Living Cities Catalyst Impact Funds Selected for Annual ImpactAssets 50 Showcase

NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Living Cities Catalyst Impact Funds have been selected for the 2016 ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50), a free online resource for investors and financial advisors. The sixth annual guide features fund managers representing private debt and equity investments that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns.

Fund managers included in the IA 50 2016 manage an estimated $10.6B in assets devoted to creating positive social and environmental impact.

"We are thrilled that the Catalyst Impact Funds have been included in the ImpactAssets 50 list every year since its inception," said Ben Hecht, President and CEO, Living Cities. "Funds like ours help impact investors drive better outcomes for low-income Americans."

The Catalyst Impact Funds deploy philanthropic and commercial debt to test new approaches that increase impact investing at a scale commensurate with our nation's most pressing problems. Since 2008, the Catalyst Impact Funds have received a total of $75 million in commitments. The funds have lent a cumulative total of $50 million, sparking initiatives with total funding of over $1.1 billion.

"The Catalyst Impact Funds focus on impact, innovation, collaboration and learning," said Brian Nagendra, Senior Investment Associate, Living Cities. "Partnering with our 15 investors across two funds, we have created a model to deliver measureable impact."

The Catalyst Impact Funds have made 24 investments, with 15 investments in the pipeline. Recent and anticipated investments in cities across the country include:

• Detroit: Working to close a $1.0 million investment that builds on Living Cities' Integration Initiative work in Detroit, leveraging additional funding from a local philanthropic partner to make loans to local "high-risk" entrepreneurs, small businesses and social enterprises.
• New Orleans: Two investments to support local small businesses and startups, with a focus on women and people of color: a $1.3 million loan to NewCorp, Inc. and a $500,000 loan for the Propeller Fund.
• Salt Lake County: A $500,000 loan to the Salt Lake County REACH Pay for Success Project, aimed at providing comprehensive services to reduce recidivism.

The IA 50 is the only free, public, searchable database of outstanding impact investing fund managers. This year's showcase, which includes funds based in the United States, Africa, Europe and Latin America, highlights the increasingly diverse opportunities for investors to help create social value across the globe. The list demonstrates an increased thematic focus on alternative energy, climate change and clean technology. Fund managers continue to focus as well on affordable housing and community development, sustainable agriculture and low-income financial services and micro-insurance.

The IA 50 Review Committee is chaired by Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Strategist of ImpactAssets. Jennifer Kenning, CEO and Co-Founder of Align Impact served as the Committee's Senior Investment Advisor. Members include: Karl "Charly" Kleissner, Co-Founder of Toniic and KL Felicitas Foundation; Kathy Leonard, Senior Vice President, Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager for UBS; Deval Patrick, Managing Director of Bain Capital; Liesel Pritzker Simmons and Ian Simmons, Co-Founders of Blue Haven Initiative; Fran Seegull, Executive Director, U.S. Impact Investing Alliance of Ford Foundation and Matthew Weatherley-White, Managing Director of The CAPROCK Group.

In order to be considered for the IA 50 2016, fund managers needed to have at least $10 million in assets under management, more than three years of experience as a firm with impact investing and documented social and/or environmental impact, as well as accept investment from U.S.-based investors. Additional details on the selection process are here.

About Living Cities
For 25 years, Living Cities has harnessed the collective power of 18 of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions to develop and scale new approaches for creating opportunities for low-income people and improving the cities where they live. Its investments, research, networks and convenings catalyze fresh thinking and combine support for innovative, local approaches with real-time sharing of learning to accelerate adoption in more places. Additional information can be found at www.livingcities.org.

About ImpactAssets 
ImpactAssets is a nonprofit financial services firm that increases the flow of capital into investments that deliver financial, social, and environmental returns. ImpactAssets' donor advised fund (The Giving Fund), Impact Investment Notes, and field building initiatives enable philanthropists, other asset owners, and their wealth advisors to advance social or environmental change through investment.

SOURCE Living Cities