"The impact measurement guidelines were developed by a Working Group on Impact Measurement, launched as part of the G8 Social Investment Taskforce at the G8 Summit in London, 2013. The guidelines outline impact measurement best practices for impact investors and the "impact organizations" (i.e., investees) they work with. The Guidelines for Good Impact Practice were developed to be practical in nature, broadly applicable, adaptable to the unique goals and internal/external context in which an investor operates, and - importantly - designed to be applicable at a portfolio, deal, and enterprise level. This work builds significantly on the work of the EVPA and aligns with recently adopted European Standard for Social Impact."

"The new study provides an objective, rigorous look at two of the most important aspects of impact investing: financial returns and long-term impact. Specifically, the study explores the widespread assumption that impact investing private equity funds cannot achieve market-rate financial performance. The report's findings suggest that - in certain market segments - investors might not need to expect lower returns as a tradeoff for social impact. Impact investing is an investment approach that intentionally seeks to generate measurable social or environmental impact alongside a positive financial return. According to the study's authors, certain market segments of funds in the sample yield returns close to those of public market indices."

"This report, "Growing Impact" follows IFC’s first assessment of the global market for impact investing and investor practices, "Creating Impact", published in April 2019. In this new report we explore more deeply the size and makeup of the impact investing market and analyze the practices of impact investors, drawing on data from a survey of the signatories to the Operating Principles and a set of 32 signatory case studies. The case studies illustrate how we are creating a powerful market force by embracing a shared vision and approach."

"The guide provides investors with a basic overview of social metrics for impact investing, an outline of the issues and challenges of social impact measurement, a summary of existing social impact measurement tools and a description of how they are being used, and a set of diagnostic tools to help investors think through key questions and issues related to measurement."

"The GIIN has published Getting Started with IRIS, a guide to help impact investors select and apply social, environmental, and financial performance metrics from the IRIS catalog. IRIS contains more than 400 generally-accepted performance metrics, including metrics commonly used in impact sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, and financial services."

"The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious and universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The SDGs also present a tremendous opportunity for investors to support this global agenda by deploying increasing amounts of capital to high-impact projects that address these critical societal challenges.

These case studies show the increasingly sophisticated and targeted ways in which impact investors are directing capital towards the SDGs, designing products to address one or several goals, by incorporating them throughout the investment cycle: during sourcing and due diligence, investment selection and structuring, investment management, and exit."

"This report has focused on developing an in-depth, demand-side understanding of the needs and challenges facing inclusive businesses, rather than on studying the drivers and constraints of grantmakers and investors. However, we acknowledge that the latter is a valuable area for further study and action going forward.

The key themes discussed here are based on the sum of Monitor's extensive research into more than 700 inclusive businesses in Africa and India, and Acumen Fund's decade of experience as a pioneering impact investor. They also draw together the experiences and observations of dozens of impact investors, grant funders, academics and other experts."

"From Ideas to Practice, Pilots to Strategy is the second publication in the Forum's Mainstreaming Impact Investing Initiative. The report takes a deeper look at why and how asset owners began to include impact investing in their portfolios and continue to do so today, and how they overcame operational and cultural constraints affecting capital flow. Given that impact investing expertise is spread among dozens if not hundreds of practitioners and academics, the report is a curation of some -but certainly not all -of those leading voices. The 15 articles are meant to provide investors, intermediaries and policy-makers with actionable insights on how to incorporate impact investing into their work."

"Many investors and entrepreneurs are using creative ways to deploy financial capital in service of the world’s most intractable challenges, achieving both financial and social returns. This practice is known as “impact investing.” As impact investing spreads and becomes more commonplace, education and training will be increasingly crucial for investors and practitioners to access the knowledge and skills they need for success."

"A social impact bond (SIB) is a new approach for scaling social programs. Currently being piloted in the United Kingdom and generating interest globally, a SIB is a multistakeholder partnership in which philanthropic funders and impact investors—not governments—take on the financial risk of expanding preventive programs that help poor and vulnerable people. Nonprofits deliver the program to more people who need it; the government pays only if the program succeeds. Because the concept of a SIB is so new (the first and only SIB is the UK pilot mentioned above), information about how—and how well—this approach could work is very limited. In this report, the most thoroughly researched study of SIBs to date, we explain how SIBs are structured, assess their potential in two specific program areas (homelessness and criminal justice), describe the various stakeholder groups involved, and present the results of a pro forma analysis of a hypothetical SIB."