Students at the Yale School of Management (SOM) will have a new opportunity to use their business knowledge to make a difference.
The Meng Impact Investing Fund will allow students to make hands-on decisions about investing in companies working to make a positive impact on the world.
“Our students are passionate about using the tools of business to make a difference, and this investment fund will give them a vehicle to both develop their analytical skills and see the long-lasting impact their efforts have on real organizations,” says Kerwin K. Charles, the Indra K. Nooyi Dean of Yale SOM.
Leon Meng ’97 MPPM, a veteran investor and founder of Ascendent Capital Partners Limited, chose to create the new fund at Yale SOM to provide students with more exposure to the financial and social benefits of impact investing.
“Traditionally, investment firms have made decisions about which companies to support with financial concerns front and center and have only considered factors like environmental and social impact later,” Meng says. “But I think the new paradigm is to consider impact first, alongside economic viability. This is something my firm, Ascendent Capital, and myself personally support, and I’m pleased that the new fund will give SOM students direct exposure to such considerations.”