GIIN News, Updates, & CEO Letter

Message from Amit Bouri, CEO

With increasing activity and unprecedented amounts of interest, impact investing is at a defining moment. Many institutional investors, family offices, foundations, banks, and fund managers are already active in this space, and many new investors are exploring ways to unleash the full power of their capital to be a force for good. The market’s development is encouraging and exciting; however, explosive growth in any industry always brings with it a bit of messiness and a need to tackle both new and lingering questions. Today, we are seeing this play out in impact investing, as there is an increased desire for clarity around definitions as well as answers to many pressing questions, including:

• How can we increase the efficiency of the industry to enable more capital to reach investment opportunities faster?
• What are impact measurement and management practices and reporting practices that will ensure effective, results-driven deployment of capital?
• How can we foster greater collaboration and mutual respect among those impact investors that require market rates of return and those that target important business models that might not be as profitable?
• How can we accelerate the shift in how people think about the role of capital to ensure the scale of investment capital being used as a powerful global force for good matches the scale of the problems?

The stakes are too high to leave these and other key questions unanswered. Given the current scale of urgent social and environmental issues that need to be tackled, the world cannot afford to let large amounts of capital remain on the sidelines.
I am proud to announce that the GIIN has recently kicked off a series of meetings, focus groups, and interviews that will bring together impact investing leaders to tackle the most pivotal questions. We have already begun to reach out to many of you to help us assess the progress that has been made in impact investing, to evaluate what gaps and challenges remain, and to explore what needs to happen in the next ten years to ensure impact investing is on track to achieve its potential. This will all culminate in an action-oriented Roadmap to direct and shape the future of impact investing.
Join us as we embark on this project designed to catalyze industry leaders around a bold market-building agenda for the decade ahead. To express interest or get involved, contact us at [email protected].

Christine Bosse appointed to GIIN Board of Directors

The GIIN is excited to announce that Christine Bosse has been appointed as the newest member of the organization’s Board of Directors. Christine is an experienced executive who has served on the boards of both financial services and nonprofit organizations.

Previously, Bosse served as group CEO for Scandinavian insurance company Tryg for nearly a decade. In 2010, Christine was appointed the Advocate for the Millennium Development Goals by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and has been twice named one of the ‘Most Influential Business Women in The World’ by the Financial Times. The GIIN will benefit significantly from her strong leadership and experience in helping global companies sustainably grow and prosper.

Read the full Christine Bosse announcement here >

Impact Investing News & Events

Do you follow @theGIIN on Twitter?

Dozens of organizations, thought leaders, and journalists engage with us every day, and we would love to connect with you, too!

Be sure to follow us to stay at the forefront of impact investing news, events, and thought leadership.

GIIN CEO Amit Bouri is also on Twitter! Be sure to follow him @AmitKBouri for his take on industry updates and other happenings.

Are you looking for impact investing opportunities?

Join over 3,000 impact investors in finding impact products that suit their investment criteria. ImpactBase, the GIIN’s online directory of over 400 impact investing products and vehicles, has over 3,000 accredited investors subscribed to the platform. As impact investing grows, more investors are seeking impact investing opportunities. If you are an accredited investor, subscribe to this platform to connect with fund managers to explore impact investing opportunities that might be right for you. More about ImpactBase here >

Research

Visit the research resource page of the GIIN website for a more complete listing of impact investing research.

The ImPact and CREO Syndicate release a new action-oriented report, Water: An Impact Investment Primer for Family Offices and Foundations, which maps water investment opportunities and provides several examples of how families are actively investing to address local and global water challenges. Read more >

Business and Sustainable Development Commission publishes Better Business, Better World, which examines the business case for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report shows how pursuing the SDGs could raise trillions in new market opportunities in ways that extend prosperity to all, and also identifies actions business leaders can take to set the world on a path to a sustainable, inclusive economy. Read more >

Press Highlights

Visit the press clips resource page of the GIIN website for a more complete index of impact investing coverage.

Pensions & Investments publishes an article by GIIN CEO Amit Bouri about impact investing reaching a defining moment. The piece delves into the complex nature of the industry at this stage of growth and shares questions that must be addressed in order to ensure impact investing achieves its potential. Read more >

World Economic Forum (WEF) issues a piece by GIIN CEO Amit Bouri and Rodrigo Tavares, CEO of Granito & Partners, as part of the WEF’s regional agenda for Latin America. The piece explores how impact investing can reverse the worrying trend that Latin Americans may slip back into poverty. Read more >

Forbes publishes an article featuring several impact investing leaders and their views on the importance of impact measurement and management, as well as the types of tools they use to measure their impact. Read more >

Financial Times releases a piece commenting on how impact investing is rapidly gaining traction. The piece also provides examples of new structures in the space and includes examples of institutional investor involvement. Read more >

Stanford Social Innovation Review publishes an article by Jean Case about the growing momentum around impact investing. The article includes three trends that Case identifies as critical to driving scale that will take impact investing to the next level. Read more >

Just Means releases an interview with GIIN CEO Amit Bouri about the crucial nature of impact measurement and management. The piece shares Amit’s insights about the growth of the industry, the role of impact measurement and management, and more. Read more >

Industry Events – Where in the World is the GIIN?

Over the past few months the GIIN has spoken at a variety of impact investing events around the world. From Sankalp Africa in Nairobi, to FLII in Mexico, to NORSIF in Norway, to The Economist Impact Investing Event in New York, to Impact Summit Europe in the Hague, to Impact Investing World Forum in London, to EAVCA in Tanzania…the GIIN has enjoyed leading sessions and meeting with you and other industry leaders at these events.

The GIIN team is frequently participating in (and hosting) industry events. We invite you to connect with us if you are planning to be there, too! Visit the events resource page of the GIIN website for an updated list of industry events. Connect with the GIIN at the starred events below.

* Council on Foundations: Leading Together Annual Conference

* Impact Capitalism Summit