The Guardian sits down with Caroline Mason, co-founder of Investing for Good which has advised more than GBP 25 million in impact investments since its launch in 2005. Mason, whose background is in traditional banking, shares her perspective on why mainstream investors should integrate social and environmental goals into their investments.

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"[Investing for Good] started out with the basic premise that 'ordinary people generally would like to see their money put to good use.'

It was a time when figures such as Scottish tycoon Tom Hunter were hitting the headlines by giving away millions, and so the Investing for Good founders first looked into offering their financial know-how to philanthropists. But they soon realised philanthropy did not fit with their fundamental goal of helping social and environmental causes along the way.

'This concept of making as much as you possibly can, irrespective of what it does, and then giving it away to try and give something back was a two-dimensional view of the world,' says Mason.

And so Investing for Good turned its attention to a new philosophy of building social and environmental benefits into investment. 'Broadly, it's about positive use of money as an investment rather than as a gift,' she explains."

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