The UK government has helped create the Impact Investing Institute to look for more effective ways for investors to combine financial returns with a social purpose, and help to establish the UK as a global impact-investing hub.
The institute brings together the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing and the Implementation Taskforce, and is led by the two organizations’ respective chairs: Sir Harvey McGrath, former chair of the Man Group, who becomes chair of the institute’s advisory council, and Elizabeth Corley, former CEO of Allianz Global Investors, who becomes chair of the institute’s management board.
Both have launched the process to recruit the institute’s CEO.
‘The impact-investing market has grown rapidly in the UK and around the world,’ says Corley in a statement. ‘Investing for positive impact goes beyond avoiding harm and mitigating risks, and is at the center of a wider movement toward more responsible investing.
‘We want to make it as simple as possible for investors to put money into the issues they care most about. The institute will look at more ways for people to do this, whether you’re an asset manager, a pension fund or an ordinary saver who wants to invest money to change lives for the better.’
The institute will not manage assets but will promote increased impact investment and conduct research. It has broad backing from across the UK financial services and social sectors, and will be supported by private firms and foundations alongside the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for International Development and the City of London Corporation.
John Glen, economic secretary to the UK Treasury, says: ‘This is part of our wider work to promote sustainability, including in areas like green finance, which is encouraging investment in projects that will protect our natural environment.’
According to the New York-based Global Impact Investing Network, the impact investment market is now worth $502 bn.
