The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), today launched Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing: Reshaping Financial Markets, a framework for collective action to accelerate development of the impact investing market and build a new future in which finance is instrumental to social and environmental progress. Commenced at the ten-year anniversary of the coining of the term impact investing, the Roadmap assesses industry progress to date, codifies a shared vision for the financial markets, and outlines specific actions needed to exponentially enhance the scale and effectiveness of impact investing across the world.
“Impact investing is laying the groundwork for a new model for financial markets—one in which the markets work for people and the planet, as well as investors,” said Amit Bouri, CEO and co-founder of the GIIN. “In order to meet the urgent need presented by social and environmental challenges around the world, the global impact investing market needs to scale and develop at a much faster pace. The Roadmap presents a collective plan to accelerate the development of the industry. We believe this Roadmap can multiply the impact of this movement and shift expectations about the role capital plays in
society.”
The Roadmap details six categories of action to drive progress toward the vision. For each category, the Roadmap describes specific actions needed, which stakeholders should lead on these actions, and a timeframe. Enacting the plan will require collective action by leaders from the entire impact investing ecosystem.
The six categories of action:
- Strengthen the identity of impact investing by establishing clear principles and standards for practice
- Change the paradigm that governs investment behavior and expectations about the responsibility of finance in society via asset owner leadership and updated finance theory
- Design tools and services that support the incorporation of impact into the routine analysis, allocation, and deal-making activities of investors
- Develop products suited to the needs and preferences of the full spectrum of investors, from retail to institutional and of various types of investees
- Increase supply of trained investment professionals and pipeline of investment-ready enterprises through targeted professional education
- Introduce policies and regulation that both remove barriers and incentivize impact investments
The Roadmap was developed with inputs from more than 350 individuals operating in the impact investing ecosystem around the world as well as from extensive desk research into progress in the field to date, how successful movements evolve, and how paradigm-shifting systemic change takes place. The Roadmap was produced in consultation with The Monitor Institute by Deloitte and with generous support from The Rockefeller Foundation.
“The Rockefeller Foundation has been committed to developing the impact investing market since the industry’s earliest days and we look forward to continuing to advance this market at an exponential rate through the Roadmap initiative,” said Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director at The Rockefeller Foundation. “We believe impact investing holds incredible potential to help address many of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges. The industry also plays a pioneering role in
influencing how all of us think about the value of our capital.”
