The impact investing market continues to grow and mature, according to the Global Impact Investing Network's ninth annual investor study.
The 266 investors that participated in the study collectively manage $239 billion in impact investing assets, which they allocate across geographies, sectors and instruments. GIIN said this figure represents nearly half the total impact investing market as measured by assets under management.
A subset of 80 investors that responded to the survey both four years ago and this year saw their assets grew from $37 billion to about $69 billion, a compound annual growth rate of nearly 17%.
GIIN said this indicated that the market was growing not only through new investors entering the market, but also because of increasing assets under management from those already in the market.
Respondents forecasted strong future growth. Last year, they invested some $33 billion into more than 13,000 impact investments. In 2019, these organizations planned to invest at least $37 billion into more than 15,000 investments, a 13% projected growth in the volume of capital invested and 14% growth in their number of investments.
Two in three survey participants identified as fund managers; other investors were foundations, banks, development finance institutions, family offices and pension funds. A majority of investors are headquartered in developed markets.
In terms of investment focus, two-thirds of respondents said they made only impact investments, with the remaining third also making conventional ones.
Sixty-six percent of participants principally target market-rate returns, while 19% target returns closer to market rate and 15% returns closer to capital preservation.
Fifty-six percent said they focused on both social and environmental impact objectives. Thirty-six percent target only social objectives, and 7% only environmental aims.
Amit Bouri, GIIN's chief executive and co-founder, said in a statement that impact investors are stepping up to address global challenges, such as entrenched inequality and climate change. "They are accounting for considerations that have long been ignored in the financial sector — the impact of investments and businesses on people and the planet."
