Green Seeds
An Deep Exploration of Sustainable Investing in an Urban Environment
Contents
GreenSeeds 3D Investment Process
Vision
GreenSeeds invests in creating a sustainable future by providing triple bottom-line (3D) businesses with the resources they need to be successful. GreenSeeds forms close symbiotic relationships with it's businesses to grow their positive impacts on a local bioregion.
We believe that businesses that are designed at their core to yield improvements in the environment, community and economics just by doing their core activities, will be more sustainable....yielding a higher return to risk ratio. This is done by designing the core business activities (the seed) to work with the natural forces that are at work in the ecosystem. Symbiotic relationships are designed so the other living parts of ecosystem are naturally incented to work with the core business activities because it improves their 3D yields.
Approach
- Active management includes helping the business:
- Grow their 3D yields:
- Environmental Integrity: Reducing the ecological footprint of the business by working with and like the natural systems.
- Regenerative Economics: Developing a business seed that grows it's capacity to be self refueling
- Community Wellbeing: Builds community wealth and wellbeing with the core business activities.
- Reduce 3D Risks: How to convert risks to opportunities to grow and strengthen the business.
- Provide Shared Services: Accounting and selective legal services
- Grow their 3D yields:
- Local: Invests and directs returns into the same local Detroit bioregion.
- Financial Returns: expected to be 1% - 3% less than market rates for similar loans. This reflects the lower risk profile and yields a market advantage (lower capital costs) for 3D businesses.
- Accountability: Establishes and transparently report using a 3D Chart of Accounts
- Build Community: Businesses that receive resources commit to helping other GreenSeeds businesses succeed. They share "best 3D practices" and work together when challenges arise. This reduces everyone's risk.
Purpose
3D Investment Criteria ===
Fund Raising ===
Deal Sourcing/Deal Flow
Deal Analysis/Due Diligence
Investment
3D Portfolio Management/Active Management
Advisory Group
Impact Investment Funds
Background Information
- Impact Investing on Wikipedia
- 2009 Solutions for Impact Investors from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
- Great primer on Impact Investing. A must-read.
- The Forum on Social Wealth aims to fashion a new "cognitive frame" that recognizes how families, local communities, online networks, ecological systems and other non-market entities "produce value," not just in an economic sense, but in ways that matter socially, morally, and personally. At UMASS Amherst
- What Is Social Wealth?
- Social Return on Investment
Thoughts
- "Impact" is a peculiar word choice, because it also means to strike
- Clearly Green Seeds seeks to "Invest", but keep in mind not to walk through the Financial Door first.
- A linear financial definition from The Free Dictionary: To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return.
- More holistic definitions from same source:
- To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit
- To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit
- Our mission is to hold all three definitions at the same time.
- If we want to structure and originate the financing ourselves, then the type of investments is probably very limited. If we are banker/brokers, facilitating access to existing financing, then we can provide many solutions, but can we be "Active Managers" of someone else's money? I don't think so.