Globally, the market for impact is accelerating.
Between 2019 and 2020, the global assets under management (AUM) of impact investing funds increased from ~US$500 billion to ~US$630 billion, at an annual growth rate of ~26%. The IFC further estimated that, in 2020, an additional US$1.6 trillion of investment assets were intended for impact, but did not have systems in place to measure impact.
Yet, more is needed. Post-COVID-19, financing the SDGs faces a gap of US$4.2 trillion annually.
For impact investing to thrive and deliver results, there is a critical need for more standardisation of data, clearer quantification of impact, and an expanded view of materiality reporting to accelerate its progress and adoption. The availability, quality, and interoperability of data must be improved so that companies, financial institutions, and investors can better assess progress towards sustainability goals and measure the impact of their operations and investments. Importantly, there must be a consistent set of global standards for practices, disclosures, and reporting, for impact investing to become mainstream.