ABSTRACT

Impact investing is gaining global attention from society, governments and businesses. Increasingly, it is seen as a new paradigm to deal with the economic crisis and curtailed public budgets, an answer to the diversified needs of society. It now ranks high on the policy agenda of governments and international organizations, and private investors are searching for new investment opportunities to channel the liquidity available.

This book is the first to look at impact investing as a "refocus" of venture capital to sustain the development of societal impact enterprises. Principles and Practice of Impact Investing collects chapters from international experts on the subject, discussing the foundations of the movement, analysing leading international cases and debating future trends in the field. It also includes interviews with some of the most influential stakeholders of impact investing across the world.

The book is an inspirational and practical guide for actors and stakeholders to enable better understanding of impact investing. Taking an international perspective, the chapters primarily deal with mature economies, setting it apart from the existing literature focused on emerging countries. The book will be of interests to practitioners and executives, as well as researchers and MBA students.

chapter 1|25 pages

Impact investments

The emergence of a new beacon in investing?

chapter 2|19 pages

The early days of impact investing

Market size, investment type and returns

chapter 4|19 pages

Impact investing as a societal refocus of venture capital

The perspective of mature economies

chapter 5|21 pages

Measuring impact

A debate about the concepts of profit and value

chapter 6|14 pages

The future of impact investing

chapter 7|12 pages

Social enterprises

chapter 10|10 pages

The science of shared value

Integrating business and social analytics

chapter 11|13 pages

Innovating for impact investing

Financial institutions and beyond

chapter 15|26 pages

Leveraging the ecosystem for growth

Case studies from India

chapter 16|20 pages

Pioneer to mainstream

Lessons from the Indian impact investing ecosystem

chapter 17|21 pages

Impact investing in Central America

An analysis of the growth, diversity and potential of a young investment strategy in an emerging market 1

chapter 18|16 pages

Impact investing in Africa