The Economist Events is pleased to announce that “Investing for Impact: Risk, return and the future of the world” will be held in New York City on February 15, 2018, its second U.S. conference on impact investing. Moderated by Economist editors and other experts, the event is intended to generate a productive, informative debate among leading investors, corporate executives, social entrepreneurs, policymakers and philanthropists that will delve deeply into the current global economic climate to critically examine the risk and return of purpose-driven finance.

The one day summit – which will take place at Convene on West 46th Street – will include panel discussions, fireside chats, debates, interviews and personal impact stories from world-renowned organizations and leading institutions. Topics to be discussed range from measuring financial returns on impact investments and venture capital, to strategies for meeting niche objectives such as the betterment of climate change, as well as gender equality, education, and numerous other topics.

“Around the world, more and more investors want to understand how they can use their capital to contribute to the greater good while still making a return,” said Andrew Palmer, business affairs editor, The Economist. “As issues such as climate change and gender, social, and economic inequality command more attention, there has never been a greater need for gatherings such as our Investing for Impact conference, which will help foster an open dialogue around the risks and returns of impact investing.”

Confirmed speakers at this year's event include:

  • Anne M. Finucane, Vice Chairman, Bank of America
  • Audrey Choi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Morgan Stanley
  • James Lee Sorenson, Chairman, Sorenson Impact Foundation
  • Evan Williams, Chief Executive, Medium and co-founder, Twitter and Obvious Ventures
  • Jean Case, Chief Executive, Case Foundation
  • Robert G. Eccles, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Saïd Business School, Oxford
  • Michael Schlein, President and Chief Executive, Accion
  • Ross Baird, Founder and Chief Executive, Village Capital
  • Richard Robb, Chief Executive, Christofferson, Robb and Company
  • Zoe Schlag, Managing Director, Techstarts Impact
  • Lisa Woll, Chief Executive, US SIF
  • Sonal Shah, Founding Executive Director, Beeck Center for Social impact and Innovation, Georgetown University
  • Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation
  • Debra Schwartz, Managing Director, MacArthur Foundation
  • Eric Usher, Head, UNEP Financie Initiative
  • Andy Unanue, Managing Partner, AUA Private Equity Partners
  • Jim Bildner, Chief Executive, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
  • Roebyem Anders, Co-founder and Director, Sungevity Europe
  • Terry Odendahl, President and Chief Executive, Global Greengrants Fund
  • Maya Chorengel, Senior Partner, The Rise Fund
  • Scott Sleyster, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Prudential Financial Inc.
  • Frederick Hutson, Chief Executive and Founder, Pigeonly
  • Liesel Pritzker Simmons, Co-founder and Principal, Blue Haven Initiative
  • Amit Bouri, Chief Executive and Co-founder, GIIN
  • Matt Christensen, Glbal head of responsible investment, AXA Investment Managers
  • Scott Jacobs, Chief executive, Generate Capital
  • Jane Nelson, Director, corporate responsibility initiative, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
  • Kesha Cash, Founder and general partner, Impact America Fund
  • Kurt Summers, Treasurer, Chicago
  • Zack Rosenburg, Co-founder, SBP

For more information on the event or to register for the conference, please go to http://econ.st/2ig0TCl.

Additionally, you can view The Economist Events’ Investing for Impact blog page (http://www.economistimpactinvesting.com/) for more content including Q&As with a range of our panelists. Follow and join in commentary about the event on Twitter using hashtag #EconImpact.

Bank of America is the event’s Diamond Sponsor. Turkish Airlines is the Airline Sponsor. The event PR agency is BackBay Communications.

Supporting associations include Calvert Foundation, Columbia Financial Investment Group (CFIG), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Ellevate, Invest with Values, 100 Women in Finance, ImpactAlpha, CAIA Association, Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).

The event is open to the media. Please contact Hayley Reissfelder at BackBay Communications (information below) for media registration details.

About The Economist (www.economist.com)

With a growing global circulation and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. The paper covers politics, business, science and technology, and books and arts, concluding each week with the obituary.

The Economist Events brings the publication to life. As the leader of debate in the pursuit of progress, Economist Events tackles leading issues with an insightful, forward-looking and distinctly global perspective. It provides the necessary tools for business leaders, senior executives and policy makers to make informed decisions and to stay ahead of the game in a rapidly changing world.