Social

Financial System Inquiry addresses impact investment market

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 18 JUL 2014  |  NEWS
The Financial System Inquiry interim report released this week addressed a myriad of topics that fall under inquiry's mission statement of laying out a blueprint for the next decade. Amid the four hundred-plus pages of the report is a three-page section ...

Creating shared value a strategic opportunity for banks

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 11 JUL 2014  |  NEWS
Banks can create shared value by focusing on products that further client prosperity, fueling the growth of regional economies and financing solutions to global challenges, according to research from consultancy FSG.

Good Shepherd Microfinance to open SA Good Money store

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 4 JUL 2014  |  NEWS
Good Shepherd Microfinance is going ahead with plans to establish a Good Money store in Adelaide to provide access to microfinance products, financial counselling and other services to financially excluded people.

Addressing the human crisis of climate change displacement

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 4 JUL 2014  |  NEWS
Climate change is expected to cause mass human displacement, but that displacement can be prevented and repaired if government policies are put in place to focus on ensuring affected people have access to land, according to a new book edited by climate ...

AMP Capital assesses progress, risks in Bangladesh factories

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 18 JUN 2014  |  NEWS
Although work is underway in Bangladesh to improve the fire and building safety of factories in an attempt to prevent further tragedies such as 2012's Rana Plaza factory collapse, Australian retailers that source apparel from Bangladeshi suppliers are ...

CFI a source of economic opportunity for Indigenous groups

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 13 JUN 2014  |  NEWS
The Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) has offered opportunities for income generation for carbon abatement and sequestration activities for a number of entities, including Indigenous groups. One of the earliest methodologies approved under the CFI certified ...

Co-ops, mutuals a "third way" for public service provision

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 13 JUN 2014  |  NEWS
Co-operatives and mutuals offer an alternative "third way" to complement for-profit and not-for-profit business models for delivery of public services, according to a green paper aiming to stimulate discussion on how the sector can provide innovative ...

Foresters Community Finance, InterFinancial to partner

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 6 JUN 2014  |  NEWS
Foresters Community Finance has sold shares in its funds management subsidiary to mid-market corporate advisory firm InterFinancial Corporate Finance as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.

Push to focus on tax reform, transparency as part of G20

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 6 JUN 2014  |  NEWS
Tax and transparency reforms should be a priority for Australia in its presidency of the G20 because there is a strong link between base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS) and the G20's objective to promote development, according to Oxfam Australia and ...

KPMG finds companies invest $12.2bn in social programs

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 30 MAY 2014  |  NEWS
One hundred of the world's largest companies made investments in social programs valued at US$12.2 billion in 2013, but less than a third of those companies are reporting on the impact of those investments, according to a new global report by KPMG International.