How Fabio Malanchini Has Helped the Miners of Nazca

«Finance is not neutral», says Fabio Malanchini, co-founder of Impact Finance, a fund that supports the growth of companies that generate profits and have a positive impact. «We should always remember that the act of investing shapes the economic life». A DES graduate with a thesis on developing countries, Malanchini went from microfinance to Impact Investing combining ethics and economics. He co-founded the consulting firm Microfinanza and then MicroFinanza Rating, a rating agency dedicated to the evaluation of microfinance institutions.
The next step was the creation of Impact Finance. «We wanted to prove that you can have a market return and create positive social and environmental impact». One of the first projects was the Sociedad de Trabajadores Mineros in the Nazca region of Peru. A group of miners bought concessions for the extraction of gold and created their own company in the context of a highly exploitative labor sector. Local bankers weren't interested in a group miners based in a remote place, eight-hour drive from Lima. Impact Finance helped them with the integration of the transformation process to gold and enabled them to achieve higher margins. «The bottom line is that having a socially and environmentally sustainable business means being economically sustainable, at least in the medium to long term. It's a win-win solution». The social impact assessment is crucial. «There's an essential reputational issue here, but there is no universal measurement. It is important to be serious and clear about the impact results and the measurement-related challenges».