Press Coverage | Bridges Fund Management

‘Hall of Fame’ honour for Bridges at Private Equity Awards 2022

bridgesadmin — Fri, 06 May 2022 15:25:44 +0000

Bridges’ Philip Newborough and Michele Giddens collected a special award at this year’s Private Equity Awards in London.

Our co-CEOs (and co-founders) were this year’s selection for the private equity ‘Hall of Fame’ – in recognition of the work they (and Bridges more broadly) have done in building the market for sustainable and impact-driven investing.

Bridges was an idea born out of the private equity industry, and some of the UK’s leading firms played an instrumental supporting role in our early years.
In return, Bridges has always tried to support the growth of this segment, both by sharing what we’ve learned along the way for the benefit of others, and by playing an active role in groups like the BVCA, PRI and B Corp UK.

In recent years, we have also hosted and facilitated the Impact Management Project, an initiative designed to help all investors agree standard norms and frameworks for measuring and reporting on their impact.

So Michele and Phil (on behalf of the whole team) are hugely grateful to receive this recognition from their peers. Many thanks to Real Deals and all those who supported the nomination!

This year’s Private Equity Awards, brought by Real Deals Media and hosted by Scottish impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner, saw an impressive 38 awards handed out to various deserving firms and professionals from across the industry.

Bridges was also shortlisted in the GP category for ESG – recognising our continued commitment to best practice in environmental, social and corporate governance.

How the B Corp framework can add value to an investor’s portfolio

bridgesadmin — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 13:09:43 +0000

Stefanie Kneer, Head of Impact Management at Bridges, explains how the B Corp framework can enhance an investor’s ability to engage with companies and add value in four key areas – origination, 100-day planning, continuous improvement and exits – ultimately adding long-term value to an investors’ portfolio.

Read the post here.

Project Syndicate: Making Impact Investing Work

bridgesadmin — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 16:13:19 +0000

After decades on the margins of finance and philanthropy, impact investing is finally moving into the mainstream, with most major asset-management firms having launched impact-investment funds and strategies.

Brian Trelstad, Bridges partner in the US, examines what the sector needs to avoid corporate whitewash – notably stronger standards, greater diversity of players, and a wider focus.

Read the article in Project Syndicate here.

Forbes: Impact investing isn’t just for the rich – we all have a part to play

bridgesadmin — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 11:23:01 +0000

In her latest Forbes blog, Michele Giddens highlights that many people are impact investors without even realising it , meaning we can all play a role in driving the growth of impactful investment.

Read the post here.

Forbes: The Rise Of B Corps Highlights The Emergence Of A New Way Of Doing Business

bridgesadmin — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 14:45:56 +0000

Research shows that people increasingly want to work for, buy from and invest in companies that have mission and impact at their heart of their business models.

In her third Forbes blog, Michele Giddens talks about the rise of the B Corp movement – emblematic of this developing trend – arguing that this creates an increasingly attractive business case for entrepreneurs to employ an impact-driven approach.

Read the blog post here.

Forbes: To Invest For Impact, We Need To Start By Agreeing What ‘Impact’ Means

bridgesadmin — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 14:46:55 +0000

In her fourth Forbes blog post, Michele Giddens argues that one of the biggest barriers to the growth of impact investing is the lack of consensus about what ‘impact’ actually means.

So it’s significant that over the last two years, the Impact Management Project (IMP) has managed to bring together around 2,000 organisations from around the world – from giant wealth managers like BlackRock and UBS, to pension funds like PGGM, to foundations like Omidyar and Ford, to large corporates like Mars, to policy-makers, intermediaries and entrepreneurs – to reach a consensus on how we should analyse and articulate impact.

Michele also discusses the next phase of the project, which will aim to embed these shared fundamentals into sector-wide standards and benchmarks.

Read the blog post here.

Watch out for more developments from the IMP here.

Forbes: The future of social impact bonds

bridgesadmin — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 10:53:29 +0000

As governments look for more effective ways of tackling social challenges, outcomes contracts offer a way to target spending on the most effective solutions to pressing challenges – often by focusing on prevention rather than treating the symptoms – with the help of private capital and expertise.

In this blog, Michele examines how outcomes contracts can deliver better value for commissioners and better outcomes for beneficiaries.

Read the post here.

Forbes: How governments can build the market

bridgesadmin — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:57:51 +0000

This year Michele led a working group for the Global Steering Group on Impact Investing, looking at what the governments of the 20 GSG members (19 countries plus the EU) have been doing to catalyse the growth of the market in their respective countries.

In her latest Forbes blog, she summarises some of the key findings from her group’s final report (which was published at the recent GSG Summit in Delhi).

Read the post here.

Forbes: The SDGs are an Opportunity, Not Just a Challenge

bridgesadmin — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 15:32:21 +0000

“The Sustainable Development Goals present a unique and critical challenge for countries around the world. But they’re also bringing to light some of the biggest investment opportunities in a generation.”

Michele Giddens, Bridges’ co-founder, writes the first in a series of contributions to Forbes, discussing how the SDGs present not just a challenge for the global business community, but a significant opportunity to invest in growth.

Read Michele’s article here.

Michele Giddens awarded an OBE for services to international development and social finance

bridgesadmin — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 08:12:08 +0000

Congratulations from everyone at Bridges to our co-founder Michele Giddens, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to international development and social finance.

Michele has been a pioneer in these fields for three decades. This well-deserved recognition reflects not only her achievements as co-founder and partner of Bridges, but also of her roles as a non-executive director of CDC, the UK development finance institution, and as the (outgoing) Head of the UK National Advisory Board for Impact Investing.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List “recognises the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom”. You can see the full 2018 list here.

Real Business: The Triple Bottom Line series

bridgesadmin — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 13:24:30 +0000

This year, Bridges is sponsoring a brand new category at the Amazon Growing Business Awards: the Bridges Positive Impact Award, intended to recognise growth businesses that are driving positive change for people or the planet. To celebrate the new award, Real Business has published ‘Triple Bottom Line’ – a series of three articles highlighting some of the UK growth businesses that are leading the way:

What’s the real impact of impact businesses? This introductory piece looks at the economic benefits of mission-led businesses and their defining business strategies
Who are the UK’s leading social impact businesses? The second article looks at UK impact businesses tackling challenges ranging from social isolation to period-poverty
Who are the UK’s leading environmental impact businesses? The third piece highlights some UK impact businesses tackling challenges such as water scarcity and food waste

You can read more about the Bridges Positive Impact Award here.

Forbes: Demographic trends are driving demand for impact investment

bridgesadmin — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 13:55:11 +0000

In Michele’s second Forbes blog, she looks at the demographic trends powering an increase in demand for impact investments – and looks at how the industry is starting to adapt.

Read the article here.