As we wrap a year shaped by headwinds and tailwinds alike, we want to pause and highlight some of the bright spots that shone through an otherwise challenging time. While economic, environmental and social pressures intensified, impact investors stepped up to meet the moment – and we at the GIIN were right there with them.
This year brought significant milestones for our organization, including celebrating our 15-year anniversary in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, launching a video series, welcoming 70 new members, and deepening our engagement with investors and practitioners across regions and asset classes. Throughout the year, the GIIN expanded its work in climate solutions investing with the launch of a framework for asset owners at London Climate Action Week followed by our inaugural Climate Week New York roundtable.
Our teams also developed new impact measurement and management tools, one of which considers quality adjusted life years (QALYs) as a standard, quantifiable metric for the social impact of investments. We debuted a new look for the IRIS+ website as well as new themes including marine conservation and waste management. These resources, backed by our leading market research and coupled with our industry convenings like the GIIN Impact Forum, have helped investors move from intention to action and ultimately build a better future for people and the planet.
With the new year just around the corner, let’s look back at some of the GIIN’s most meaningful moments and initiatives of 2025:
Tools and resources for asset owners and allocators:
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To support the evaluation of climate solutions strategies and investments through clear, actionable criteria, we published the Climate Solutions Investing Framework at London Climate Action Week.
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In our Impact Lab, we developed, tested and launched two tools for IMM: Impact Target Setter and Impact Quantifier.
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To provide a snapshot of emergent thinking and action from institutional asset owners in the impact investing field, we published Navigating Uncertainty, Seizing Opportunity: Institutional Asset Owners and Impact Investing 2025.
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To explore how impact investing can help companies meet their sustainability goals, we published Impact Investing Through the Balance Sheet: A Guide for CFOs and Treasury Professionals.
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In partnership with Impact Investing Institute and Pensions for Purpose, we published Impact Investing Principles for Pensions to support trustees in the UK to align investment decisions with long-term impact and fiduciary duty.
Research and insights
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We published the GIIN’s annual keystone report State of the Market 2025: Trends, Performance and Allocations which showed impact AUM has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 21% over the past six years with an 11% increase in the past year.
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Using data collected in the GIIN healthcare benchmark, we published Representation of Women in Healthcare: Preliminary Findings, Trends and Considerations for Impact Investors that investigated the representation of women founders among healthcare companies receiving impact investments.
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We published the brief Impact Investing in the Forestry Sector: Opportunities and Challenges based on data collected in the GIIN forestry benchmark.
- To elevate and center the voices of those who benefit directly from impact investments, we published three case studies throughout the year:
Impact measurement and management (IMM) resources:
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To provide an overview of how investors who sign onto the Operating Principles of Impact Management actually are implementing these principles, we published The Impact Principles: Common and Emerging Practices.
- Drawing from over 100 impact investors, researchers, service providers and standard setters, our report Data, Direction and Decisions: What We Know About Measuring and Managing Impact Performance offers practical recommendations to move the field forward.
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We launched two IRIS+ themes on Marine Resources Conservation and Management and Waste Management and Circularity to support impact investing in these spaces.
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In addition to speaking at the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), the GIIN’s IRIS+ was featured in the event’s official conclusion document, the Compromiso de Sevilla, which will guide development finance priorities for the next decade.
Market building:
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Thousands of investors and impact leaders attended the GIIN’s industry convenings held around the world including the West Coast Impact Forum in San Francisco, the Asia Impact Forum in Singapore and the GIIN Impact Forum in Berlin, with several GIIN membership and Impact Principles events held across Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.
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Building on our earlier podcast series Next Normal, we launched Impact Now, a video series featuring candid, in-depth interviews with some of the most influential leaders in impact investing today.
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We expanded our engagement in Japan through the launch of a new working group, a new senior advisor and our CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri was appointed to Japan’s Global Advisory Council for the GX Acceleration Agency.
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To help educate and professionally develop the industry, we held GIIN Trainings in Tokyo, San Francisco, Singapore and Berlin.
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We published op-eds in Forbes, Crain Currency, The Business Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and on centering human well-being in impact investing.
- We were featured in Bloomberg on how impact investing differs from ESG, and the increase in private sector engagement in impact investing following the world’s largest pension fund considering a shift into impact investing.
- We spoke with Asset TV UK and Forbes on the growth of impact investing and the strong trajectory of the field to improve livelihoods across the world.
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In honor of the GIIN’s 15-year anniversary, we had a great conversation with Dr. Chelsea Clinton on the evolution of impact investing, including the critical role of partnerships, measurement and action in scaling the field.
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We spoke at leading global and regional events including: UN General Assembly, FT Global Boardroom, FT Live Climate & Impact Summit North America, SOCAP, Climate Week NYC, London Climate Action Week, Responsible Investor Asia, and Singapore Impact Week.
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To explore how impact investing can help address critical gaps for humanitarian aid, Amit Bouri has been appointed to the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Reimagining Aid.
In spite of – or perhaps because of – the challenging year, the world is looking to impact investing as the needed, credible and innovative tool that it is to help make things better. This industry is powered by a community of leaders and changemakers who are committed to building a future where financial returns go hand in hand with tangible benefits for people and the planet. And we are grateful for everyone who’s a part of it.
From all of us at the GIIN, we look forward to another year of working toward this future, together.