Activating more private capital with a climate and gender lens
Heading for Change recently partnered with Invest for Better to scale our portfolio learnings and move a wider group of investors to action. We speak to Tuti Scott, an IFB Partner and author of Moving Money for Impact; A Guide to Gender Lens Investing (pictured left), and Janine Firpo, co-founder of Invest for Better (pictured right) about the training they’ve designed to help more women move private capital with a climate and gender lens.
What are you hoping to see with this training?
Janine Firpo (JF). There are three things. The first is about uplifting Suzanne Biegel and her work and her vision. The training is a great introduction to Heading for Change and speaks to a new way of thinking about two former silos of investing choice - climate and gender - and how they can come together in a really powerful way. Raising that in people's awareness and visibility is key.
The second is helping women feel more comfortable around their ability to invest in private funds and how they would diligence them. Personally, one of the hardest aspects of private investing for me was finding private investment opportunities and understanding how to decide whether to invest or not. All of the private funds that I'm in today are opportunities that my financial advisors brought to me. But not everyone has that luxury. Many women have asked us how they can find and vet private funds. This course is intended to help women understand the fund selection and diligence process.
The third - if they’re busy and don’t have time for all the analysis - the course gives participants visibility to investments that Heading for Change has already vetted. That means they can start their own diligence on, at least some, funds from a much stronger base of knowledge.
Tuti Scott (TS) What I really like about the Invest for Better model is that there's an intention to build community, relationships and rapport. I hope that what we create is a connection so that people don’t feel alone in this. Because in addition to women being time challenged, they're also kind of isolated on this topic. We're going to showcase some of the places where you can go and learn more and meet other like-minded women and make investments butwhat we're trying to create is a space where you feel safe learning.
Who's the training designed for?
JF. It's for women who are already accredited investors or are professionals ready to start investing. They have to be beyond basic financial literacy. Our members are women seeking to grow their wealth, but expect more than that They want to build a portfolio that aligns with their values. So I think there's a level of activism and awareness. These are women who are excited by the idea of having a place to be with other women like themselves - women who want to invest intentionally and they want to be part of a movement that's changing the face of finance.
TS: We added a module on public markets because we wanted to expand the audience. We might have accredited investors but there might be others who are earlier in their journey, and we’ll give them things they can do with their retirement dollars or trade accounts. I’m hoping for some people from philanthropy to attend as well. So many people don’t know about moving money philanthropically that can go to direct investment - it’s the blended capital piece. And the field of philanthropic advising have clients who are asking them about this.
What will be covered over the five sessions?
“Like Maya Angelou said, “when you know better you do better”. There’s so much information about why we need to invest with these lenses and there’s so many opportunities. What is it going to take to move you to action?”
TS: We’ll start with some quick level-setting of language, portfolio construction, asset classes, just to level set. . We're going to go into the beauty of Suzanne's legacy, and why she created this and then what it is and some of the strategies and opportunities. We’ll be getting people to think about their portfolio, their goals, and then meet some prospective investees - leading up to a due diligence exercise and sharing at the end of the class. There’s also around 20-30 minutes of reading and watching we recommend each participant do before each class, with video insights from a few leaders in the field (including Suzanne). There is homework, but we’re trying to make it not daunting!
My frame and everything I'm trying to do is have people move from knowledge to action. Like Maya Angelou said, “when you know better you do better”. There's so much information about why we need to invest with these lenses and there's so many opportunities. What is it going to take to move you to action? I want to see people actually moving their money in alignment with their values.
The 5-part course will kick off April 17th at 8:30 am PT, and will meet every Wednesday at the same time, with the exception of May 8th when there will be no meeting. Each facilitated meeting will run 90 minutes, and there will be up to 30 minutes of pre-work before each session. Participants benefit most when they make this weekly 2-hour commitment, preparing for each meeting in advance and engaging fully during the virtual Zoom sessions.
The course is free of charge for HfC donors, $200 for IFB members, and $400 for others. Find out more and book here