Giving Compass' Take:

• Research shows that financiers may not have the most expertise or experience needed when it comes to successful impact investing. The sector should look to social impact professionals to understand how the best way to invest. 

• What are the challenges of investing with impact? 

• Read about pushing the boundaries of impact investing. 

When it comes to driving social progress, good intentions and a big heart are not enough to guide good decisions. Moving the needle requires skilled professionals who have experience creating social change. Unfortunately, our research shows that when it comes to impact investing, financiers don’t value such expertise and wisdom as much as they should.

While social impact professionals eager to bring the power of markets to bear on social and environmental issues may find that their social impact expertise is undervalued, there are still plausible pathways to impact investing.

While social impact professionals eager to bring the power of markets to bear on social and environmental issues may find that their social impact expertise is undervalued, there are still plausible pathways to impact investing:

  •  Go to “the dark side.” Embrace the traditional investing world for a few years to develop an investing track record, then move to a social impact fund.
  • Seek a job with an “impact-first” fund. Most foundations that have added the impact investing model to their grant model perfectly understand the value of social impact expertise.
  • Look into larger institutions that have the luxury to specialize. 
  • Participate in the growing economy of impact investing services. 
  • Reinvent the partnership model and launch your own impact fund.

Read the full article about impact investing by Bernadette Clavier and Neil Malhotra at Stanford Social Innovation Review.