GIIN Investor Forum 2019

This article by Michael J. Preston and Michael James gives a substantial overview of the impact investing sector. Preston and James describe how “impact investments themselves adopt forms and structures familiar to private and growth equity and venture capital investing.” They argue that the near future “may witness something of a paradigm shift, with investors turning to larger buy-out or control deals” and highlight that “managers and investors alike need to give careful thought to the impact outcomes that they will seek from their capital, and to how they will define social impact in order to measure their success.''

This Business Maverick article covers the current stage of impact investing and outlines the key elements and characteristics that impact investments must include, according to commonly adopted definitions. Furthermore, Dean Alborough explains the importance of impact measurement and identifies different existing impact measurement frameworks. 

This Environmental Finance article features the GIIN’s CEO Amit Bouri’s reflections on the growing impact investing market as well as how the GIIN plays a role in its development. Bouri points to the diverse range of investors, including big asset managers, banks, and fund managers, of all sizes, within GIIN’s network to underscore the diversity of stakeholders involved in the market. He also emphasizes that as the impact investing market continues to attract broader interest and gain momentum, it will play a key role in transforming the future of financial markets. Finally, he reveals that the growing “flood of interest in impact investing has caused the GIIN to raise its ambitions” and provides examples of ways the organizations is working towards safeguarding the integrity of the industry, mobilizing more capital for impact and fueling a movement to change mindsets about the role of capital.

This Financial Times article highlights how and why more asset managers are embracing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and notes that they are becoming more ‘universal’ across sectors. Jennifer Thompson outlines a variety of global projects currently being steered by the UN to help channel private funds towards the goals but also cautions the risk that “companies might be taking what they’re doing and rewiring it in the language of the SDGs”.

In this article, Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, describes how he imagines “a more equitable 21st-century capitalism.” He argues that “the imperative of the 21st century is to build a new economy” because “solving today’s challenges requires unprecedented collaboration between business and philanthropy, private and public sectors.” He explains how the Ford Foundation is currently working to reimagine its philanthropic model to create “value in ways that better benefit society.”

In this Forbes article, Bonnie Chiu covers a relatively new topic being discussed in impact investing; refugee lens investing. She features some of the investors active in this space and explains that some impact investors are betting on the imperative of unleashing the economic potential of refugees, while others, “are pioneering a movement of refugee lens investing.” She claims that, “refugee lens investing is a nascent movement, but it has potential to address one of the biggest political and social crises of our times.”

In this interview, the GIIN’s Managing Director, Sapna Shah, highlights the importance of rigorous measurement practices for managing impact investments and reveals what she identifies as the three main challenges that must be addressed if impact investing is to reach its full potential. Moreover, Shah argues that investors can maximize their impact if they first expand their knowledge of the issues they are trying to solve.

In this article, Jessica Pothering gives a substantial overview of the environmental focus within the investment portfolios of faith based investors. Beth Collins, who heads impact investing at Catholic Relief Services, explains that, although a significant amount of capital is being allocated towards institutional-quality investments, more capital must be allocated to “direct investing, blended finance, technical services and capacity building” to address the issues of climate change.

This article by Michael Cosack of ImpactWise LLC and Jeremy Bach of Bach Capital Advisors examines the challenges of aligning financial and impact risk. Cosack and Bach argue that the slow adoption and the confusion about impact investing stems from the lack of “a common impact investment language” which leaves too many financial advisors that institutional asset owners rely upon without a full understanding of the impact investing space. Furthermore, they outline how the investment vehicles that the financial services industry offers are created in traditional investment terms that need to be adapted to impact investing.

In this article, Jennifer Thompson outlines the many reasons why mainstream asset managers increasingly want a slice of the impact investing ‘market’ - “impact investing seems the logical next step.” Thompson features the Schroders-BlueOrchard deal and quotes Marieke Spence, executive director of Impact Capital Managers, about the investment, calling it“a bellwether.” She also notes that impact investing is quickly becoming “the next big growth area for asset management.”