On the Way to Impact Investment: Mind the Gap between Theory and Practice

In this paper Qontigo and Clarity AI review some of the most prominent impact management and measurement frameworks developed by leading institutions around the world with the aim of identifying a baseline for what constitutes impact investment.They compare the current state of “impact-branded” investment practices by listed equity investors to the criteria identified in the baseline, in order to assess the level of misalignment in the interpretation of impact in theory versus practice.Importantly, the paper includes recommendations on how the investment community – including investors, regulators, financial service providers, and non-profit organizations – can address this issue.