Generation Impact: International Perspectives on Impact Accounting
IIX CEO and Founder Professor Durreen Shahnaz has contributed the chapter “The Risk Not Taken.”
One decade since its birth, the impact investing market has grown exponentially to several hundred billion dollars. In order to scale and capture the hundreds of trillions of private capital available for social good, it will be crucial to address the biggest question in impact investing today: who is willing to take on risk? Specifically, who is willing to take on the risk of innovation; the risk of valuing women and the underserved in financial markets; and the risk of giving a voice to the voiceless? This chapter examines a novel ecosystem approach, developed over the past decade by Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) to address risk at multiple levels of the social capital markets value chain. By incorporating the voices of underserved beneficiaries in impact assessments; providing impact enterprises with technical assistance, investment readiness, and capital raising support; and using blended finance from donors to catalyze greater change, IIX has unlocked 10 to 20 times more investment capital while improving the risk-return-impact profile of investments. To lead impact investing in the long term, those in the sector must similarly learn to embrace and address risk through innovative approaches that give voice and value to society’s most vulnerable.
More about Generation Impact:
With contributions from world-leading scholars and practitioners, Generation Impact brings together lessons from both developed and developing economies, shares current best practices and suggests future trends in impact accounting. The book analyses social and environmental capital protocols, the international convergence in impact investing, organisational management and capacity-building and best practice in assurance and training, and offers reflections on policy directions. Through its case studies, it provides insights into a growing global community of practitioners, academics, impact investors, policy-makers and organisations of all kinds working to cement the central importance of accounting for social value.
If you would like to learn more, get your copy of Generation Impact here.
