Let me begin today with some news from the weekend. Bank of America has come under fire from environmentalists for changing its tune on Arctic drilling and coal power plants. The bank quietly weakened an environmental risk policy framework to say Arctic and coal projects would go through “enhanced due diligence” — a shift from saying it would “not directly finance” these projects. The bank’s change, reported by the New York Times, was walking back “its commitment to end direct financing for the most dangerous fossil fuel sectors”, the Sierra Club environmental organisation said on Sunday.Bank of America said: “Certain client relationships or transactions that carry heightened risks will continue to go through an enhanced due diligence process involving senior level risk review.”For today, I report on an impact investing theme that I don’t believe we have touched on previously in this newsletter: quality ageing. People in emerging and developed countries are living longer, so can businesses do more to ease them into their twilight years? Can these businesses reach more low- and middle-income people, rather than catering to the wealthy who can already afford good quality care? Impact investingLive long and prosper: impact investing in quality ageingThese days, Alan Patricof is hunting for a different type of deal: to buy out Father Time © Getty Images“I’m going to live to 114,” Alan Patricof, a longtime investor and co-founder of Apax Partners, told me last week.Financial Times readers will recognise Apax as one of the UK’s biggest buyout groups, which has taken companies such as Tommy Hilfiger private. These days, Patricof is hunting for a different type of deal: to buy out Father Time.We were sitting in the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach at the iConnections conference for private equity, hedge funds and asset allocators. Patricof, who is 89, was there to raise funds for Primetime Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies working to improve the quality of life for older people. Around the world, people are living longer. Germans who were 60 in 2019 were likely to live another 24 years on average, according to the World Health Organization. From 2000 to 2019, life expectancy at 60 rose by two years for both Indians and Americans, to 78 and 83 respectively. The Japanese are still the champions of longevity, with life expectancy of 86 for people aged 60 in 2019. But with people living longer, pensions will need to be paid for longer and countries’ medical costs will increase — a dynamic that is straining countries’ finances. Not only are people living longer, but people such as Patricof are shooting to be “supercentenarians” (110 years or older). It is a pricey aspiration that attracts notoriety and some questionable science. Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur, has spent millions of dollars to stymie his ageing. He’s most famous for a somewhat vampiric experiment: infusing blood from his 17-year-old son. He recently stopped, saying it was ineffective.With Silicon Valley and other wealthy people pouring money into longevity, it makes for fertile investment opportunities for funds such as Patricof’s. But how much of this will help the wider elderly public with the physical problems that accumulate in old age — or with the loneliness that afflicts so many senior citizens?Rani Snyder, a vice-president at the John A Hartford Foundation, which specialises in programmes for the elderly, told me that impact investing for quality ageing needs to go hand in hand with philanthropy.She pointed to another investment fund that is working on impact solutions for the elderly — Spock Ventures (yes, named after the Star Trek character Spock, whose Vulcan species can live to over 200).These impact investing funds are new and just getting started, but Snyder said “there is promise there” for them to deliver impact solutions for the elderly.Quality ageing is inevitably intertwined with societal injustices such as income inequality, Lindsay Goldman, chief executive of Grantmakers in Aging, told me. Her organisation includes foundations such as John A Hartford, working in philanthropy for elderly people.“Big solutions require big money,” Goldman said. “We can’t ‘grant’ our way out of these problems.”Patricof and his co-founder Abby Miller Levy, a former executive at SoulCycle, said Primetime is not an impact fund per se, but its companies are offering an impact for older people.“We are a for-profit motivated fund, but . . . we feel we are making a contribution to an area that is underserved — and not just neglected but in some ways discriminated against — which is the concept of ageing,” Patricof said. “We have to be concerned about people on the lower rung of the ladder who need to have products and services that address them and not just the people who went to iConnections” [where we met], Patricof said. “We are very sensitive to that need.”He pointed to a portfolio company called Aidaly, which helps caregivers receive income from state and federal funds that are available to them. Its platform streamlines access to private programmes and government benefits such as Medicaid, a US government health insurance programme for people on low incomes.Aidaly is one of four portfolio businesses for caregivers that Primetime has invested in, Levy said. “Benefits for family caregivers ultimately support their loved ones’ healthspans.”Another portfolio business, Duos, alerts people to health plans and the full array of services they are eligible for.“There is an estimated $7bn of unused governmental healthcare benefits that go unused because people don’t know about them,” Levy said. “One area around increasing healthspan for everyone is just access to the benefits that you already have.”The disparity between those who can afford health services and those who cannot will only get worse as people get older and exit the workforce. Government health programmes such as the UK’s NHS are struggling with their own budget issues, leading to widespread treatment delays. In the US, private equity investors have jumped into the healthcare business with questionable results.These dynamics open opportunities for impact financiers if their investments ultimately help older Americans — as Spock would say — “live long and prosper.” Smart readI recommend this article from Tom Wilson and Myles McCormick about top oil industry executives bashing US President Joe Biden’s decision to pause approvals for new liquefied natural gas export terminals.

Can impact investors help us age?

Bank of America faces criticism for changing its stance on Arctic drilling and coal projects. Alan Patricof, co-founder of Apax Partners, is raising funds for Primetime Partners, a VC fund focusing on improving the quality of life for older people. Impact investing in quality ageing is gaining traction with funds like Spock Ventures. Rani Snyder from the John A Hartford Foundation emphasizes the need for impact investing to work alongside philanthropy. Lindsay Goldman highlights the societal injustices intertwined with quality ageing. Primetime's portfolio includes companies like Aidaly and Duos, focusing on caregivers' benefits and health plans.