Course Syllabus
| Investing for Impact and Change |  |
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2021 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Mandatory Travel Component: |
London (3 days and 2 nights between 25-27 November) |
| Major Disciplines: |
Social and Sustainable Finance, Social Entrepreneurship |
| Prerequisite: |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Rasmus Dilling Hansen- Contact via Canvas inbox |
| Program Director: |
Susanne Goul Hovmand, sgh@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Tuesday only from 14:50 – 17:45, Classroom: N77-B11 |
Description of Course
This course is an introduction to the increasingly popular movement around impact investing and how money can be used to create positive change alongside a financial return. Financing the UN Sustainable Development Goals has been estimated as a $12 trillion business opportunity and we will explore how investments can positively impact important areas such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, conservation, as well as affordable and accessible basic services such as housing, healthcare, and education.
Through exploration of real-life case studies and an interactive approach to learning, you will gain valuable tools that enable you to approach social and environmental challenges in a sustainable way. Guest lectures and site visits let you meet a wide range of inspiring impact investors, social entrepreneurs and political activists who work with making investing work for the greater good. The course includes a study trip to London where some of the leading actors within impact investing are situated.
Experiential learning is a key component of the course and students will be actively engaged in learning in the following ways: 1) Developing their own investment deal by identifying a real-life solution that benefit society, measuring its impact and proposing a financial instrument that can enable and scale the solution. 2) role-playing games to understand interests from the various actors in the investment landscape, site visits and guest lectures from professionals within the field.
Topics covered
- The role of finance in the economy: how impact investing can make a positive change in the world
- The spectrum of finance: from traditional investing through socially responsible investing to impact investing and philanthropy. How do the approaches differ and how impact investing is different from philanthropy and donations.
- Actors involved in financial markets and their roles: who owns the money, who manage the investments, who and what is money invested.
- Impact first or finance first? – different approaches to impact and financial return. Examples and case studies of impact investing e.g. Green Bonds/Climate Bonds, Social Impact Bonds/Development Impact Bonds, Microlending.
- How to measure and monetize impact – Understanding strengths and weaknesses of different methods and approaches such as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Environmental, Social and Governmental factors (ESG), Certified B Corporations
Learning Objectives
- To understand the purpose of the financial system and its influence on the economy, society and environment.
- To critically reflect on what sustainable development is and the different understandings that exists.
- To understand what impact investing means, its purpose and evaluate the potential for achieving both financial and social/environmental returns.
- To think creatively how impact investing can solve a particular social or environmental issue.
- Understand and distinguish between the various investment instruments and the actors within the field of responsible investments.
- To understand and critically reflect on measuring and monetizing impact and change.
Faculty
Rasmus Dilling-Hansen
MSc in Social Entrepreneurship and Management, Roskilde University. Project Manager in Den Sociale Kapitalfond, a Danish pioneer and market leader in social impact investments. Part of the investment team in the first commercial fund for Social Impact Bonds in Denmark.
Readings
Class 1
No readings
Class 2
The economics of enough: Dan O'Neill at TEDxOxbridge
Is a good life for all people possible? | Dan O’Neill
Class 3
https://thegiin.org/impact-investing/need-to-know/
https://www.triodos-im.com/knowledge-centre/sustainable-investing-strategies
Class 4
Class 5 (field study)
No readings
Class 6
Impact Management Project - A Guide to Classifying the Impact of an Investment
Class 7
Browse: https://www.gronfond.dk/en/
Prepare a question for our guest Tobias Langhorn, Green Investment Advisor, Danish Green Investment Fund.
Class 8
- Read the SPOTLIGHT (page 15-17) about The Operating Principles For Impact Management.
- Read a case study from each "principle" from chapter 3. There's 9 principles so this means you should read a total of 9 cases as preparation for class.
Class 9
Impact Management Project - A Guide to Classifying the Impact of an Investment
Investor_s-Perspective-PGGM_-Mapping-a-portfolio-by-its-effects-on-people-and-planet.pdf
Snowball_Building-an-impact-management-process-for-a-multi-asset-class-portfolio
Class 10
EU - Overview of sustainable finance
Class 11
Mid term assignment in class. 1.5 hours.
Preparation for study trip:
Find a social enterprise to visit Saturday morning: find inspiration at: https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20200514/top-100-social-enterprises-uk-revealed-natwest-se100-2020 and: https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/
Prepare for visit and discussion with founding partner, Max Gottschalk on Thursday by browsing Vedra Partners website: https://www.vedrapartners.com/
Prepare for visit on Friday, by browsing Big Society Capitals website: https://bigsocietycapital.com/ and preparing a short presentation to Joanna Heywood about the social enterprises you will visit on saturday.
Class 12
Introduction to group exam: Developing your own impact investing fund
Class 13
Working on group project: Developing your own impact investing fund
Class 13
Presentations of group projects.
Time and location:
8.30-12.30
Flæsketorvet 68, 1711 København
Includes breakfast and lunch
Further readings:
Chapters from textbooks
Reports
GIIN - Annual Impact Investor Survey, 2020
GIIN - Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing, 2018
GSG - Investing for A Better World, 2018
Pre-requisites
There are no pre-requisites for this course. No prior knowledge of finance is needed.
Field Studies
Field studies form an integral part of the course to support our understanding of how investing for impact and change is done in practice. During the semester, we will meet several actors that are working with the topic on different levels. The aim is to understand the complexity of impact investing through different perspectives.
Approach to Teaching
The class will meet once a week during the semester. Assigned readings, company visits and student presentations will act as background for class discussion. This course relies heavily on reading in order to gain a deeper understanding of varying case studies we will discuss. Assigned texts must be read before class.
Organisations in and around Copenhagen will serve as case studies to illustrate the potential of investing for impact and change. Moreover, group work is essential following real life working scenarios.
Expectations of the Students
This course is not a traditional lecture class, but relies heavily on class discussion and group work, informed by an in-depth, critical reading of the assigned texts. The readings for each class have purposely been kept to reasonable amount and it is expected that all students have read, seen, or played the material prior to the lectures.
We expect you to fully engage in the lectures, participate actively in discussions, and be open minded about your fellow students' points of view. Your overall grade will be depending on an engaged, informed, and highly active participation in class discussion.
Evaluation
| Grading element | Available points |
| Class participation | 20 points |
| Mid term quiz | 20 points |
| Individual learning journal | 30 points |
| Impact investing deal group project | 30 points |
| Maximum points available: | 100 points |
Class participation
Participation will be evaluated by the extent to which students attend classes, actively engage in class discussions, contribute to workshops, and critically reflect on the assigned readings. You are expected to bring your reading notes as well as questions to class. The reading required is the one going beyond finding information, or identifying main ideas. It will ask you to dig deep to identify meaning, relationships between ideas, and to challenge yourself finding your own response to these ideas, and its impact to the world around. Such response involves analysis, synthesis and creativity. You are encouraged to bring your own experiences into the discussions.
Individual learning journal
During the semester you are expected to keep a learning journal where you will write notes and reflections from classes, guest lectures and field studies. For each class a you must write a minimum of 1200 characters (approx. 1/2 page). The deadline for uploading your notes is monday the day before class. The learning journal will be evaluated in the end of the semester.
Mid term quiz
Multiple choice with questions from the topics covered in the course.
'Impact investment deal' group project
In the end of the semester you will develop an impact investment deal with your group. To develop the deal you will use the knowledge gained during the course and pitch the investment deal to class who will act as investment committee, assess your presentation and ask critical questions. You are expected to:
1) select investor type
2) define financial and impact investment criteria,
3) select the appropriate investment instrument and target investment company,
4) select the appropriate approach to measuring the impact of the investment,
5) develop a pitch deck and present the investment deal along with reflections of your choices.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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