When Is an Investment an Impact Investment?
Impact Investing Newsbrief #2
Learn more about the Rockefeller Foundation's initiative, Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing, its partners, opportunities for collaboration and plans for the future in this bimonthly newsbrief.
EXCERPT from Newsbrief #2:
As the language of impact investing gains resonance, a question asked with increasing frequency and relevance is “When is an investment an impact investment?” This query sparked a fascinating conversation at the first Global Impact Investing Network Investors’ Council meeting in late April, in Glen Cove, New York. Fifty leading investors from a range of geographies and perspectives debated how high a social impact hurdle we should expect impact investments to exceed.
On one hand, too narrow a definition will limit viable deal flow and make it harder for all but the most socially-focused capital to be deployed. On the other hand, too wide a definition runs the risk of diluting the credibility of impact investing as a force for addressing social and environmental problems rather than just letting investors feel good about themselves. Some even wondered whether narrowing the definition is misguided and whether, at this early stage in the industry’s development, an open definition is best to attract the widest range of participants.
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Contact Us: The Rockefeller Foundation impact investing team is based in New York, Nairobi and Bangkok. You can contact us at ImpactInvesting@rockfound.org.