As the evolution of the impact investing industry moves from "what is it" to "how is it done", case studies become increasingly important.
According to the GIIN's 2019 Annual Impact Investor Survey, there isn't one single way to be an impact investor.
With so many different types of investors pursuing a variety of impact objectives and financial return targets, the GIIN aims to bring greater transparency to the market by sharing diverse examples of impact investments and viewpoints held by investors who are motivated by social and environmental considerations.*
The GIIN's Research Center provides investors with information and stories about impact investments in action. Below are case studies from the GIIN's various initiatives and reports.
Aegon N.V. is a multinational life insurance, pensions, and asset management company headquartered in the Netherlands. Aegon Asset Management (AAM), the company’s investment arm, manages most of the company’s assets.
Christian Super is an Australian Superannuation Fund that invests on the principles of the Christian faith.
MN is a fiduciary asset manager that carries out the pensions administration for almost two million people in The Netherlands. MN has 129 billion euro assets under management and aims for both financial and social return and long-term value creation for its stakeholders, the large metal schemes PME and PMT, as well as the pension fund for the merchant navy. MN sees the integration of climate-related opportunities and risks in investment decisions and processes as its fiduciary duty. MN has engaged in impact investing since 2016. The current impact investments total 1.9 billion euro at the end of 2018. For more information, see www.mn.nl.
Nuveen is the investment management arm of TIAA, and manages nearly $1 trillion in a wide range of asset classes for institutional investors around the world as well for its parent company’s general account.
Prudential Financial, with operations in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America, provides its customers with a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, and investment management.
The Salvation Army is a registered charity that operates in 128 countries worldwide running charity shops, shelters for the homeless and coordinating disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries.
Wespath Benefits and Investments is a not-for-profit administrative agency that supervises and administers the retirement plans, investment funds, and health and welfare benefit plans of active and retired clergy and lay employees of The United Methodist Church.
responsAbility Investments AG is an asset manager in the field of development investments and offers professionally-managed investment solutions to private, institutional, and public investors.
Founded in 2012, SunFunder aims to drive a global energy transformation to provide universal access to energy and mitigate the environmental impacts of energy production and distribution to limit climate change.
Glenmede is an investment and private wealth management firm founded in 1956 with a long history of partnering with its clients to align their social and environmental goals with their financial objectives.
Phatisa is a Mauritius domiciled, sector-specific African private equity fund manager located in and operating across sub-Saharan Africa.
Healthy Neighborhoods promotes community revitalization through property acquisitions and renovations in distressed Baltimore neighborhoods.
HPET supports access to affordable and sustainable housing through property acquisitions throughout the United States.
M-PIRE was a collaborative pilot between the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC) and Fannie Mae that helped Fannie Mae develop green mortgage products.
The Collaborative for Healthy Communities lends to federally qualified health centers, which provide healthcare to medically underserved communities.
The California Endowment’s goal with the FreshWorks Fund is to increase the availability of healthy food options in areas where there is limited access, particularly low-income communities.
The Community Finance Fund for Social Entrepreneurs (CFFSE) provides financial services for low-income populations in Australia.
Civic Builders aims to provide affordable charter school real estate, and it has done this by providing protection to more senior investors investing in dozens of schools nationwide.
Via FlexCAP, Habitat for Humanity International’s (HFHI) goal was to build more homes for low-income families by attracting commercial sources of capital.
Peak II engages in equipment finance lending in Tanzania.
Adobe Capital, founded in 2012 and based in Mexico City, creates social and environmental impact by investing in impactful early- and growth-stage enterprises in Latin America.
Founded in 2005, Beartooth Capital is a real assets investment firm that has acquired nearly 25,000 acres in the Western United States with the intent to restore and rehabilitate degraded wildlife habitats, waterways, and ranchlands.
LeapFrog Investments is a private equity firm founded in 2007 that invests in financial services and healthcare companies targeting underserved and low-income populations, primarily in Africa and Asia.
Lok Capital (“Lok”) is a private equity fund manager, founded in 2004, that focuses on fostering financial and social inclusion in India.
Acumen Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund, raises charitable donations to make equity investments in early-stage companies that provide a product or service to the poor.
Business Partners International (BPI) is a fund manager providing debt and equity financing to small and medium-sized enterprises in East and Southern Africa.
The Medical Credit Fund (MCF), a nonprofit impact investment fund within the PharmAccess Group, provides loans in partnership with local financial institutions primarily to private health clinics and pharmacies across sub-Saharan Africa.
responsAbility, a Swiss asset manager, has been active in impact investing since 2003. Its aim is to drive the growth of development-related sectors—namely finance, agriculture, and energy—through return-seeking debt and equity investments.
The resources listed below provide additional information about how impact investors are allocating capital to fund solutions to the world's most intractable challenges, including those that reduce poverty, empower marginalized populations, and protect natural resources, as well as many other issues.
Sign-up to receive our newsletter and announcements about the latest impact investing news, events, and GIINsights
