Sarah Edwards on Systemic Investing with TransCap Initiative

The nascent field of systemic investing aims to help transform entire systems—such as energy, food, housing, or healthcare—rather than simply improving individual companies or projects. Capital is deployed with the intention of advancing environmental sustainability and social justice, using a systems-based lens to identify where investment can support deep, lasting change. In practice, this means investors look at how different parts of a system interact, target the key leverage points for change, and often work alongside other stakeholders so that capital contributes to broader structural progress, not just financial returns.

Sarah Edwards, Managing Director in the Sustainable and Impact Investing team at Cambridge Associates, spoke with the TransCap Initiative team at their Systemic Investing Summit earlier this year. In the video below, she outlines what it takes to move investing toward systemic change, and how investors are thinking about the shift from more traditional impact investing approaches toward broader frameworks built on alignment, coalition, and practical implementation.