracting popular support, and a look at our spring “Re:construction” tour, which offers a playbook for shared prosperity.

  
  

Chapters

• (00:00) Proxy season insights
• (06:00) Employee ownership models
• (11:50) Re:construction and shared prosperity

Event RSVPs:

• North Carolina: Friday, April 4 - Building models for shared prosperity, UNC Chapel Hill
• Washington, DC: April 8 - Purple Party,
• Boston: Saturday, April 12 - Boston International Film Festival

Story links:

• “Shareholders can fight back with system stewardship,” by The Shareholder Commons’ Frederick Alexander

• Ownership Call: impactalpha.com/calls and Youtube

• “A playbook of what and who is working to build prosperity for all,” and “‘Special Purpose Credit Programs’ face the axe,” by David Bank

🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Why Trump's order to cut a Main Street lending program led to a rare GOP rebuke. How Canadian employee ownership trusts offer a path to shared prosperity along with protecting national sovereignty (06:17). And finally, as private equity fundraising becomes more competitive, how GPs can differentiate on impact (12:53).

RSVP for the call:

• ⁠https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3AUkUaVZTyivXhXx0oVsrw⁠

Story links:

• “⁠⁠Threat to CDFI Fund gives community lenders a chance to flex bipartisan support⁠⁠,” by David Bank and Amy Cortese

• “⁠In Canada, employee ownership trusts offer a path to shared prosperity and national sovereignty⁠,” by Roodgally Senatus.

• “⁠Differentiating on impact, tapping retail investors: Charting the changing private equity landscape⁠” by Amy Cortese

  
  

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The significance of noted green banker Mark Carney’s new role as Canadian Prime Minister; what’s at stake as US climate policy heads to the courts (06:41); and, why one impact fund manager says low-income customers are more profitable – and has the data to prove it (12:25).

Story links:

• "⁠Canada puts a green banker in charge of its response to Trump⁠,” by Amy Cortese and David Bank.
• “⁠EPA raises the stakes in battle over $20 billion in green bank grants⁠,” by Amy Cortese and Isaac Silk.
• “⁠Climate United carries legal banner in battle for the green bank⁠,” by David Bank and Amy Cortese.
• "⁠Elevar Equity says low-income customers are more profitable – and has the data to prove it⁠," by Shefali Anand.

Host Brian Walsh chats with ImpactAlpha’s emerging markets reporter Lucy Ngige. Up this week: Why the mood at two impact investing conferences in Nairobi was hopeful, despite the US foreign aid freeze. Plus, a roundup of some of the most interesting recent emerging markets deals.

Check out all of the deals here:

• https://impactalpha.com/browse/beats/dealflow/

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor Jessica Pothering. Up this week: Jessica digs in on food and agriculture in East Africa. Emerging fund managers in the ownership economy deliver returns to investors by sharing the wealth with workers, families and communities. And, what the EU Commission’s revamped rules mean for climate and sustainability disclosure.

Timecodes:

• 00:00 Impact Investing Insights from East Africa
• 11:04 Emerging Trends in the Ownership Economy
• 17:39 EU Climate Regulations: A Shift in Strategy
• 
  

Links:

• "⁠GPs deliver ownership investing strategies for LPs of all sizes⁠," by Jessica Pothering

• “⁠The European Union is poised to scale back its ambitious climate finance regulations, too,⁠” by Louie Woodall.

This week, Brian and David discuss the resilience of impact investing amidst political upheaval, focusing on emerging markets, small businesses, and climate strategies. Also, the evolving dynamics between limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs) in the investment landscape, particularly through co-investments. Finally they cover the University of Utah's new initiative to become a hub for impact investing education.

00:00 Impact Investing Amidst Political Turmoil

07:30 The Evolving LP/GP Relationship

14:27 University of Utah: A New Epicenter for Impact Investing

Relevant links:

• Sign up for the LP/GP newsletter.
• “⁠EPA’s efforts to claw back ‘green bank’ funds hit a snag⁠,” by Amy Cortese.

• “African leadership is reshaping the continent’s small business investing ecosystem,” by Lucy Ngige.
• “Climate and development challenges spur development finance institutions to unlock private capital,” by Leslie Maasdorp of British International Investment.

• “Why TPG’s Jim Coulter is bullish on impact,” by Amy Cortese.

• “That (mixed) feeling when your LP co-invests in the sweet deal you’ve just negotiated,” by David Bank.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: An innovative investment vehicle turns a strip mall in Portland into a community investment trust that’s helping local renters build family wealth; the Liist gets a facelift and the importance of highlighting the raises of emerging fund managers; plus, why impact investors are split on President Trump's proposal to axe the carried interest tax loophole.

Links:

• “This strip mall in Portland is helping neighborhood families build wealth and community ownership,” by Roodgally Senatus.
• “Emerging managers forge ahead with inclusive and climate investment strategies,” by Jessica Pothering and Lucy Ngige.

• “Trump’s threat to end the tax breaks for ‘carried interest’ rattles private equity managers,” by Amy Cortese.
  

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Community Investment Trusts: A New Model for Wealth Building

• 10:04 Spotlight on Emerging Fund Managers

• 15:05 The Carried Interest Loophole: Implications and Controversies

On this episode of 'This Week in Impact' Brian Walsh and Jessica pother discuss the implications of the Trump administration's freeze on development finance, the evolving landscape of voluntary carbon markets driven by corporate buyers, and the challenges facing private equity in the healthcare sector.

Story links:

"Corporate buyers nudge voluntary carbon markets toward higher-quality projects," by Jessica Pothering

“An allocators guide to reigning in private equity’s worst excesses in healthcare,” by Ibrahim Rashid

In the latest Agents of Impact podcast, Ravit Dotan, an AI governance advisor and researcher in Pittsburgh, joins David Bank to share insights on the new state of play for responsible AI in the early days of the Trump administration and what Deepseek, the Chinese competitor to Open AI, means for intellectual property, open-source code … and national security.