GIIN in the news Press releases

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

    via Al Jazeeraby Ben Piven

    July 11, 2019

    Summary

    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.

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

    via Campden FBby James Beech

    July 11, 2019

    Summary

    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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  • Global Investments Show Healthy Growth: Study

    via ThinkAdvisorby Michael S. Fischer

    July 11, 2019

    Summary

    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.”

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

    via Fast Companyby Ben Paynter

    July 11, 2019

    Summary

    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.”

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  • The GIIN Founder Provides Impact Investing Definition

    via Forbesby Devin Thorpe

    June 28, 2019

    Summary

    In a video and accompanying article, Devin Thorpe interviews GIIN CEO Amit Bouri about the continued growth of the impact investing market and the related efforts of the GIIN to create an agreed-upon definition and sets of core metrics for the practice. During the discussion, they also cover the GIIN’s three strategic goals for the future of impact investing: mobilizing more capital, safeguarding the integrity of impact investing, and galvanizing a much broader movement around impact investing that will “really [create] a social mandate around the purpose of capital.”

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  • The GIIN Launches IRIS+ Impact Investment Measurement System

    via Private Equity Wire

    June 28, 2019

    Summary

    Private Equity Wire covers the launch of the GIIN’s IRIS+, crediting it as “an easy-to-use system” that will benefit investors who are “eager for streamlined practical guidance on how to measure and manage their impact.”

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  • GIIN: Setting the Bar

    via IPEby Susanna Rust

    June 28, 2019

    Summary

    As part of IPE magazine’s May 2019 special report on impact investing, Susanna Rust spoke to GIIN CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri about the GIIN’s Core Characteristics of Impact Investing. In doing so, she also references the speech Bouri delivered at Impact Summit Europe in April about the urgent need to scale the industry and to do so with integrity. Rust highlights the necessity of such guidelines by including a powerful excerpt from Bouri’s speech: “Slow and steady does not win all races. Slow and steady is definitely not the strategy when it comes to addressing the world’s social and environmental challenges.”

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  • Commentary: Has Impact Investing Reached a Fork in the Road?

    via Pensions & Investmentsby Amit Bouri

    June 28, 2019

    Summary

    In an Op-ed for Pensions & Investments, GIIN CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri discusses the big picture challenge the impact investing industry is currently facing: that despite “considerable progress” it is “not moving fast enough on addressing the major problems the world faces.” Bouri states that the path the industry must take is one that leads to “nothing less than a transformation of the financial markets” which will “create a world where every investment accounts for social and environmental impact.” He concludes the piece by listing a three-part mission for achieving this goal, and calls for “deliberate, focused, coordinated action from visionaries committed to a new future.”

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  • People, Planet and Profits: Impact Investing Exceeds $500bn

    via Al Jazeeraby Ben Piven

    June 24, 2019

    Summary

    In this Al Jazeera coverage of the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey, Ben Piven shares key findings about the state of the impact investing market and remarks that “this investment strategy is winning more converts—and crucially, it’s gaining capital too.” Piven also includes insights from the GIIN’s Amit Bouri and Sapna Shah to contextualize the survey’s findings, including Bouri’s statement that “Global challenges like entrenched inequality and climate change require large-scale, urgent action. And impact investors are stepping up to help fuel positive progress.”

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  • Growing Universe of Impact Investors Satisfied With Results

    via Barron'sby Abby Schultz

    June 24, 2019

    Summary

    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.”

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  • Survey: 91% of Impact Investors Happy With Performance

    via Financial Advisorby Karen DeMasters

    June 24, 2019

    Summary

    Financial Advisor News features new data about performance relative to impact investors’ expectations. Specifically, the article highlights key findings from the GIIN’s recently published 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey, which found that “investors who want to make a positive difference with their money said they are meeting both their impact investing goals and their financial goals.” The article also includes survey data reflecting respondents’ goals, purpose, and growth within the impact investing sector.

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  • Impact Investing Doesn't Require Sacrificing Returns, GIIN Survey Shows

    via Private Equity Newsby Luis Garcia

    June 24, 2019

    Summary

    This Private Equity News article features the GIIN’s 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey to highlight recent developments in the market, noting that “investors [have] become increasingly aware of issues such as climate change and social inequality” and that over 90% of impact investors report “their deals have met or exceeded their expected financial and impact performance so far.” The piece also quotes the GIIN’s CEO, Amit Bouri, about the importance of such data collection, saying that as the industry matures, “investors will become more familiar with the strategy, and businesses looking to generate impact will find it easier to identify suitable investors to back them.”

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