Industry Know-How

The 2016 United Nations Global Compact-Accenture Strategy CEO Study - the most recent in more than a decade of research - reveals a window of opportunity in the minds of the world’s business leaders. Since the last study in 2013, frustrated ambition has given way to ...

In 2016 the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) published its sixth edition of the Annual Impact Investor Survey. It is based on an analysis of the activities of 158 of the world’s leading impact investing organizations, including fund managers, foundations, banks, development finance institutions ...

Impact investing is gaining traction among both large and small investors and entrepreneurs.Some previously niche industries - such as clean tech, natural food - are moving toward the mainstream. While both investors and entrepreneurs are embracing this trend, they are having a hard time connecting. This ...

Those of us who study impact investing all can agree that measuring an investment’s social effect is important, that measurement can help organizations make better decisions and communicate their value, and that financial returns should be balanced with social returns. But most of these ...

If we want social capital markets to fund the social sector effectively, we need to use social impact data effectively when making investment decisions. And investment decision-making almost always requires that we compare social impact data across locations, programs, or organizations. This is difficult, because ...

In Australia, there are currently various initiatives seeking to promote social enterprise; reduce compliance costs for NFPs (Not for Profit) and encourage a diversification of financing options to build a more sustainable funding base. NFPs are looking for other sources of revenue to fund their ...

Investing for profit and the philanthropic use of financial resources are commonly perceived as irreconcilable alternatives. Nevertheless, recent publications and debates have seen a rise in awareness of impact investing, which is defined by yielding both a social and a financial return. A current example ...

This article looks at impact investing and its potential to address global issues and how impact investing can play an important role in filling funding gaps for development. The article concludes that impact investing is certainly affecting international development and providing an increasingly important source ...

Responding directly to the challenges identified in the UNDP report on “Impact Investment in Africa: Trends, Constraints and Opportunities”, the Action Plan begins to outline the preliminary interventions that will be required to support the initial development of the impact investment sector in Africa.

The ...