The Good Economy

💫 Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration – making PBII happen! Yesterday, we brought together over 35 senior leaders from local authorities, investors, and pension funds for an inspiring Place-Based Impact Investing (PBII) Network session on Local Investing for Inclusive Growth. The energy in the room was constructive and solutions-focused, with open and honest discussions about the challenges and opportunities in place-based impact investing. A huge thank you to all our brilliant partners, speakers and participants for an engaging and productive session. 🔗 You can read the full event recap here: https://lnkd.in/e2cgQjcd Some key takeaways from our discussion: 🔹 Inclusive growth is bottom-up - and needs to involve people and communities - it’s where everyone is counted, bringing people together around a purpose in place 🔹 We need to connect up the new spatial and growth plans with integrated place-based investment pipelines - and to make that pipeline investable 🔹We need to see the revenue funding and seed capital - public funding - to build local capacity and get projects and partnerships moving 🔹 Local development companies can be game-changers, helping to bring projects to life and build strong partnerships. 🔹 Stronger ties between LGPS and local government are key – Greater Manchester is showing what’s possible. 🔹 What we need ultimately requires a change in hearts and minds – caring about the future of Britain and having a positive vision. See the slides below from our co-Founder Mark Hepworth's compelling presentation. 🔹 Collaboration is everything! PBII offers a huge opportunity for change – but to make it work, we need real trust around the table. It’s why hearts and minds matter. And that’s exactly what events like yesterday are all about. We left the session feeling upbeat and optimistic, with a clear set of actions to help drive place-based investing and greater collaboration. So watch this space! If you’d like to be a part of our PBII Network and join the big conversation around place-based impact investing, contact our co-Founders Sarah Forster and Mark Hepworth, or our Head of PBII, Sam Monger. #PlaceBased #ImpactInvesting #PBII #PBIINetwork #LocalAuthorities #LocalGovernment #PensionSchemes #InstitutionalInvestors

🏃♀️ Go, Lindsey, Go! Our Finance Manager, Lindsey Garvey, is taking on not one but two epic challenges next month - the London Landmarks Half Marathon and the London Marathon! 🎉 Braving the winter months, Lindsey has been training tirelessly to raise funds for ABIGAIL'S FOOTSTEPS, a wonderful charity providing support and counselling around baby loss to bereaved parents and families as well as specialist bereavement training for midwives and healthcare professionals. We’re so proud of her dedication and would love to see her smash her fundraising goal! If you’d like to support Lindsey and this amazing cause, you can donate here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eMsYqaTd Good luck, Lindsey - we’ll be cheering you on every step of the way! #TeamAbigails 👏

💡 The shift towards place-based impact investing is not just a trend, it's a necessity. It's about recognising that investments can do more than just generate returns, they can also contribute to national renewal. Our PBII Reporting Service helps pension schemes and investors measure and report on the impact of their investments at a local, regional, and national level. ✅ Where investments are being made ✅ What sectors and communities are benefiting ✅ How investments contribute to sustainable development We take care of the heavy lifting - data collection, aggregation, and reporting - so you can focus on making a real difference in local communities . Find out more: https://buff.ly/3Xp1Aoo

We’re proud to see our independent verification of Snowball's 'bullseye' impact framework highlighted in this Impact Europe case study. In 2021, Snowball invited independent scrutiny of their impact management practices and processes. The aim was both internal – to reflect and continuously improve Snowball’s impact framework – and external in order to share lessons learns on how to allocate capital to high impact managers and engage with them to maximise their impact. Our Impact Services team conducted an in-depth verification of Snowball's processes and frameworks, and provided actionable recommendations, resulting in the report "Optimising for Impact, Risk and Return". By publishing this report, Snowball opened the door for other funds of funds to draw inspiration for addressing challenges in tracking impact within a multi-asset, diversified portfolio. 🔗 Read Impact Europe's case study here: https://buff.ly/W48eWAu 🔗 Learn more about our impact verification service: https://buff.ly/Ikjm75y Image: From Snowball's "bullseye framework" which combines both the manager impact and the enterprise impact score to calculate the impact intensity of its portfolio.

💡 Substance over signalling: The governance challenge for 2025 As organisational leaders around the world navigate an increasingly complex landscape of political 'noise' and policy change, the need for clarity and integrity in decision-making has never been greater. This excellent article by Rosemary Addis and Laurie J Spengler for Sorenson Impact Foundation calls on Boards to orient themselves, now more than ever, around the substance of their impact and long-term value creation while steering clear of virtue signalling. 🔑 It poses five key questions that all Boards should be asking: 🔹Are we focused on substance over politics in how we engage with our choices responsive to social and environmental contexts? 🔹Is our governance approach fit for purpose not only in structure but in the substance, including the behavioural and operational aspects of how it’s given effect and the dynamics between the board and the executive? 🔹Whose voices are being heard, how are decisions being made, and what kind of information and priorities are decisions based on? Then, how are those decisions being executed and managed? 🔹Are we clear on where we need to focus and what we need to invest in to advance our purpose over the near, mid-, and long-term in this changing context? 🔹Is there coherence, congruence, and appropriate feedback loops between our purpose, strategy, and decision-making? These questions resonate with our work at The Good Economy helping organisations integrate impact measurement and management (IMM) systems into their decision-making. We believe strong governance is about making informed choices and ensuring that impact is embedded into strategy, structure, and execution. We firmly agree that as organisations face growing pressures, those that prioritise substance over short-term signalling will be best positioned to drive resilience, sustainable growth, and positive impact.

We're delighted to welcome the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to our Place-Based Impact Investing (PBII) Network. They are joining at an exciting time as they launch the Green Growth West Fund, managed Amber Infrastructure Limited working with fellow PBII Network member BBRC. The Fund is targeting a £100m capital raise, with the Combined Authority acting as a cornerstone investor providing £10m capital. More on this news: https://buff.ly/OcRlmf0 The PBII Network is a trusted space where local authorities and investment managers collaborate to share knowledge and develop innovative financing solutions, scaling institutional investment to drive local economic resilience and sustainable development in places across the UK. Read more about our shared vision for scaling institutional investment in place-based impact and how the PBII Network is paving the way for private capital to step up, work with local stakeholders and deliver place-based social and environmental impact everywhere in the country: https://buff.ly/LiPTPj6

🚀 100 Funds and Counting: Sustainability Disclosures on the Rise The FCA announced a major milestone recently with over 100 funds planning to use an investment label under the new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR). It's great to see the growing momentum toward transparent, credible, and evidence-backed sustainable investment — but it also comes with challenges for fund managers. These regulations demand a clear demonstration of sustainability impact and navigating them can be complex. At The Good Economy, we’re here to help. Our SDR Technical Service includes: ✅ SDR Assessment: A thorough five-step process encompassing discovery, alignment, gap analysis, advisory, and support, ensuring you meet all SDR obligations. ✅ Specialist Expertise: In-depth guidance on meeting SDR criteria, for example, developing your Theory of Change, defining robust impact measurement and asset selection methods, and measuring investor contribution. ✅ SDR Label Application Support: Maximising your chances of securing the appropriate sustainability label for your fund from the FCA. 🔗 Find out how we can support your journey to compliance: https://buff.ly/j01g9eA

📅 Our Head of Place-Based Impact Investing, Sam Monger, will be speaking at UKREiiF - the UK's Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum - taking place 20-22 May in Leeds. We're looking forward to being part of the conversation around place-based impact investing and have some exciting activities planned - stay tuned for updates! 👉 In the meantime, secure your place at #UKREiiF: https://buff.ly/sVIHt32

The Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD) has released its Proposed Technical Scope for a disclosure framework that helps businesses and financial institutions report on their social impacts, dependencies, risks, and opportunities, with a particular focus on the interconnections between social issues, climate change, and nature loss. We are proud to support TIFSD's important work which chimes with our purpose to create a Good Economy ecosystem that encourages the discovery of new commercial and institutional pathways to sustainable development. 👇 Learn more in the original post.

💡 Real estate doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it exists in a community whose resilience it serves or is diminished by. Forward-thinking investors recognise the impact of real estate on surrounding communities and respond to these drivers by making social impact a business imperative that protects long-term asset value and stays ahead of evolving expectations. At The Good Economy (TGE), we partner with real estate leaders - from specialist local investors to global firms - to integrate social impact into their strategies. By embedding impact at the core of investment decisions, we help enhance resilience, reduce volatility, and drive long-term, risk-adjusted returns, all while creating meaningful, real-world benefits for communities. 🔎 Discover how we’re shaping the future of real estate impact. Then contact us to discuss your needs: https://buff.ly/VEfvTmj