Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge Calls for Students to Submit Innovative Investment Vehicles Seeking Both Positive Social or Environmental Impact and Competitive Financial Returns

New York, January 7, 2014 /3BL Media/ – The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and INSEAD today announced a call for applicants for the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge, the preeminent global competition for students at business schools and other graduate programs to create market-based solutions to economic, social and environmental challenges. The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge succeeds and builds upon the former International Impact Investing Challenge, intensifying the focus on the potential for scalable, market-rate solutions. 

The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge asks applicants to develop institutional-quality investment vehicles that aim to achieve positive environmental or social impact as well as competitive financial returns. The Challenge is an opportunity to apply core finance and investment principles to address some of the most challenging issues of our times: water, energy, food, climate change, education and healthcare.  

Teams from business schools and other graduate programs around the world are invited to submit a two-page prospectus starting on February 3, 2014 and no later than February 25, 2014. Ten finalists will present their proposals to a panel of judges at Morgan Stanley’s New York City headquarters. For guidelines, judging criteria and prize information, visit www.sustainableinvestingchallenge.org.

Morgan Stanley employees will lend their expertise to the Challenge participants by serving as judges and mentors and will advise finalist teams on the development of their ideas.

Said Audrey Choi, Managing Director and CEO of the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing: “We can make private capital an increasingly powerful force for sustainability by harnessing the tools of finance to tackle global challenges. The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge seeks to accelerate this process, identifying and recognizing ideas that are financially viable and scalable. In keeping with the goals of the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, the Challenge also seeks to cultivate the next generation of sustainable investing practitioners, building the intellectual and professional capacity needed for real progress against the major challenges of our time.” 

“Kellogg launched the Challenge in 2011 to address the growing need for financial products that served the dual mandate of societal benefit and financial returns,” said David Chen, co-founder of the challenge, Principal at Equilibrium Capital Group, and lecturer of finance at the Kellogg School. “We’re thrilled to have Morgan Stanley join us in relaunching this competition as the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge to help spearhead the increasing mainstreaming of this emerging field.”

Christine Driscoll Goulay, Associate Director of the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Initiative adds that “the Challenge is unique in that it provides an opportunity for students, professionals and investors in the sustainable investment space to work together on concrete, results-oriented ideas that help drive the field forward. It is inspiring to see the strength of the submitted proposals as well as the powerful connections that are made during the process. INSEAD recognizes the importance of sustainable investment and is proud to be an academic partner of the Challenge.”

The Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge is also supported by the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Equilibrium Capital Group; Breckinridge Capital; Milken Institute; Water Asset Management; and the Carol & Larry Levy Social Entrepreneurship Lab.

To learn more about the Sustainable Investing Challenge, visit http://www.sustainableinvestingchallenge.org

Facebook: Facebook.com/sustainableinvestingchallenge

Twitter: @SI_Challenge

About the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing

As a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services, Morgan Stanley is committed to mobilizing the power of the capital markets to achieve sustainability – for clients, communities and stakeholders.  Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing, launched in November 2013, aims to mobilize capital to address pressing global challenges.  The Institute centers its work on the belief that private sector capital can play a key role in driving large-scale solutions to the most critical challenges to widespread prosperity and well-being.  For more information about the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, visit http://www.morganstanley.com/sustainableinvesting

About the Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management is one of the world’s top business schools. Located in Evanston, IL, near Chicago, Kellogg was founded in 1908 and has earned a global reputation as a leading management institution, particularly in the marketing discipline. Kellogg is known for its collaborative, team-oriented student culture. For more information about the Kellogg School, visit http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu

About INSEAD, the Business School for the World

As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to change lives and to transform organizations. A global perspective and cultural diversity are reflected in all aspects of the school’s research and teaching.

With campuses in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore) and Abu Dhabi, INSEAD’s business education and research spans three continents. 145 renowned Faculty members from 35 countries inspire more than 1,000 degree participants annually in the MBA,Executive MBA, Specialized Master’s degrees (Master in Finance, Executive Master in Consulting and Coaching for Change) and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 9,000 executives participate in INSEAD’s Executive Education programs each year.

In addition to INSEAD’s programs on three campuses, INSEAD participates in academic partnerships with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia & San Francisco); the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University near Chicago, and Johns Hopkins University/SAIS in Washington DC. In Asia, INSEAD partners with Tsinghua University in Beijing and CEIBS (China Europe International Business School). INSEAD is a founding partner in the multidisciplinary Sorbonne University created in 2012, and also partners with Fundação Dom Cabral in Brazil.

INSEAD became a pioneer of international business education with the opening of the Fontainebleau campus in Europe in 1960. In 2000, INSEAD opened an Asia campus in Singapore. And in 2007 the school began an association in the Middle East, officially opening the Abu Dhabi campus in 2010.

Around the world and over the decades, INSEAD continues to conduct cutting edge research and to innovate across all our programs to provide business leaders with the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere. These core values have enabled INSEAD to become truly "The Business School for the World." For more information about INSEAD, visit http://www.insead.edu

MEDIA CONTACTS: