Impact Investing Network
Kia ora <<First Name>>,
Welcome to the June edition of impact investing news in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.
This edition covers: New IIN Assistant Manager; Mindful Money Awards winners; RIAA events and research on responsible investing; XRB insights into ISSB draft standards; greenwashing implications and regulations; Emissions Reduction Plan; and more!
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NAB in the community
Highlights of the activities our National Advisory Board (NAB) and Impact Investing Network (IIN) team have been involved in recently.
Impact Investing Network welcomes Duke Euphrat
The Impact Investing Network (IIN) team has grown!
Joseph Duke Euphrat (Duke), has recently joined the Impact Investing Network on a part-time basis as an Assistant Manager helping with the IIN's communications, sector projects, and key impact investing market initiatives.
Duke joined the IIN because of their purpose and commitment to connect, educate, and advocate for the impact investing sector. Duke understands the need for platforms, like the IIN, to build capabilities and legitimacy in an emerging and fast growing area. Read more.
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Events and Programmes
Discover the latest trends and connect with the impact investing community at these events and programmes.
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Purpose Capital wins Best Impact Investment Fund
The winner of Best Impact Investment Fund in Mindful Money Awards 2022 is Purpose Capital Impact Fund!
We celebrate Purpose Capital's commitment to making a positive real world impact through investments and all to finalists for their collective contributions to growing the Aotearoa NZ impact market: Climate VC Fund (Highly Commended Award), New Ground Capital (Homes for Tamariki), Te Puna Hapori (Brightlight). Read more.
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RI Aotearoa NZ conference - early bird tickets until 31 August 2022
RIAA's (Responsible Investment Association Australasia) conference is an annual highlight, with the largest responsible gathering in Aotearoa New Zealand. It'll be held in-person on Wednesday 28 September 2022 in Auckland. Early bird rates are available until 31 August 2022. The full programme will be announced soon, but here are the kinds of sessions RIAA is planning at this year's conference, read more.
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IIN breakfast event - save the date for Wed, 28 Sep 2022
With the generous support of RIAA, the IIN will again host a breakfast event, just before the RI Aotearoa NZ conference at the same venue (Hilton Auckland).
Save the date, which has been rescheduled, for Wednesday 28 September, 7:15am. We'll provide a registration link later in the year.
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Lodestone Energy Completes Equity Raise to Build Grid-Scale Solar
Lodestone Energy has completed its Series B equity raise from top tier New Zealand investors and entrepreneurs (investors include Jarden Principal Investments, a Purpose Capital consortium, Guy Haddleton, Rod Drury, Stephen Tindall, Sam Morgan and Fady Mishriki.). The raise rounds out a $300 million capital plan and will fund the construction of the company’s first five solar farms, as well as purchasing at least another three sites across Aotearoa. Read more.
CVCF invests into Cleanery to tidy up emissions in $2.34m raise
Climate VC Fund is proud to announce its second investment. CVCF is the largest investor in a seed round of $2.34 million for Cleanery, the innovative Kiwi eco-cleaning and personal care products company. The raise attracted significant interest from the New Zealand business community. Read more.
XRB provides perspective for ISSB during RIAA event
On June 21st, XRB's April Mackenzie, provided perspective on the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) draft standards for sustainability disclosures. In this RIAA event, key representatives from the VRF, ASIC, XRB, and RIAA speak about purpose, approach, and key elements of the draft ISSB standards. RIAA showcases the perspectives and work of Australian and New Zealand government agencies to demonstrate context and process for implementing the ISSB standards. Watch the recorded RIAA event here.
The importance of building comprehensive, applicable, and adoptable sustainability standards is highlighted below in this month's Global Perspective.
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Greenwashing whip begins to crack...and rattles "ESG" Credibility
One of the largest threats to the viability and credibility of impact investing and sustainable investing practices is greenwashing. In fact, Financial Times published the following article titled, "How ESG investing came to a reckoning" in early June. "With allegations of greenwashing at the highest levels, does it it still makes sense for funds to package together ESG factors." Read More.
Regulatory bodies, such as the ASIC, have begun to step down on greenwashing understanding their importance to maintain efficient markets.
“Labels or headline statements about a product’s green credentials should not be misleading. Being ‘true to label’ is not a nice-to-have; it’s a regulatory must-have. It’s also a must-have for investor confidence and trust. And a must-have for both fair and efficient market outcomes here. Misdirected investment here will inevitably be at great economic cost. We have set out nine important questions for issuers to ask themselves. We would hope and indeed expect issuers to review their practices against our information sheet.” Read More.
"The SEC War on Greenwashing Has Begun". Read Here
Across the pacific ocean, the United States SEC unveiled rules to prevent misleading claims and enhance disclosures by ESG funds. This has led to big financial institutions, like Goldman Sachs, being investigated for ESG claim and even some, like Mellon, being fined up to USD $1.5 million over misleading claims about its ESG credentials. Read here, here, and here.
New rules on corporate sustainability reporting in the EU
The Council and European Parliament on 21st June reached a provisional political agreement on the corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD). The corporate sustainability reporting directive amends the 2014 non-financial reporting directive. It introduces more detailed reporting requirements and ensures that large companies are required to report on sustainability issues such as environmental rights, social rights, human rights and governance factors. Read More.
What does this mean for impact investing?
With increased scrutiny focused on ESG investing practices and marketing, it is can be assumed that impact investing will come under the same microscope, if not already.
The appeal of impact investing has reached all-time highs in the fifth impact investing survey by global asset manager American Century Investments, however greenwashing remains to be a high concern hindering the ability of capital inflows.
"Concerns about greenwashing continue, with half or more of respondents in the UK (58 per cent), U.S. (50 per cent), Germany (50 per cent) and Australia (51 per cent) believing greenwashing has increased. Despite this, less than half of respondents in the U.S. (44 per cent), UK (39 per cent), Germany (38 per cent) and Australia (39 per cent) reported greenwashing influenced their interest in impact investing." Read More.
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Education
A selection of impact investing educational research and resources.
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Chapman Tripp: Investing for Impact report, a look into the trends and key insights of New Zealand's sustainable finance landscape. Read more.
Climate VC Fund: Climate VD Fund's recent thought piece on How to judge the Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP), brings great insight into how the ERP will potentially impact key sectors in New Zealand. Read more.
Toha New Zealand: Another great thought piece exploring key impacts of the ERP is presented in Toha's first Medium post, Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. Read more.
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