Living Cities Catalyst Funds Selected For ImpactAssets 50
The Blended Catalyst Fund focuses investment approach to support racial equity
NEW YORK, March 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Living Cities Catalyst Funds have been selected for the 2017-2018 ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50), a free online resource for investors and financial advisors. The seventh annual guide features fund managers representing private debt and equity investments that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. The Catalyst Funds have been selected for ImpactAssets 50 each year since its inception.
"We are proud that the Catalyst Funds have been selected for ImpactAssets 50 seven years in a row," said Ben Hecht, President and CEO, Living Cities. "Since our first fund launched nearly a decade ago, our investment strategy has evolved to focus on closing racial wealth gaps. Investing with this new lens reflects our broader commitment to innovation, impact and equity."
Living Cities has prioritized capital innovation as a model for social change in America for more than 25 years. Its Catalyst Funds make loans to test new impact investing models that increase economic opportunity by supporting the creation of jobs, income and wealth for low-income people in U.S. cities, particularly people of color.
The Blended Catalyst Fund, Living Cities' second debt fund, is capitalized at $36.9 million and includes investments from twelve of the world's largest financial institutions and foundations.
"We are actively seeking new transactions for the Blended Catalyst Fund that address long-standing racial and economic disparities in new ways," said Brinda Ganguly, Managing Director of Living Cities Catalyst Funds. "This is a unique focus in the impact investing market, so we see value in testing this approach and sharing learnings with the field."
Recent investments from the Blended Catalyst Fund helped inform Living Cities' new racial equity investment approach, including:
- Central Baltimore Future Fund ($2.5M loan): This $10M fund finances revitalization projects in ten Baltimore neighborhoods that connect low-income residents, who are predominately African American, to economic opportunity.
- BuildNOLA Mobilization Fund ($1.3M loan): Co-created by Living Cities and the City of New Orleans, this fund helps minority and women-owned business enterprises access the capital necessary to bid on public construction and infrastructure projects.
- Massachusetts Pathways to Economic Advancement Project ($650K investment): This $12.43M Pay for Success project provides vocational English classes, skills training and job access to 2,000 English language learners living in low-income neighborhoods in the Greater Boston area.
To learn more about the Blended Catalyst Fund, contact [email protected].
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) and field building initiatives enable philanthropists, other asset owners, and their wealth advisors to advance social or environmental change through investment.
About the ImpactAssets 50
The IA 50 is the first publicly available database that provides a gateway into the world of impact investing for investors and their financial advisors, offering an easy way to identify experienced impact investment firms and explore the landscape of potential investment options. The IA 50 is intended to illustrate the breadth of impact investment fund managers operating today, though it is not a comprehensive list. These 50 firms have been selected to demonstrate a wide range of impact investing activities across geographies, sectors and asset classes.
SOURCE Living Cities
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