Giirs

IMPACT INVESTING INITIATIVE STRATEGY OVERVIEW Delivering social change at scale will require more capital than philanthropy and public resources can provide. While almost all of the trillions of dollars of assets around the world remain tied up in investments that seek only to maximize financial returns, a relatively small but rapidly growing industry is emerging that could unlock enough of this investment capital to complement philanthropy in addressing pressing social challenges. This industry, called “impact investing,” is comprised of investors seeking to generate both financial return and social and/or environmental value—while at a minimum returning capital, and, in many cases, offering market-rate returns or better. Despite, and sometimes because of, a proliferation of activity, the impact investing industry stands at a delicate moment. On one hand, structural forces around the world are gathering to bolster the industry’s development, despite the recent market disruptions and economic contraction in much of the world. Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of people attracted to private-sector solutions to social problems at the same time that a new generation of entrepreneurs is launching viable ventures across an array of geographies and sectors that address social challenges. On the other hand, the nascent industry remains beset by inefficiencies and distortions that currently limit its impact in the areas of the Rockefeller Foundation’s strategic focus and threaten its future trajectory. Lack of coordination hampers collaboration to build the infrastructure the industry needs to flourish. Intermediation—the placement of money between investors and the businesses and projects that can use it productively—is generally sub-scale and specifically embryonic in sub-sectors of impact investing such as public health and agriculture. And basic market infrastructure and the investment ecosystem necessary to identify, vet, and monitor investments