Resources

Fiduciary responsibility and regulations

• IRS Program-Related Investments Guide: IRS definition and examples of Program Related Investments.

• MacArthur Foundation: Legal and Exempt Organizations Tax Aspects of Impact Investing: An overview of the laws applying to 501(c)(3) organizations when making or receiving Program Related Investments.

• MacArthur Foundation: Legal and Policy Issues for Impact Investing: A report on the legal and governance frameworks surrounding Mission-Related Investments.

• Mission-Related and Program Related Investments for Private Foundations: An overview of the definitions and legal criteria for PRIs and MRIs .

• Opportunity Zone Eligibility Tool: An interactive tool for exploring designated Opportunity Zones and associated social metrics.

UNPRI: Writing a Responsible Investment Policy: A tool for asset owners who would like to develop a responsible investment policy.

Innovation in impact investing

• Omidyar Network: Across the Returns Continuum: Omidyar’s framework for investing across the returns continuum, from fully commercial investments to philanthropic grants.

• Omidyar Network: Moving Beyond the Tradeoffs: An evaluation of the implied tradeoffs in Impact Investing between social and financial returns.

• Omidyar Network: Priming the Pump: A report on how Impact Investing can be used to scale entire industry sectors, in addition to individual firms.

• Kresge Foundation: Guarantees a Needed Part of Community Development Infrastructure: Reflections on why guarantees are needed to drive community development investing by Kresge Foundation’s Managing Director of the Social Investment Practice.

• Kresge Foundation: Making “Cents” of Guarantees: Reflections on the risk-adjusted returns of guarantees by Kresge Foundation’s CIO.

Financial performance of impact investing

• Barclay’s Sustainable Investing and Bold Returns Report: A study on the link between ESG incorporation and corporate bond
  performance.

• ESG and Financial Performance: Aggregated Evidence: A meta study of over 2,000 studies on the business case for ESG investing.

• GIIN Annual Impact Investing Survey (2018): A report with a detailed look at industry trends, asset performance and impact measurement.

• GIIN’s Real Assets Financial Performance Report (2017): An analysis of the financial performance of real assets funds in timber, real estate and infrastructure.

• How and Why SRI Performance Differs from Conventional Strategies: A study on the differences in SRI and non-SRI domestic equity mutual fund performance.

• Morgan Stanley’s Sustainable Reality: An overview of the financial performance of different sustainable investment strategies.

• Morningstar Sustainable Funds U.S. Landscape Report: An evaluation of the growth, performance and strategies of ESG Funds.

• Nuveen TIAA’s Responsible Investing Report: A report on the performance of Responsible Investing compared to broad market indices.

• Oxford University’s From Stockholder to Stakeholder: A case for how ESG investing can drive financial outperformance.

• Sustainable Investing: Establishing Long-Term Value and Performance: A meta-analysis of over 100 academic studies on sustainable investing.

• UNEP’s Demystifying Responsible Investment Performance: An analysis of responsible investment performance and next steps for more in-depth academic and practitioner research on ESG factors.

• UNPRI Practices in Private Equity Report: An overview of responsible investment (RI) practices in private equity globally.

• USSIF Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing (2018): A resource providing information on broad trends and financial and social performance of Impact Investing.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion in impact investing

• Why Diversity Wins: Research by McKinsey on the financial outperformance of diverse teams and management.

• Mission Investors Exchange Resources: Diversity & Asset Management: A compilation of reports on diversity in the capital markets.

• Designing Economic Democracy: A whitepaper about Ujima’s community-allocated investment strategy.

• Flipping the Power Dynamic: An assessment of how diversity in entrepreneurship impacts investment outcomes.

• Knight Foundation’s Diversifying Investments Report: A study of ownership diversity and performance in the asset management industry.

• Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital: An examination of the underrepresentation of women in alternative market management.

Impact evaluation frameworks

• Acumen Fund Concepts: An overview of Acumen Fund’s approach to quantifying an investment’s social impact and comparing it with existing charitable options for that explicit social issue.

• B Lab: A nonprofit that issues B Corp Certification, administers the B Impact Management programs, and advocates for benefit corporations.

• Harvard Law School ESG Reports and Ratings Overview: An overview of ESG reports and ratings for public equities.

• Impact Management Project: A forum for building global consensus on how to measure, report, compare and improve impact performance.

• Investor’s Council Impact Measurement and Management Leadership Initiative: A collaborative initiative to define and put into practice common standards and norms for integrating impact considerations into investment management.

• IRIS +: An interactive tool and resource bank for increasing accessibility, clarity, and comparability for impact metrics.

• PWC’s Total Impact Measurement & Management: A framework for value non-financial impacts and identifying opportunities that have a positive impact on society.

• SASB Industry Standards Application Guide: A guide for using the Sustainable Industry Classification System (SICS) to group companies based on shared sustainability risks and opportunities.

• Toniic Guide to Impact Measurement: A report focusing on why and how impact investors can increase the value of information about impact.

Place-based impact investing

• Urban Institute: Mapping and Assessing Local Capacities for Place-Based Impact Investing: A brief illustrating the value of mapping to support place-based Impact Investing (PBII) collaboration.

• Urban Institute: Place-Based Impact Investing Ecosystems: An overview of approaches and examples to build a PB ecosystem and share practitioner lessons for igniting collaboration.

• W.E. UpJohn Institute’s Building Share Prosperity Report: An evaluation of various place-based strategies and their success contributing to overall community prosperity.

Shareholder engagement

• ICCR’s 2021 Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guide: A guide to ICCR member-sponsored resolutions for 2019 corporate proxies.

• As You Sow’s 2020 Proxy Voting Guidelines: A guide for corporate shareholders to align their ESG principals with their voting.

Newsletters

• Aperio Group: A blog covering market research and regulatory developments around Impact Investing.

• Case Foundation: Regular blog posts about the latest trends in social change and key milestones in Impact Investing.

• Impact Assets: Issue briefs that explore topics of interest to impact investors, wealth advisors, and others active in the field of impact investing.

• ImpactAlpha: A podcast and blog about news and developments across the Impact Investing sector.

• Mission Throttle: A journal covering stories, insights, and observations from the field of Impact Investing.

• United Nations Principals for Responsible Investment: Guides, case studies, webinars and events to inform investors how to incorporate ESG considerations into investment decisionmaking and ownership.

Resources curated by Avivar Capital