How Women and Men Approach Impact Investing

Abstract

The term impact investing evokes widespread interest, but few people have a deep understanding of the topic, and even fewer practice impact investing. What is impact investing? Who uses this investment strategy, and what are their objectives? Impact investing is relatively new and has developed rapidly over the last decade. The term itself was introduced in 2007 when the Rockefeller Foundation convened leaders in the fields of finance, philanthropy, and development, with the aim of building an industry of investing for impact.1 While a great deal has been written about the subject, most of this work comes from the world of finance and asks questions about financial return, comparing impact investing with investing purely for profit. The practice of impact investing is evolving exponentially, in contrast to research on this still-underexplored subject.