More than 90 per cent of investors around the world are seeking to increase their allocation to impact investments, a new survey shows.
The poll of 80 investors by KBI Global Investors in April 2019 charted the views of financial advisers, foundations, endowments, asset managers and consultants.
It found that 78 per cent of investors are already invested in the impact market, with 94 per cent looking to increase their allocation to these investments over the coming three years.
The 78 per cent of investors already invested in impact investments consisted of 21 per cent in public equity, 21 per cent in private equity and 35 per cent in both.
Eoin Fahy, head of responsible investing at KBI Global Investors, said while the numbers were encouraging, the industry needs to do more to make the impact of these investments easier to measure.
He explained: “While the blended private and public equity approach to impact investing is widely accepted and growing, the impact community at large must do more to connect, educate and make impact investing more tangible for investors through better access and measurement.”
Increasingly investors expect impact investments to be delivered without any detriment to the investment return.
The KBI survey found that just 15 per cent of respondents in the public equity space thought it was fine to accept lower returns to achieve impact. A slightly higher percentage – 28 per cent – said this was acceptable in private equity.
Seven in 10 of those polled said that they would like further education and training on impact investments in the coming years.
