Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is

Name: Lyndsey Bielinski
Major: Marketing
Hometown: Denmark
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

Over the course of the past 12 years since the term “impact investing” was coined by the Rockefeller Foundation, we have seen the investment industry experience the rising trend of impact investing. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) defines impact investing as, “investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return”, and this trend is hitting headlines as the newest craze for investors. Impact investing’s objective is highly correlated with younger generations, Millennials and Gen Z, as they are the driving change for this shift from traditional to sustainable investments as they align directly with their morals and values. These generations strive to make philanthropic decisions that align with their values across all aspects of their lives; from their jobs, to volunteer work, and now, investing.

As impact investments have hit the market as a new way to put money towards the causes and initiatives that mean most to investors, there are two main barriers that the trend is continually running into. The first, is outdated preconceptions that sustainable portfolios underperform in terms of returns, compared to traditional investments. The second, is the inconsistency of reporting and standards currently in place for the sustainable investment trend.

Sustainable investing has the opportunity to make measurable impact on the problems our world faces today, both in terms of climate issues and social issues. Businesses have the opportunity to break the barrier and make measurable impact on these issues at hand, specifically through the idea of impact investing. Businesses have two options: to wait until more research is done, or to act now and emerge as a leader. Should they choose the latter and act now, they will have a competitive advantage over their peers and, therefore, be an attractive leader as an impact investment.