| Notes |
As mentioned earlier, this report served as the basis for GIIN’s 2018 report Roadmap
for the Future of Impact Investing12, assessing the current state of the industry and
suggesting next steps to be take in the short and long term.
According to the GIIN report, between 2007-2017, the ecosystem moved from the end
of phase 1 (uncoordinated innovation) towards the beginning of phase 2 (capturing
the value of the marketplace) with field-leaders already, to some extent, at this phase.
The report outlines the developments that accrued on three levels: intermediation,
12 Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing: Reshaping Financial Markets (2018)
9
infrastructure, and absorptive capacity. Intermediation refers to organizations
supporting demand (potential investors), infrastructure focuses on the impact
ecosystem itself (data and network), and absorptive capacity hones in on supply
(entrepreneurs).
While there some challenges remain to be resolved, as outlined in the report, during
this marketplace building phase, it seems there have been numerous large-scale
achievements in the field globally. Highlights include the establishment of LeapFrog
Investments, the formation of the GIIN Investor’s Council and the global National
Advisory Boards, the development of IRIS, and creation of the Unreasonable Institute.
However, the threats outlined in the initial Monitor Institute report still hold true. As
they feared, it is too hard for some investors to move towards impact-driven portfolios
(e.g. institutional investors) and too easy for some investors to claim they are impactdriven, while actually engaging in “feel good” rather than “do good” investments. |