Events & News | The GIIN

Upcoming Events

Oct 2

GIIN Investor Forum 2019

October 2-3, 2019 Amsterdam, The Netherlands Global Impact Investing Network
Oct 8

EMPEA Sustainable Investing in Emerging Markets Summit

October 8, 2019 London, United Kingdom EMPEA
Oct 22

SOCAP19

October 22-25, 2019 San Francisco, United States Social Capital Markets
Nov 5

EVPA Annual Conference

November 5-7, 2019 The Hague, Netherlands EVPA
Nov 18

GSG Impact Summit 2019

November 18-19, 2019 Santiago, Chile GSG

News from The Field

07.11.19

Why Sustainable Forestry is a Good Investment

Adam Dolin, Caroline Gagne, Lissa Glasgo and Sabin RayWorld Resources Institute

This World Resources Institute blog post covers the launch of a new theme on Sustainable Forestry, which was created in conjunction with WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative on the GIIN’s Navigating Impact project, a component of the GIIN’s larger IRIS+ system. The new theme identifies five main impact investment opportunities in the sustainable forestry space, and provides evidence, metrics and strategies for each. The blog also details why investments in this sector are an increasingly compelling financial and impact opportunity, which has already shown its ability to “make a profit while reducing greenhouse gases, [strengthen] local economies, [increase] incomes, [and improve] ecosystem services like water quality, air quality, [and] soil productivity.”

Link to original article
07.09.19

Pension Funds Join Impact Investing Campaign for a Better World

Catherine HowarthFinancial Times

This Financial Times article discusses the entry of more pension funds into the impact investing space as they realize the practice is “directly relevant to the interests and long-term security of their clients and beneficiaries.” Author Catherine Howarth explains the important role institutional investors can play in the achievement of impact investing’s mission, in terms of both capital and influence. Howarth also references the GIIN’s Core Characteristics of Impact Investing to underscore the need for “every fiduciary investor, including every pension fund, [to see] themselves as an impact investor” in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Link to original article
07.08.19

Impact Investing Finds its Way on Lists of More Major Players

Hazel BradfordPensions & Investments

Pensions & Investments highlights how there’s an increasing number of pension funds and other large institutional investors making impact investments as “the approach goes mainstream.” Author Hazel Bradford speaks to GIIN CEO Amit Bouri about this growth and cites data from the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey that supports this finding. Bradford comments that as the world’s major environmental and social issues “come up as almost daily topics,” this trajectory will continue.

Link to original article
07.03.19

An Impact Investing Boom is Under Way

Dawn KissiAl Jazeera

In this Al Jazeera article, Dawn Kissi claims that “impact investing is experiencing a boom” due to “concerns about climate change, human rights and social justice dominating pop culture today.” Kissi uses data from the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey to discuss the current state, future, and successes and challenges of the impact investing market.

Link to original article
07.03.19

"Socially Responsible" & Impact Investing: What's the Difference?

Ben PivenAl Jazeera

In this Al Jazeera article, Ben Piven breaks down the differences between socially responsible investing and impact investing. He notes that clarifying definitions will benefit the increasing number of investors looking for “double bottom line returns that meet financial goals and advance their personal values where people and the planet are concerned.” He provides a definition of impact investing and addresses common questions about the practice, including whether impact investors can also make money and how impact is measured. Piven highlights the work of the GIIN, and the creation of IRIS+ in particular, in this breakdown.

Link to original article
06.27.19

2X Challenge and GIIN Develop Metrics For Gender-Smart Investing

Api PodderMy Social Good News

This GIIN press release announces that new metrics have been developed for gender-smart-investing and are now available to the industry on the GIIN’s comprehensive system for impact measurement and management, IRIS+. Members of the 2X Challenge and the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) joined forces with the GIIN to create the gender metrics, which are aligned to the 2X Criteria—a global benchmark for what it means to invest in women. The metrics combine the GIIN’s expertise in developing standardized, evidence-backed impact metrics with the 2X Challenge’s Criteria, which pinpoints data areas such as “women funded-businesses” and “the representation of women in investment committees.” GIIN CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri calls this partnership “exactly the type of collaboration that is required to advance gender equity and economic empowerment of women around the world.”

Link to original article
06.26.19

Big Philanthropy Could Fuel the Green New Deal--If It Learns to Listen

Ben PaynterFast Company

Fast Company outlines how the Green New Deal provides nonprofit and philanthropic organizations with “a new mandate for designing and funding initiatives that back both environmental sustainability and economic equity.” Author Ben Paynter discusses the “uptick in public inspiration” with GIIN CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri, who says that over time there has become “a lot more convergence and a much more integrated way of thinking” surrounding the cash pools for social and environmental causes—56% of the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey’s respondents reported that they now focus on both social and environmental impact simultaneously. Bouri comments that this type of integrated approach “is absolutely what we need, because if you’re thinking about improving the lives of lots of low-income populations, the effects of climate change will have a disproportionate impact on poor.”

Link to original article
06.21.19

Global Investments Show Healthy Growth: Study

Michael S. FischerThinkAdvisor

ThinkAdvisor uses findings from the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey to highlight the growth of the impact investment market, both in terms of increasing numbers of investors and increasing assets under management. Author Michael Fischer also includes data referencing client demand’s large role in fueling impact investing’s growth, and respondents’ wide belief that impact investing has a “key role to play in driving broader shifts in investment practice.” GIIN CEO Amit Bouri is quoted in the piece about factors contributing to growth, including how many impact investors are now “accounting for considerations that have long been ignored in the financial sector--the impact of investments and businesses on people and the planet.”

Link to original article
06.20.19

Impacts Impress Investors But They Just Can't Get the Staff

James BeechCampden FB

Campden FB discusses one of the new “Current Market Topics” in the 2019 edition of the GIIN’s Annual Impact Investor Survey: Human Resources. The report includes respondents’ insights about their challenges and successes in implementing impact investing practices, such as the challenge of finding appropriate staff for impact management. Author James Beech places these findings within the larger context of the industry’s rapid growth, referencing the average respondent’s plan to invest 33% more in impact investments in 2019 than the 2018 average and the overall satisfaction of current investors, with 90% of survey respondents reporting that their impact investments were in line with or exceeded expectations.

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06.19.19

Growing Universe of Impact Investors Satisfied With Results

Abby SchultzBarron's

This Barron’s PENTA article shares key findings and insights from the GIIN’s ninth Annual Impact Investor Survey. Specifically, the piece notes that the report “reveals an industry that’s growing steadily and is increasingly diversifying….And that growth will be essential if impact investing is to address the huge challenges the world faces.” Abby Schultz discusses this growth with the GIIN’s Amit Bouri, who states that these survey results mean “two things that may feel contradictory—that the impact investing market is larger and more robust than it’s ever been, and it’s nowhere near where it needs to be.”

Link to original article

About the Global Impact Investing Network

The Global Impact Investing Network is the global champion of impact investing, dedicated to increasing its scale and effectiveness around the world. Impact investments are investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.