By Mitchell Laferriere, Gabelli Business School Class 2018, Board Member of Sustainable Finance Society.
On Thursday, November 10th, Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business hosted the Responsible and Impact Investing Symposium. This event is one example of how our business school encourages students to get involved in enacting social impact.
Dean Donna Rappacioli began the afternoon by greeting nearly 200 professionals from a variety of finance backgrounds. Private equity firms, hedge funds, big banks, non-profits, and pension funds were all in attendance, and were looking to see how impact investing could improve both their wallets and the world.
A wide range of speakers described different forms of investing that create social impact. Thomas P. DiNapoli, one of the speakers and the Comptroller of New York, is in charge of a 178.1 billion dollar New York State Pension Fund that is a leader in environmental, social and governance investing (ESG). DiNapoli and other individuals like Kimberly Ryan, part of the Social Impact Investing Team at Wells Fargo, repeated again and again how these investments out-perform at rates equal or better than the market.
Keith Kehrer, one of the representatives from Bryan Cave, a law firm exploring legalities for sustainable and social finance (finance that gives social impact as well as financial), emphasized how impact investing is changing how charities and non-profits work. Organizations and businesses are required to commit a percentage every year to the cause they represent. Impact investing is now taking over as an alternative to this charitable procedure in the form of Program Related Investments. PRIs, as they are called, create sustainable revenue for charities and non-profits, which improves their potential to enact social good.
The event was an undeniable success. The Responsible and Impact Investing Symposium brought together powerful, innovative individuals to learn about finance that is changing the world. If there are any questions on the event, speakers, content, or future events feel free to contact the Sustainable Finance Guild here at Fordham at Mlaferriere1@fordham.edu.