We've all heard the statistics. The ongoing "Graying of America" poses a massive economic challenge as many aging workers do not have enough saved for retirement. Some studies suggest nearly half of American earners may have no retirement savings at all.
Here at Impact Engine, economic opportunity is one of our three main investment focus areas (the other two being environmental sustainability and health equity – the latter of which often pairs with household finances).
IE VP Rahul Bhide and MBA intern Olivia Grinker teamed up with our fintech-focused friends from ResilienceVC to break down the problem and spotlight more than a dozen innovative companies that seek to support a secure financial future for older adults. Read what they learned about the problem and several possible solutions, plus how we think about investments in this space.
This month, IE Partner Tasha Seitz (left) was a featured speaker at a Northshore Women’s Leadership Network impact investing forum and filed this report:
"It was a pleasure joining this event for women interested in exploring how to have more impact with their philanthropy and their investment dollars – we talked about a range of approaches to learning more and getting started, from thinking about the impact of your purchases, to where you bank (and what they do with deposits), to asking your investment advisor about what impact investing options they have available."
Dario Amodei | Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better
IE CEO Jessica Droste Yagan writes: "Amidst mostly fear about the volatility and unpredictability of AI, I appreciated reading this relatively specific and optimistic take on where it could lead us. It's helpful to have positive visions of the future to work toward."
Impact Alpha | Illusionist, Learner, Achiever or Champion: What kind of impact fund manager are you?
IE CIO Priya Parrish writes: "Phenix Capital's 'Four Faces of Impact' is a helpful framework to categorize the maturity and potential of fund managers' impact management practices. Tools like these are important to evolve the field from relying on the impact label alone to enabling LPs and GPs to more specifically articulate and manage towards their impact objectives. Our fund investment strategy has always focused more on what a manager invests in, as opposed to what they label themselves, in determining impact, and we focus our efforts on partnering with GPs to improve their practices over time. We are optimistic that tools like this will help others join us in this approach."
IE Chief Investment Officer Priya Parrish officially became an advisor to Ownership Capital Lab, the employee ownership hub. She was also recently interviewed on the Impact Alpha podcast, where she made the case for purpose-built investment firms.
PadSplit, the house-hacking startup, announced it has surpassed 20,000 rental units in the United States. CEO and founder Atticus LeBlanc shared, "It took us six years to get to 10,000 units and the next 10,000 took only 16 months," with the average renter saving $366 per month.
Quadria Capital, a healthcare-oriented fund investment of ours, announced the close of its oversubscribed Fund III with $1.07 billion of commitments. The fundraise, which will focus on healthcare in Asia, is approximately 60% larger than their 2020 fund. "Fund III's close, amid one of the most demanding fundraising climates in recent memory," says Managing Partner Abrar Mir, "is a powerful validation of our strategy and reflects the deep conviction of our Gulf partners in the transformational healthcare opportunity across Asia."