‘Frontier Finance’ Impact Investing Shows Promise, Report Says, Presents Lessons From 40 Transactions

Al Jazeera: ‘Frontier finance’ is scaling up to achieve United Nations goals
“In advance of the United Nations General Assembly that begins later this month, a new report released on Wednesday details the present shortcomings and future opportunities in ‘frontier finance.’ That area of impact investment seeks to attract funding for projects consistent with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Published by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the report is the first of its kind to study the financing for efforts to improve the lives of low- to lower-middle-income people in emerging and frontier markets. And it identifies ways to scale the market to reach ambitious targets…” (Piven, 9/10).
 
Financial Times: Green property financing, Frontier impact, U.S. chiefs v gun violence
“…The common assumption about impact investing is that doing good means sacrificing returns. However, new research from the Global Impact Investing Network shows this to be a misconception — even when those investments made are out on the fringes of the market. The GIIN recently polled ‘frontier finance’ investors — those who are putting money to work to improve the lives of poor people in emerging and frontier market countries — and found that three-quarters of them expect to make a risk-adjusted, market-rate return and nearly nine out of 10 are happy with their financial performance…” (Tett et al., 9/11).
 
ImpactAlpha: Lessons in frontier finance from 40 impact investments
“…Still, ‘within these markets, opportunities for substantial impact remain unrealized,’ says the Rachel Bass of the Global Impact Investing Network, which rounded up lessons from 40 frontier finance deals in ‘Unlocking the Potential of Frontier Finance’…” (Price, 9/11).
 
Pensions & Investments: Some lessons learned on frontier finance — GIIN report
“…The report … found that impact investors have a solid history of frontier investing, but capital flows are far short of demand for investment and the estimated $2.5 trillion capital required to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. … The frontier finance investments studied had small ticket sizes, with an average of $1.1 million and a median of $385,000…” (Bradford, 9/10).

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