Impact investing assets are growing in volume, strategies and performance, according to reports released Tuesday by the Global Impact Investing Network.
The two GIIN reports reflect what CEO and co-founder Amit Bouri called in a news release "the expanding appeal of impact investing" among pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors.
Impact investing assets grew by an 18% compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2022, according to the reports, based on a sample of 308 impact investors around the world managing a collective $371 billion.
Pension funds made up the largest share of the investment managers' impact capital at 20%, followed by family offices at 15%, development finance institutions at 14% and insurance companies at 7%. Capital from pension funds and insurance companies saw the fastest growth, at 32% annually between 2017 and 2022, the reports said.
When it comes to financial returns, 74% of the impact investors said they target risk-adjusted market-rate returns, while the rest target returns closer to market rate or for capital preservation.
Regarding performance, 79% of impact investors said their financial performance meets or exceeds their targets. When it comes to impact, 88% said their impact performance meets or exceeds those targets.
The reports also found more diverse asset classes used for impact investing. Private equity has the largest share, with 26%, followed by private debt at 22% and real assets at 17%. The fastest growing asset class is public debt, followed by real assets.
By sector, the largest in terms of assets allocated by impact investors, were energy, financial services, health care and microfinance. The fastest growing sectors were housing, which increased 44% between 2017 and 2022, and information and communication technologies, which grew 30%.
