IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
UNICEF USA Impact Fund
for Children
Nutrition, Health and Wellness
Education
Global HealthFirm Overview
The Impact Fund, in partnership with UNICEF, exists to develop and implement financial solutions to ensure every child is healthy, educated, protected and respected. The Impact Fund provides working and flexible capital to UNICEF to support its work for vulnerable children, driving toward long-term, sustainable outcomes. Over 11 years, it has managed 2 pooled debt funds (1 active today), deployed over $600M to UNICEF with zero write-offs or defaults, and reached over 1 billion children in 50+ countries. Our current offering, the Bridge Fund, fast-tracks lifesaving assistance around the world when time matters most. In addition to the Bridge Fund, the Impact Fund, in partnership with UNICEF, has launched a Child-lens Investment Framework in service of building a larger child lens investment market. Child-lens Investing (CLI) is an approach to sustainable investing in which investors intentionally consider child-related factors to advance positive child outcomes while minimizing child harm.
Years of Operation: 10 years or more
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
The Impact Fund drives greater intentionality for children’s wellbeing in investment strategy and process to reduce harm and drive improved child outcomes. Its Bridge Fund closes funding gaps of critical programs to drive systems-level solutions, fast-track life-saving support, and ensure continuity of programs that ensure more children survive and thrive.
Children are 1/3 of our world and all of our future. The Impact Fund seeks to, and envisions a world where all investors, actively manage risks and realize opportunities related to the state of the world’s children. The evidence shows that when we fail kids, we fail them for life, and we fail entire societies. Child-lens investing exists to create a world where every child is healthy, educated, protected and respected - a universal approach to realizing the SDGs. The Bridge Fund fast-tracks critical funding to eliminate cash gaps and provide uninterrupted and expedited access to critical programs for children. It was created so that UNICEF can complete immunization campaigns and deliver educational, health and nutritional supplies to vulnerable children on time. It does this by advancing cash against philanthropic, sovereign, or multilateral loan funding sources for UNICEF development programs, supply procurement, and humanitarian emergency response.
Our key differentiation is our connection to UNICEF’s programmatic scale, scope and expertise globally including programming in 190 countries and strong government partnerships. UNICEF has a unique ability to engage concurrently at multiple levels - global, regional, country and local - supporting collaborative and innovative solutions in a diverse range of national contexts. Through this network, in FY23 alone, the Bridge Fund accelerated $48.2M of capital to 5 SDGs and emergency response efforts, driving child outcomes against a diverse set of global funders including multi-laterals and government budgets. The Impact Fund has a unique opportunity to drive progress toward the SDGs in partnership with UNICEF. We will capitalize on UNICEF’s global networks of foundations, governments and high-net worth individuals, its in-country community engagement and advocacy, and its role as market shaper as the UN’s leading procurement agent for supplies for children.
Investment Example
More than 27 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition worldwide. As a result, demand has spiked for life-saving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). In order to meet this increased demand, local manufacturers need access to additional liquidity to increase production capacity through the purchase of raw materials, warehouse space, or hiring additional staff. In response, UNICEF created a financing solution to advance cash payments - up to 70% of purchase order size - to suppliers on a financially secure basis. The Bridge Fund committed $20M toward this facility. In FY23, this financing solution enabled the purchase of 1.88M RUTF cartons, which enabled a six-to-eight week course of treatment for ~1.88 million children.
Leadership and Team
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Cristina Shapiro – President, UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children More Info
Cristina Shapiro, a Mexico City native, joined as the President of the Impact Fund for Children in March 2020 after nine years at Goldman Sachs leading key strategic impact initiatives such as 10,000 Small Businesses Access to Capital, 10,000 Women, disaster response loans after Hurricane Sandy and Harvey, and social impact bonds. In her role in the Urban Investment Group, Shapiro sourced and underwrote over $250M in double bottom line loans to support small business owners unable to access funding from traditional markets or sources. Shapiro also managed the Goldman Sachs Foundation’s partnership with the International Finance Corporation that launched the first ever global facility for women entrepreneurs. |
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Erin Egan – Managing Director, UNICEF USA Impact Fund For Children More Info
Mission-oriented leader with 10+ years of experience spanning both public and private sectors with a passion for driving social change. Deep knowledge and experience in Finance, including Sustainable and Impact Investing, Operations and Development. Specialized skills include: risk management, systems building, due diligence, portfolio management, grant writing and non-profit fundraising. |
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Glen Baptist – UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children Board of Directors, Chairman More Info
Highly accomplished C-suite Executive with 35 years of success in the investment management industry, and Board Member on several not-for-profit Boards. Corporate, mutual fund and not-for-profit Boards can leverage my wealth of international and multi-cultural business experience, including business leadership, culture change, strategic and financial planning, talent management, investment management, and corporate governance. Currently serving as a member of the National Board of UNICEF USA as well as UNICEF USA Impact Fund for Children, organizations focused on traditional and innovative funding strategies to support UNICEF program needs. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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The Bridge Fund provides accelerated funding for UNICEF's programs, many of which utilize a results-based approach. Under this framework, UNICEF's country programs are structured around results and outcomes and funds are directed to have the largest long-term social impact on the lives of children. The Bridge Fund's investment evaluation is also in line with UNICEF's focus on equity and inclusion, which means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism.
The Bridge Fund provides funding to UNICEF and other UNICEF-approved NGOs. In this practice, we strongly consider the business and programs of these entities before providing funding. UNICEF’s mission is to advocate for the protection of children's rights, help meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities. UNICEF’s five core business values, care, respect, integrity, trust and accountability, build its internal culture. UNICEF is dedicated to environmental sustainability in its own operations. It is working to transform how and where it works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact, and has established a dedicated internal fund to support this. UNICEF is implementing solutions to reduce its environmental footprint in 70+ offices worldwide, with energy efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and cooling systems, water efficient fixtures, solar water heating and energy systems, and more. An increasing number of offices are running on solar power, including in Jordan, Zimbabwe, India and Haiti.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
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125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 USA
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