Measuring Impact With Meaning: 50 Funds That Are Best For The World
By: Flory Wilson, Director of Measure What Matters Initiative
As the impact investing movement grows, B Lab is proud to honor 50 of the funds leading the way in meaningful and transparent impact management with the 2016 Best for the World Funds list, launched this month in partnership with B the Change Media.
December has been a big month for impact investing — the momentum of our movement was on display at an oversubscribed GIIN Investor Forum in Amsterdam, where more than 800 investors and supporters of impact gathered for a two-day deep dive on the state of the industry. Nearly a decade in, the vision of a trillion dollar impact investing space seems within our reach as more mainstream investors are allocating capital and developing product for impact.
Now more than ever, there is greater urgency to clarify what asset owners and managers mean by “impact” and to leverage standardized tools that allow for comprehensive management of impact with rigor, consistency, while not creating a burdensome process that distracts an entrepreneur from the goal of scaling a business impactfully and profitably.
One solution is highlighted in our recently released inaugural “Best for the World” Funds list, which includes 50 fund managers that are doing impact management with meaning. B Lab is proud to extend our Best for the World honors beyond the community of Certified B Corporations and into the world of impact investing. These 50 funds have gone through the rigorous GIIRS Impact Rating process, which measures the impact intent of the fund and the actual impact performance of its underlying portfolio companies. The rating process covers business model impact (think socially or environmentally beneficial products/services and key beneficiary groups, weighted by intentionality, intensity, scale and outcomes) as well as the ESG/Operational impact of the portfolio.
The 50 Best for the World Funds invest all around the globe, across sectors, asset classes and impact themes. They are a diverse group with one common thread: they are deeply committed to measuring impact, putting the data to use to improve performance over time, and to transparently sharing with their investors impact performance over the lifetime of their fund.
The GIIRS team celebrated a number of these funds — including Adobe Capital, AlphaMundi Group, Anonna Sustainable Investments, Bamboo Capital Partners, Bridges Ventures, Catalyst Microfinance Investors, Caspian Capital Partners, Catalyst Microfinance Investors, Developing World Markets, Grassroots Capital, Gray Ghost Ventures, Leapfrog Investments, Microvest, Mov Investimentos, Pearl Capital Partners, Quona Capital, Village Capital, Vital Capital, and Vox Capital — together in Amsterdam to celebrate their individual and collective achievement in impact and their leadership in building a credible, robust, impact investing industry.
We hope you will recognize the deep commitment to impact made by the Best for the World Funds, honor their achievement, and join them in the pursuit of measuring and management impact with rigor.
To learn more about our Best for the World Funds, read the coverage of the lists in B Magazine, on newsstands now, and on the Best for the World website.
GIIRS Ratings are the gold standard for funds to manage their portfolio’s impact with the same rigor as their financial performance. For investors wondering how to start measuring and managing impact, Measure What Matters programs and the B Analytics platform provide a seamless data collection, management, and reporting solution for capital markets partners. Learn more at b-analytics.net or reach out to us at info@b-analytics.net.
By: Flory Wilson, Director of Measure What Matters Initiative
