In both, the finance and social entrepreneurship communities Impact Investing has gained substantial momentum over recent years while student demand for course offers as well as supervision of theses on Impact Investing has risen steeply. Students thus demonstrate a desire to to apply finance skills in meaningful ways.
This course, titled Impact Investing: Redefining the Meaning of Return is taking place in March and April 2020 at Master level in the contextual study program of the University of St. Gallen.
To complement and consolidate classroom based learning, the group has had the opportunity to meet and discuss with Impact Investing practitioners during a half day course conference on the premises of UBS Bank in Zurich, Switzerland. Hosted by UBS Sustainable Investing Solutions we welcomed speakers from UBS, Bank J. Safra Sarasin and sustainability advisory boutique specking+partners presenting their work as well as their personal path into the impact investing arena before a panel discussion provided ample opportunity for exchange and learning from the experiences of dedicated impact finance professionals.
In addition the course was privileged to welcome bestselling novelist Jyoti Guptara on the following day at the University of St. Gallen for a session on storytelling and how to build an appealing narrative. The session was tremendously enriching for the course and is supporting the participants in developing their investment pitches which form the core deliverable of the course.