Next Normal Now: Re-Imagining Capitalism for Our Future | Regeneration

In this episode of The Allen & Overy Podcast, MaameYaa Kwafo-Akoto from Allen & Overy’s Institutional Investor practice speaks to Amit Bouri, CEO and co-founder of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), about what impact investing is and how the GIIN supports investors. MaameYaa and Amit discuss market trends for fund managers and institutional investors, whether there is a difference between sustainable investment and impact investing, and how impact investing can positively affect financial returns. 

In this Pensions & Investments special report, Hazel Bradford highlights the role impact investing will play in solving the climate crisis. This article highlights that according to Amit Bouri, co-founder and CEO of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), November’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, “will lead to much greater interest” in climate solutions and investment opportunities. Amit does not think climate will crowd out other investments, noting that “Investors who often start with one thing often move on to a broader portfolio. Everyone starts somewhere.”

In this Pensions & Investments special report, Hazel Bradford explores where the impact investing community stands regarding measuring impact. Bradford mentions the launch of the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) COMPASS: The Methodology for Comparing and Assessing Impact, which helps standardize the components and process of impact performance analysis at the aggregate investment, fund or portfolio level. Bradford also highlights the GIIN’s system for measuring, managing, and optimizing impact, IRIS+. Amit Bouri, GIIN co-founder and CEO says that IRIS+ gives users worldwide a common metric “and gets people speaking the same language.” Additionally, Amit notes that when it comes to measuring impact, common benchmarks that allow investors to compare their results against market performance are “the big thing that is missing right now.”

In this Pensions & Investments special report, Hazel Bradford explores how the impact investing industry has grown to address problems raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bradford highlights that the pandemic’s unequal impact across society has helped investors understand the systemic risks that climate change, income, wealth, and racial inequality pose. The Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) Co-founder and CEO, Amit Bouri, is quoted highlighting that, “Pension fund managers see the writing on the wall. They are stewards of long-term capital. We see much greater interest in how they can use capital to drive change.” Echoing Amit’s sentiments, The GIIN’s Director of Research, Dean Hand, adds that, “Pension fund officials are increasingly hearing from beneficiaries who want reassurance about the world they will retire into. We are hearing this more and more, that the cost of not doing (impact investing) is actually much larger.”

In this Advisor’s Edge article, exploring the idea of measuring impact, The Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) Director of Member Engagement, Sean Gilbert, is quoted regarding concerns over “impact washing.” Sean notes that, “A fund manager has a responsibility to present clients with the strategy they’re offering and be clear about what the fund is intended to do.” Sean adds that managers must describe their investment process and “purse that process with integrity.” 

In this Forbes article, Rob Kaplan explores why private investors and family offices have swiftly moved to the front-lines of impact investing, allocating their capital to a variety of solutions that provide an array of impact outcomes and financial returns. Kaplan mentions the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) 2020 Annual Impact Investor Survey, highlighting that nearly all family offices and private investors are considering, or already have, shifted toward sustainable investments of some kind. 

In this Regulation Asia article, Chris Hall covers a recent two-day summit between the Group of Seven (G-7) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Hall underscores the summit’s support for the introduction of mandatory climate-related financial disclosures and the need to develop even better reporting frameworks. Hall also touches on the importance of developing, refining, and harmonizing impact reporting frameworks, and looks to the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) Impact Measurement and Management framework as an outstanding example. 

In this Wall Street Journal article, exploring the idea of linking asset manager’s compensation to performance on environmental, social and governance issues, The Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) Co-founder and CEO Amit Bouri notes that “Investors are no longer satisfied with vague promises about ESG benefits, and firms now need to measure impact to raise money.” Amit highlights the GIIN’s IRIS+, a system for measuring, managing, and optimizing impact used by more than 17,000 investors. 

In this Pensions & Investments article, Hazel Bradford covers the launch of the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) COMPASS methodology for comparing and assessing impact. The idea behind GIIN’s Compass methodology “is to standardize the components and process of impact performance analysis at the aggregate investment, fund or portfolio level.” COMPASS: The Methodology for Comparing and Assessing Impact is groundbreaking, as it allows investors to compare impact results, and offers insight into three critical impact figures: scale, pace, and efficiency.

In this Spear’s article, Anna Solomon makes the case that impact investing is here to stay. Solomon touches on the history of impact investing, looks at where the field currently stands, and notes that according to the Global Impact investing Network (GIIN), “The size of impact investments increased by around 40 percent between 2019 and 2020, and is now estimated at $715 billion.”