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PrintOct 01, 2009
President Bill Clinton announced the launch of the Global Impacting Investing Network (GIIN), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting more effective impact investing around the world, at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Impact investing is the use of for-profit investment to address social and environmental problems. The GIIN will promote the infrastructure, activities, education, and research that enable more effective impact investing, and will ultimately lead to a coherent, well-developed marketplace for the impact investing industry.
Two major initiatives begin this work:
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The GIIN Investors' Council - a group of leading impact investors representing a diverse range of institutions from around the world. The Investors' Council will provide leadership in the industry, disseminate the latest research and best practices in the field, and support the creation and adoption of industry infrastructure, including impact metrics.
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The Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) - initiative to provide a common framework for measuring social and environmental impact of investments. IRIS addresses a major barrier to the growth of the impact investing industry - the lack of transparency and credibility in how funds define, track, and report on the social and environmental performance of their capital.
"This network is a response to growing appetites from investors across the world for a platform that allows them to work together to capture the powerful potential of impact investing," said Amit Bouri, Director of Strategy and Development for the GIIN. "Now is the moment to transform disparate efforts into a coherent industry so greater capital will flow to solutions to social and environmental problems."
The GIIN is supported by a $2.5 million commitment from the Rockefeller Foundation to mobilize investors to help develop the industry as well as to support the launch of an impact investing reporting and standards initiative. In addition, the GIIN announced the receipt of a $750,000 commitment from J.P. Morgan to encourage investors to grow the industry and a $1 million commitment from USAID toward the IRIS initiative.
"International aid, government funding, and philanthropic grants alone are insufficient to achieve the world's development aspirations, especially during a global recession," said Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. "Private investment capital, therefore, will need to compliment traditional resources. Our innovative, $28 million initiative will help establish and standardize the impact investing industry - and our support for the Global Impact Investing Network will enable pioneering impact investors to build a more efficient and powerful marketplace."
"We're very excited by the momentum behind the GIIN and what it can accomplish. When you see the kind of progress impact investments have had in solving social and environmental challenges, it's extraordinary to think about what could be achieved as the industry grows and becomes more efficient. We believe the GIIN can provide the framework and catalyst to help it evolve from a primarily fragmented industry to a mature market," said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase.
In addition to these core initiatives, the GIIN will also support education, research, and targeted outreach to help foster a coherent impact investing industry that channels investment capital efficiently to solutions for pressing social and environmental problems.
The commitment from the Rockefeller Foundation comes from a larger $28 million Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing initiative, aimed at building the impact investing industry. In addition to the investments announced today from the Rockefeller Foundation, J.P. Morgan, and USAID, the GIIN receives funding and guidance from the members of its investors' council.