Listed Equities Working Group

According to the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey, which tracked $239 billion in AUM from 266 respondents, investments seeking to achieve impact through listed equities accounted for 17% of the global impact investing AUM in 2018. Trend data pulled from the past four years of surveys found a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% per annum. This interest has spurred a whole range of new investment products that pursue “impact,” particularly around the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, it can be difficult to determine which products measurably deliver on promises of impact and are genuinely distinct from other ESG or sustainable investing approaches. Additionally, as a relatively new asset class representing a significant opportunity to deploy more capital toward solving social and environmental problems, it is crucial that impact strategies in listed equities build upon best practices and lessons learned over the first decade of impact investing in order to maximize their effectiveness.

In 2019, the GIIN released a set of Core Characteristics of Impact Investing that help consolidate key practices to support investors in the formulation of impact investing strategies and to guide the market in developing effective approaches to impact investing. The Listed Equities Working Group will convene asset owners and asset managers from the GIIN membership to assess how the Core Characteristics can be applied in the context of listed equities. The work will evolve in coordination with other industry efforts.

The GIIN’s Listed Equities Working Group seeks to explore and examine strategies for pursuing impact in listed equities, using the GIIN’s Core Characteristics of Impact Investing. All GIIN members active or interested in investing in listed equities are welcome to participate.

The two main objectives of the Working Group are to:

Understand how strategies delivering impact in listed equities can align with the expectations of the Core Characteristics.
Provide reference points for best practice in order to support investors in structuring and deploying effective impact strategies in listed markets.

The first phase of the Working Group consisted of quarterly convenings beginning in Q4 2019, wherein Working Group members reviewed strategies for achieving impact in listed equities, surfaced examples of current practices, identified how practices could evolve in line with the Core Characteristics, and ultimately, move the market towards more consistent baseline expectations.

In June 2021, The GIIN released a paper summarizing the activity to date of this Listed Equities Working Group.

In the second phase which followed the release of the 2021 paper, the Listed Equities Working Group (LEWG), led by the LEWG Advisory Committee, convened to review strategies for achieving impact in listed equities, by surfacing examples of current practices, and identifying how practices can align with the GIIN's Core Characteristics to move the market towards more consistent baseline expectations.

As a result of the working group’s efforts, Draft Guidance was designed to help asset owners better distinguish the differences between fund offerings in relation to their specific impact goals. Amongst the baseline characteristics of impact investing identified in the Draft Guidance was a clearly stated impact strategy based on a Theory of Change embedded into the investment objective, and an explicitly defined investment process designed to achieve, measure and manage those objectives alongside the financial objectives of the fund.

After releasing the Draft Guidance, the GIIN invited public comment through September 12, 2022. This public comment period aligned with the GIIN’s commitment to a collaborative, transparent, and rigorous engagement process, setting a standard for relevance, neutrality, and best practices. Feedback was shared by the GIIN with all LEWG Advisory Committee Members.

As of March 2023, the GIIN's Listed Equities Working Group is pleased to have released Guidance for Pursuing Impact in Listed Equities.

For more information about the GIIN Listed Equities Working Group, please contact the Membership Team at networkmembership@thegiin.org.

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Listed Equities Working Group

The GIIN’s Listed Equities Working Group seeks to explore and examine strategies for pursuing impact in listed equities, using the GIIN’s Core Characteristics of Impact Investing. All GIIN members active or interested in investing in listed equities are welcome to participate.

Key Objectives and Activities of the Listed Equities Working Group

Second Phase of the Listed Equities Working Group

More information