Jan. 24, 2014 -At the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, Curt R. Bassett will speak on “Impact Investing: The New Investing of the Purpose Economy” at a forum co-hosted by the Student Center for the Public Trust Ethics Club and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative.

Impact investing has gained a foothold in the business community, and in business education, as increasing numbers of investors seek the opportunity to do some good for the world while doing well for themselves.

“Social impact investing is the way that those of us who want to make the world better invest in solutions rather than giving money to problems and creating liabilities,” said Melissa Lewis, faculty advisor to the Ethics Club and a David Eccles Emerging Scholar in the School of Accounting. “Curt and his team are leaders in this area. They have great methods for identifying solutions to big social problems like poverty and education, including bringing together bright minds across disciplines to identify innovative and sustainable solutions. This work is exciting, and it is the future.”

Bassett is a pioneer in the field, having worked as an attorney and investment advisor for more than 25 years. During that time, he founded Princeton Social Capital in 2004, a group reorganized in 2011 to become Impact Investment Leaders. Before founding Princeton Social Capital, he worked for Merrill-Lynch as the company’s national director of Foundations and Strategic Philanthropy. Bassett has been published in numerous trade journals and textbooks on foundation management, and served as faculty for the Cannon Financial Institute and New York University’s Institute on Federal Taxation.

Bassett’s lecture is free and open to the public. It will take place Friday, Jan. 24 at 12:15 p.m. in the main auditorium of the Spencer Fox Eccles Business Building on the U campus.