Impact investments — next steps on the impact journey
Investing with IMPACT is an important goal for many investors. However, the devil is in the detail and many questions remain unanswered. In a white paper (Busch et al., 2023), we have therefore proposed 18 principles for measuring the impact of impact investments. The principles are the first answers on how to measure and evaluate the impact of investments. This article provides an exclusive insight into the updated version and summarizes the key arguments and recommendations for action.
According to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (2023), up to 33% of professionally managed assets worldwide now include environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects in their investment processes. However, this figure should not be viewed uncritically, especially when it comes to whether these invested funds also contribute to actual improvements in the real economy. This is precisely the aim of so-called impact investments, which are attracting increasing attention. However, many questions remain unanswered that are of great importance to both investors1 and clients: Is there only one or several types of impact investing?