Highlighting the popularity of alternative investments is this year’s International Impact Investing Challenge at Northwestern University and the University of California, which has been welcomed by AAA.

Boston, MA, March 23, 2012 – Highlighting the popularity of alternative investments and impact investing is this year’s International Impact Investing Challenge at Northwestern University and the University of California, which has been welcomed by Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA).

The challenge, run by the universities’ business schools, sponsors some of their brightest and best financial minds to make ethical and profitable impact investing decisions, which will help onlookers to realise the benefits of this approach, according to AAA.

One of the schools involved is the Kellogg School of Management, whose associate director, Jamie Jones, said, “Now in its second year, the International Impact Investing Challenge encourages students from graduate schools around the world to identify strategies that create solutions for global social issues – as well as deliver financial returns.”

AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson added, “This sums up impact investing very well because making an ethical choice, that will make a difference to people in the developing world, does not have to come at financial price. Positives social impact and healthy returns are by no means mutually exclusive and we’re glad that initiatives like this are helping to spread the word.”

Some of the ideas that the teams came up with last year included dealing with food shortages in India and developing clean power for larger, established economies, like the US. More and more people are realising that their cash can help facilitate environmental or social change, while making them more profit than it would sitting in a savings account, explained AAA.

AAA is an alternative investment advocacy group that also supports impact investment in developing economies around the world. It supports environmentally responsible investment projects such as the plantation schemes run by firms like Greenwood Management in Brazil. “These schemes help to increase plantation timber, which in turn, helps to reduce the reliance on natural forests,” added Johnson.

Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
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