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Book by Vikram Akula Reviewed by Andrew Tyndale   Well, Vikram Akula’s “my life so far” book is certainly an easy and engaging read, seductive in its story-telling of the rise and rise of SKS Microfinance, arguably the organisation that has done most to bring Wall Street to the development coal face. I was prepared to dislike Akula, as I have been actively involved in a rival microfinance network for more than 15 years, where … Continue reading →

By Jeffery B. Liebman, Center for American Progress, February 2011 Social impact bonds (SIBs), also referred to as pay-for-success bonds, have been the subject of much discussion in Australia and elsewhere around the world since the launch of the first SIB pilot in the United Kingdom designed to reduce prisoner recidivism at a prison in Peterborough, England. Liebman presents an analysis of SIBs, an instrument that he considers provides ‘a promising new financing model to … Continue reading →

By Aneel Karnani, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011 Volume 9, Number 1 Since it was first pioneered in the mid-1970s microfinance has established a reputation as an effective tool for poverty alleviation. It is not considered a panacea for poverty some naysayers even report that microfinance does not lift large numbers of people out of poverty, but its empowering approach has attracted worldwide attention of governments, development professionals, philanthropists and investors.  Offering the poor … Continue reading →

By Ingrid Burkett of Foresters Community Finance, March 2011 This report, commissioned by National Australia Bank (NAB),  represents the first substantive piece of research completed in direct response to the recommendation made by 2010 Productivity Commission Report on the Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector that ‘Australian governments should assist in the development of a sustainable market for not for profit organisations to access debt financing’. The key questions addressed by the report are: what are … Continue reading →

HM Government, February 2011 More than 10 years ago the UK commenced efforts to establish a social investment market with the first step in this journey being the formation in 2000 of the UK Social Investment Task Force.  A final report by the Task Force, Social Investment Ten Years On, completed in April 2010 revealed the critical role the Task Force’s initial five recommendations have played over the past decade in shaping social investment in … Continue reading →

By Ben Thornley et al, Insight at Pacific Community Ventures & The Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard University, January 2011 Despite the significant enabling role governments could play in social impact investing, the role of government has been largely under-represented in the literature on social impact investing to date. This report presents a useful framework for thinking about the role of government policy in creating an enabling environment for social impact investing. The key … Continue reading →