Thursday, August 18, 2022

Can Impact Investing Surpass Philanthropy in Terms of Merit?


 The co-founder and CEO of APPA Real Estate, Aaron Marzwell, is a distinguished real estate developer in Los Angeles, California, who focuses on providing housing at affordable rates. Aaron Marzwell is also well-versed in various real estate fields, including workforce housing and impact investment.

Impact investing combines the traditional concept of investing with the principles of philanthropy, resulting in a sustainable and profitable investment portfolio that contributes to social and environmental benefits. Impact investment draws on a synergistic effect. Compared to either of the integral parts, impact investing boasts unmatched prospects. The sum of the impact of the integral parts does not fully equate to the synergistic effect of impact investing.

The federal government and other entities endeavor to drive positive impact through pension funds and other strategies. Philanthropic contributions from private entities amass $390 billion, according to Rockpa.org. However, the US capital market encompasses over $60 trillion.

This unpredictable size of the capital market compared to philanthropic donations from entities shows how constrained philanthropy is as an endeavor to drive change. Rather than merely donating to charitable endeavors, entities can push the envelope further by creating impact investing pipelines, which are investment assets that drive positive social and environmental impacts. Assuming one percent of the US capital market is devoted to impact investing, this translates into over $600 billion worth of assets actively committed to driving change, which is significantly higher than philanthropic input.


Tuesday, August 2, 2022

A Look at Green Real Estate Strategy and APPA Real Estate’s Approach


 An alumnus of Columbia University with a graduate degree in real estate development, Aaron Marzwell serves as the CEO of the Los Angeles, California-based real estate investment and development company APPA Real Estate. Under Aaron Marzwell’s leadership, APPA engages in real estate impact investing through strategies such as green real estate.


Green real estate and other real estate-centric strategies within impact investing focus on generating returns from real estate assets with the potential for substantial social and environmental impacts. In green real estate, investors integrate principles of environmental sustainability into their real estate projects.


At APPA Real Estate, investors achieve this by various means. Such measures include using locally-sourced building materials, forbidding construction teams from using single-use plastics, and improving water and energy efficiency, as well as recycling materials across all project-development phases to reduce waste. The company also provides its construction sites with bottle fillers. This practice encourages plastic reuse among workers while fostering an environmentally-conscious mentality.


How Governments Promote Affordable Housing through LIHTC

  A resident of Los Angeles, California, Aaron Marzwell is a real estate developer and leader with extensive experience in residential prope...