Drumbeats - Canadian Indigenous Investment Podcast · Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit

Jeffery Cyr on Outcomes Funds: Impact With Global Capital Now Paying Attention

·27 min·1 clip

In northern Manitoba, First Nations people under 25 have an 80% lifetime chance of type 2 diabetes.

1. Drumbeats and the episode “Jeffery Cyr on Outcomes Funds: Impact With Global Capital Now Paying Attention” focus on Indigenous-led outcomes finance in Canada. 2. Mark McNack and Rob Brandt host Jeffrey Sear, the founder and managing partner of Raven Indigenous Outcome Funds, whose work matters because Raven pioneered outcomes-based financing in Indigenous communities. 3. The episode asks what makes Raven different from other outcomes funds and why investors from the U.S., Europe, and Asia are paying attention. 4. Sear says Raven centers community priorities first, because “each community is different” and the investment must fit existing and needed assets. 5. He contrasts that with funding models where “the capital is telling you what they’re going to do,” including some government-commissioned outcomes contracts. 6. Sear argues that community resilience matters more after COVID, financial crisis, and trade-war shocks. 7. He says Raven is not seeking “extractive returns” and rejects the idea of financing built around luxury consumption. 8. The discussion moves to investor diligence, where Sear says investors asked how to classify the product and where it fits in their portfolios. 9. A CIO told him the structure “looks and acts and feels like a fixed income instrument,” especially with a five-year return window. 10. Sear says the return profile is 5% to 7% and the outcomes are secured before the contract and work begin. 11. He says that combination of impact and security has appealed during uncertain liquidity in VC and PE. 12. Sear also notes that Indigenous investment vehicles are still “few and far between” outside resource extraction and large infrastructure. 13. He says interest has accelerated in the last four or five months and could make the final close easier than he expected a year ago. 14. The most developed project discussed is a type 2 diabetes remediation initiative with Wasagamack First Nation in northern Manitoba and the former Island Lake region. 15. Sear says type 2 diabetes is three to five times worse in Indigenous society and that First Nations people under 25 now face an 80% lifetime chance of the disease. 16. He says the Mino-Yawan Type 2 Diabetes Reduction program uses Western University, local life coaches, culture, food, diet, exercise, and mental health over three to four years. 17. The conversation stays practical and interview-driven, with McNack and Brandt asking follow-up questions about outcomes security, investor demand, and overseas interest. 18. Sear’s style is direct and data-heavy, moving from community examples to capital structure and then to global context like the Vatican and Europe. 19. Listeners interested in Indigenous finance, impact investing, and Canadian climate adaptation will get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for entertainment-first banter or a light overview may skip it.

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