Impact Dispatch - December 2025

Coming into 2025, I shared seven trends to watch for in impact investing, driven by an expectation that the year would be full of change. That has largely been true, with a mix of positive momentum and difficult hurdles, many of which were unexpected. In the spirit of continuous improvement, I want to take time to reflect on the progress made and lessons learned in impact investing this year, with the hope that we can apply these learnings to strengthen our work in 2026:

1. Affordability is top of mind: In late 2024, we saw change elections across the globe, driven by increased pressure on governments to improve quality of life for voters. With an onslaught of tariffs, shaky employment markets and increased financial pressures passed onto individuals, affordability is a key concern for many citizens worldwide. Impact investors can be part of multilateral solutions to this crisis by increasing allocations to support sectors like housing, healthcare and education, especially through place-based investing that supports communities.
2. Emerging markets encountered new challenges: While a reduction in international aid was anticipated, it was larger than expected and the rippling effects of eliminated aid were devastating on so many communities worldwide. This crisis necessitates new opportunities for impact investors to channel capital to the places where it’s needed most. While impact investors cannot solely replace the scale of humanitarian aid lost from the public sector, impact investing can play a larger role. The GIIN’s research shows that impact investors are stepping up. Our State of the Market report confirms that emerging markets will remain a focus for investors over the next five years, with South America and Western Africa projected to see the largest increases in impact AUM.
3. Catalytic capital is on the rise: With large investors seeking established and proven opportunities, we saw new capital commitments for impact investors to finance solutions that address our most challenging problems. A group of family offices, including Blue Haven, launched Trimtab, an impact-first investing institution that aims to unlock catalytic capital in difficult-to-reach and neglected markets. British International Investment partnered with BlueOrchard for a new fund designed to unlock insurance capital to finance climate-related SMEs in emerging markets. The MacArthur Foundation welcomed four new funders to its Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3). These are just a couple great examples of the catalytic work happening in our membership.
4. New faces at the blended finance table: With new family offices, insurance companies and traditional investors entering the impact investing space, as a collective, we benefit from a wider range of risk appetites and diverse impact and performance goals. This expansion is leading to more unique and innovative financing structures and helping to establish attractive avenues for blended finance deals.
5. Asia’s impact market is not just expanding, but in many ways leading: Impact investing in Asia is booming, as I shared in July. A major headline this year: The world’s largest pension fund puts impact investing on the agenda. The Government Pension Investment Fund, Japan’s $1.8T pension fund began considering a move into impact investing, which spurred similar considerations from other Japanese and global pension funds. More recent news highlights the barriers the Asia market faces in fully adopting impact investing, yet remains optimistic about the region’s ability to overcome these challenges and earn a significant share of the global impact market.
6. Climate solutions remains a top priority for investors: There’s no denying the momentum of climate solutions investing. The GIIN’s State of the Market report this year showed that 86% of surveyed investors invested in climate solutions in some capacity, with a majority targeting climate change mitigation strategies, followed by climate change resilience and climate change adaptation.
7. The public narrative for impact investing is evolving: A consistent and compelling impact investing narrative is crucial to maintain the field’s credibility, direct the right type of capital toward problems it can genuinely solve and support market building. Despite being nearly two decades into the formalization of this industry, we’re still grappling with misunderstandings about the distinctions between impact investing and philanthropy, charity and ESG. Ultimately, a shared understanding of impact investing’s role — and its limits — will help the sector fully realize its potential as a catalyst for meaningful, measurable progress.

We close the year having achieved many wins and with exciting opportunities ahead. I hope you take the holiday season to enjoy time with your loved ones and enter 2026 recharged and ready to continue working for and investing in a better future.

• The UK government has established a new Office for the Impact Economy to drive catalytic capital into impact investing.
• The Gates Foundation released its 2025 Goalkeepers Report, which states that “2025 is the first year of this century where child deaths will increase,” and calls for increased investments in healthcare.
• According to New Private Markets, private markets are shifting their narratives from “ESG” towards “sustainability” and “impact investing,” driven by demand by institutional investors to continue to invest in the energy transition.
• There’s great potential for impact investing to significantly increase its size in Asia, but its growth hinges on overcoming barriers like fragmented deal flow, the perception of risks and the availability of more attractive returns in Western markets.
• A provocative op-ed the Stanford Social Innovation Review argues there is philanthropic investing and commercial investing, and between is intention without concessionary finance.
• The Guardian reports that European city leaders are urging the EU to allocate billions in funding for affordable housing, likening the soaring cost of housing to a “new pandemic.” The EU is expected to release its first-ever housing plan.
• In 2025, family offices increased investments in private credit and secondaries to offset public market volatility and tariffs, while also adopting new technologies and focusing more on long-term governance and succession planning for the next generation.
• As wealth inequality grows, the movement for worker ownership is reaching a critical turning point as both corporate giants and policymakers recognize its potential, as outlined by Marjorie Kelly in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

• In the latest episode of Impact Now, Amit Bouri speaks with industry veteran Jim Sorenson of Sorenson Impact Foundation, about how impact investing can help create an ownership economy that delivers tangible benefits for workers and families.
• The GIIN released a new IRIS+ impact theme: Waste Management & Circularity. From circular design to strategies that extend and recover product value, to effective waste systems and just, equitable supply chains, investors can uncover high-potential opportunities that drive long-term value.
• Last Thursday, Amit Bouri joined the Financial Times’ Global Boardroom panel “Impact Investing – Rebuilding Displaced Communities,” to discuss how impact investing can effectively support communities displaced by geopolitical and economic disruption.
• The GIIN’s Director of IRIS+/IMM, Panagiota Balfousia, CFA, CAIA, FRM, gave a sneak peak of a new IRIS+ impact theme on Circularity at the South Asia Convening 2025 hosted by the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs.

• In January, Amit Bouri will attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. This year’s theme, “A Spirit of Dialogue," will convene global impact leaders to discuss how we can reimagine growth, transform industries, protect workers and safeguard the planet.
• Save the date for the GIIN’s annual GIIN West Coast Impact Forum and Investor Training in San Francisco on April 7-8, 2026. Topics include regenerative agriculture, advancing climate solutions, expanding affordable housing, harnessing AI and more. Register your interest and sign up in mid-January.
• Each year, the GIIN conducts its annual Impact Investor Survey, providing critical insights to the impact investing market. Participants will gain early access to key findings through exclusive webinars in 2026 and recognition in survey reports. Pre-register your organization today to be the first to be notified when the survey goes live in January.