With COVID-19 exposing the dire capital needs of underserved communities and causes, impact investing has been hailed as the way to move forward for financial institutions. Seeking the dual goals of profit and social impact, it is a market based approach to resolving critical problems faced by communities worldwide – from access to education to poverty alleviation.
The Cambridge Temasek Impact Investing Challenge was born out of the desire to encourage the practice of impact investing among university students, with the hope that one day these students will be leading the way in ensuring that every invested dollar leads to positive social outcomes as well as positive returns.
Participants will form teams of 3-4 and submit a pitch book on a selected equity which falls under one of our three main themes: 1) Environmental Sustainability, 2) Food Security and 3) Human Development, and have the greatest chance of appreciation over the long term. 5 finalists will be selected to present their pitch book to investment professionals from Temasek. All participants will receive a certificate of participation and be invited to a private networking session with analysts from Temasek. For detailed guidelines on the pitch book, do check out the guidelines tab.
Please find below a suggested list compiled by our Impact Investing Competition Team. Participants do not have to stick with the example stocks if they are able to find other promising companies falling under any of the 3 themes. It is however, important to link it back to at least one of the themes.
Champion team: £300 and an invitation to the final round interview at Temasek
2nd Place team: £200
3rd Place team: £100
Top 15 teams: Honourable mention
Environmental Sustainability is becoming an increasingly urgent concern for the global community with depleting natural resources and global temperatures rising at unprecedented levels. 4 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Affordable and Clean Energy, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land) fall under the umbrella of environmental sustainability. Under this theme, we are looking for companies that have managed to adopt sustainable solutions in their business model while maintaining a strong financial position.
2) Food SecurityAccording to the World Economic Forum, global food supplies will be under severe stress by 2050 with the world population reaching 9.8 billion. Demand is expected to increase by 60% while the amount of arable land is set to shrink due to various human factors. This theme is related to 2 sustainable development goals: Responsible Consumption and Production, and Zero Hunger. Under this theme we are looking for companies that have adopted innovative solutions to the issue of food security while maintaining a strong financial position.
3) Human DevelopmentThe United Nations Development Program defines human development as developing people’s abilities and giving them the chance to use them to live the lives they value. It involves directly enhancing human abilities (i.e. knowledge) and creating conditions for development (i.e. gender and racial equality, microfinancing). It is related to 4 sustainable development goals: Gender Equality, Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and Reduced Inequalities. Under this theme we are looking for companies that have contributed to human development per the UNDP definition (i.e. increasing access to quality education or reducing gender inequality) while maintaining a strong financial position.
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