Despite the increasing size and sophistication of community financial development institutions (CDFIs) like PCV — as well as the broader impact investing industry — accessing capital from institutional investors like insurance companies remains exceptionally difficult for most CDFIs and other investors seeking financial returns in addition to positive social or environmental impact. Raising institutional capital can be challenging for several reasons, namely the institutional investors’ stringent investment policies, lack of familiarity with the impact investing industry, the misconception that investments in this arena are necessarily concessionary, and the mismatch between supply and demand for capital — the smallest investments that large institutional investors can make (e.g. $20 million) is often much larger what a CDFI or small fund manager wants or is able to raise. Yet with over a trillion dollars in annual revenues, the U.S. insurance industry represents a vast, largely untapped source of capital for impact investors. The California Organized Investment … Read More
Examining the Development and Implementation of California FreshWorks
This case study examines the development and implementation of the California FreshWorks program, a $273 million healthy food financing initiative launched in July 2011 by a broad coalition of public and private partners led by the California Endowment. As part of an evaluation team commissioned by the California Endowment, PCV InSight and the Sarah Samuels Center for Public Health Research and Evaluation conducted interviews with FreshWorks investors, advisors, and other key stakeholders in order to document FreshWorks’ origins and implementation. In addition, the case study examines key challenges and lessons learned during the program’s first years of operation that can inform others in the healthy food financing and impact investing communities. The case study also describes future directions for the FreshWorks program. This case study is one of three reports released as part of the evaluation of the California FreshWorks program. The other two reports, The Social and Economic Impacts … Read More
California FreshWorks Food Access Report
This report evaluates the changes in community food access as a result of the California FreshWorks program, a $273 million healthy food financing initiative launched in July 2011 by a broad coalition of public and private partners led by the California Endowment. The report examines three FreshWorks-funded Northgate González grocery stores that received New Markets Tax Credit financing and seeks to answer two key research questions: Are the new retail food stores meeting unmet need for grocery services? How do community members perceive the benefits and/or negative consequences of the new stores? To answer these questions, the evaluation team, led by the Sarah Samuels Center for Public Health Research and Evaluation with research support from Dr. Allison Karpyn of the University of Delaware, and Dr. Karen Glanz of the University of Pennsylvania, used a mixed-method approach including key informant interviews with store managers, intercept surveys with store shoppers, grocery store … Read More
The Social and Economic Impacts of California FreshWorks
This report examines the social and economic impacts of the California FreshWorks program, a $273 million healthy food financing initiative launched in July 2011 by a broad coalition of public and private partners led by the California Endowment. The evaluation of social and economic impacts focuses on three FreshWorks-funded Northgate González grocery stores that received New Markets Tax Credit financing. Based on three-year longitudinal data, the report seeks to answer two key research questions: How does FreshWorks impact employment and job quality of workers in local communities, particularly in underserved communities? What broader economic impacts do FreshWorks investments have in the communities where they are located? The three FreshWorks-funded stores have generated significant positive social and economic impacts in their respective communities, creating over 450 jobs in the local community for lower-income workers with benefits that exceed national benchmarks. Combined, the three FreshWorks-funded stores have also generated over $40 million … Read More
California Initiative 2015 Report
The eleventh annual report examining CalPERS’ California Initiative, a $1 billion private equity, economically targeted investment (ETI). The California Initiative seeks to invest in companies located in traditionally underserved markets, primarily, but not exclusively, located in California. The California Initiative’s primary objective is to generate attractive financial returns, meeting or exceeding private equity benchmarks. As an ancillary benefit, the California Initiative was designed to focus investment in California’s underserved markets and invest in portfolio companies that: Have historically had limited access to institutional equity capital Employ workers who reside in economically disadvantaged areas Provide employment opportunities to women and minority entrepreneurs and managers
CalPERS For California 2015 Report
The sixth annual report documenting the California Public Employees Retirement System’s $27.8 billion of investments in California as of June 30, 2015. The report provides an examination of the broad ancillary benefits of all CalPERS investments in California across the asset classes of public equity, fixed income, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund, with assets totaling $300 billion as of March 31, 2016. They have a strong track record of long-term returns, and of mobilizing financial capital in new and innovative ways. Ancillary benefits of CalPERS investments described in this report include the creation and support of jobs, infrastructure for communities and commerce, and business expansion and related economic activity.
Aligning Capital With Mission
We are pleased to share with you our latest report, Aligning Capital with Mission: Lessons from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Social Investment Program. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to improving the lives of America’s children and families, engaged InSight at Pacific Community Ventures — with research support from The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University — to conduct the first comprehensive third-party evaluation of its Social Investment Program, a $125 million allocation from its endowment dedicated to mission investing. Through the Social Investment Program, the Foundation invests in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), impact funds, and nonprofit organizations supporting low-income and vulnerable communities across the United States. In an effort to support the broader mission investing field, Aligning Capital with Mission offers, for the first time publicly, findings that highlight the strong alignment of the Social Investment Program’s impact with the Foundation’s … Read More
Our 2015 Social Impact
While our economy is thriving on paper, most of us know that isn’t the whole story. Since the end of the Great Recession, almost 12 million jobs have been created. But, average wages working Americans have dropped 23 percent. The strongest job growth these past few years has all been in low-wage work, at places like strip malls and fast-food restaurants. We hit a tipping point as 2016 began: middle-income households have become the minority in America for the first time since World War II. And communities of color fare even worse. Frankly, as a nation, we’re better than this. It’s frustrating – but we’re not powerless here. We can do something about it. Since the end of the recession, PCV has helped almost 1,500 small businesses across 45 states to create and sustain tens of thousands of jobs. Check out our full 2015 social impact report: PCV is fighting … Read More
Defining and Measuring The Creation of Quality Jobs
Since the end of the Great Recession, almost 12 million jobs have been created — but most have been in low-wage occupations and at places like strip malls and fast-food restaurants. Average wages for working Americans have dropped 23 percent. It’s become clear that job creation does not equate to lasting economic change. In order to reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. We must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities. We are excited to share with you our latest discussion paper: Moving Beyond Job Creation: Defining and Measuring the Creation of Quality Jobs. Moving Beyond Job Creation has been made possible thanks to the support of the Surdna Foundation, and is the result of a year and a half of extensive research on the topic of … Read More
AI3 Brief: Unleashing The Power Of Pensions
Enterprise Community Partners and Insight at Pacific Community Ventures — co-sponsors of the Accelerating Impact Investing Initiative (AI3) — have released a new issue brief on impact investments by U.S. pension funds. The brief highlights public and private pension funds that have pursued “economically targeted investments” (ETIs), a type of impact investment that seeks certain social goals alongside a market-rate financial return. It comes just weeks after the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees the fiduciary rules for many U.S. pension funds, issued new regulatory guidance that is expected to open the door to more ETIs in the years to come. To read the full issue brief released today, download the PDF below. The new ETI guidance was just one of several advancements in impact investing policies in 2015. Earlier this month, Congress authorized a new Pay for Success (PFS) demonstration within the Department of Housing and Urban Development to … Read More