Written by Rebecca Bayer
Nancy Pfand, 82, was working at investment bank Hambrecht & Quist in the early 1990s when she helped pioneer a new way to invest when she launched a fund that provided financial support to fresh juice maker Odwalla. I never thought I would do it. She was looking to make a difference in her San Francisco Bay Area, where she had lived since graduating from Yale SOM.
And she made a difference. Not only did that particular investment bring much-needed jobs to California's Central Valley, but it also successfully demonstrated the idea that investments can have benefits beyond economic returns. is. On February 1, Pfund was recognized by Impact Capital Managers, a professional organization Pfund helped found in 2018, for its work on the idea now known as impact investing.
That same night, ICM awarded the organization's Emerging Leader Award to Adriana Alterman '19, a Yale SOM graduate nearly 40 years after Pfund, a testament to SOM's enduring strength in this field. It's proof. Her partner, Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, and Alterman, principal of Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund, are just a few of her SOM alumni who have made their mark in the impact investing space. Only two people (see box below).
Named for the “double bottom line” of economic return and positive impact, Pfund’s funds focus on areas such as climate technology, sustainable products, information technology, and workforce innovation. Some of the fund's most successful investments include Tesla, SolarCity, and Pandora. Recent investments include Rain, which aims to make wildfire suppression autonomous; And Bellwether Coffee is a sustainable coffee roasting company.
If Pfund helped pave the way for impact investing, Alterman has made it his mission to make it easier to follow in the future. At Impact Capital Managers, he co-founded his Emerging Leaders Committee, which targets those working in fields below the principal level. The group offers opportunities such as “Ask Me Anything” sessions with fund partners, career advice programs, and networking.
“This can be a very challenging area,” Alterman says. “Often you're stepping into a role that didn't exist before. You have to create a path for yourself.”
Mr. Alterman became interested in impact investing after working for a Canadian non-profit supporting startups and as a senior associate at Amplify Capital, a venture capital fund focused on mission-driven investing. I came to She was one of her first hires for her Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund and has been there ever since. When she joined, she recalls, the fund probably had four of her portfolio companies and $50 million in seed capital. She has now invested in over 40 companies and is investing from her Evergreen Fund.
Notable investments include Guild, which helps Fortune 1000 companies provide educational benefits to their employees; Unite Us is a technology company that connects healthcare and social service providers. Arcadia is a climate technology company that enables access to global utility data.
It's no coincidence that generations of Yale SOM alumni have helped build the field of impact investing. The school's mission to educate leaders in business and society and its focus on leveraging business tools to effect positive change mean the school attracts students well-suited for the field. That means, say Pfand and Alterman. Pfund notes that he has several alumni on his team at DBL Partners, including Jake Harris ’19, Vincent Caruso ’20, and Michaela Bradbury ’20.
“There is definitely an affinity between SOM’s mission and impact investing,” she says.
Alterman agreed, adding that Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund is a co-investor along with other impact investing funds that hire SOM graduates.
“I feel like SOM overvalues people coming into this space,” she says. “It’s like a pipeline. SOM is targeting a specific type of candidate with interests and skills in business and other areas like the environment, education, world affairs, this kind of natural hybrid. It attracts leaders.”
At the school, students have the opportunity to take courses such as Private Capital and Impact Investing (which Pfund supports teaching), Sustainable Finance Tools, Sustainable Management and Investment Metrics, and ESG Investing. . Help manage the new student-led Meng Impact Investment Fund (Pfund sits on the investment committee). Participating in the Turner MIINT Impact Investing Competition (SOM won in 2018 and 2019; Alterman is currently coaching the school's team).
When Pfund first started investing with impact in mind, “we weren’t thinking about the sector,” she says. “We were thinking about our company, our fund. We just needed to be successful and we spent 99.9% of our time making that happen. That's when I thought, “Oh, there are other people out there who are interested in this.''
Impact Capital Managers, a membership organization that DBL Partners helped establish, is a great illustration of the growth in this sector. The association was launched in 2018 by his founding fund with 25 members. He currently has more than 115 funds and more than $100 billion in impact-focused funds.
“That makes sense,” Pfund said. “Millennials and Gen Z are looking for meaning in their careers. They want to change the world for the better while building highly engaging careers, and impact investing is much more than that. is.”
