Opening the Market for Impact Investments: The Need for Adapted Portfolio Tools

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Brandstetter ◽  
Othmar M. Lehner
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Portfolio Risk ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Traditional Markets ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Overall Performance

AbstractSocial and environmental impact investing as an activity as well as a concept has grown in recognition on a truly global scale. Yet, apart from anecdotal success stories of some specialized forms such as social-impact bonds, little is known about the field and the complex interplay between agents, instruments and regulations. Neither the rationales of the various participants in the field, nor the evaluation criteria for some of its instruments have been scrutinized in-depth so far. Especially the important constructs of risk and returns from a financial as well as a social impact perspective have so far been used in differing fashions, thus rendering the applied logic constructs incompatible to each other. Compatibility, however, is a pre-requisite for the inclusion of impact investments into the portfolios of traditional institutional investors. Much can be gained from this, not only would a huge inflow of capital improve the social and environmental sector, but early evidence shows that the overall performance of mixed portfolios might profit because the experienced low correlation of impact investments to traditional markets reduces portfolio risk and increases sustainability. In addition, more and more investors demand ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria to be considered when it comes to building portfolios because of the great opportunities provided.

Social impact bonds and their implications for third sector organisations: experiences from the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Patetta ◽  
Marta Enciso Santocildes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
The United States ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Private Investments ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Third Sector Organisations

The social impact bond (SIB) is defined as a form of payment-by-results scheme combining governmental payments with private investments. This paper explores the motivations and implications of three third sector organisations (TSOs) participating in SIBs in Continental Europe. It offers an understanding of the involvement of TSOs in this type of scheme; and it shares insights about a context that is different from the United Kingdom and the United States – the Netherlands – which presents the opportunity to expand our knowledge about SIBs.

scholarly journals Social impact bonds and fast policy: Analyzing the Australian experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2094152
Author(s):  
Jacob Broom
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Australian Experience ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Do So

Social impact bonds (SIBs) are attracting an increasing amount of critical scholarly attention. As an outcomes-based mechanism for financing social services, SIBs financialize social policy through the logic of impact investing. Responding to calls for attention to the politics of SIBs’ development, and breaking with the literature’s focus on cases from the UK and USA, this article explores the emergence of SIBs in Australia. It employs the concept of “fast policy,” which theorizes why and how policies move across borders, and describes the contemporary conditions that enable them to do so. Using document analysis, the article explores the discursive devices and practices used to justify the “pulling in” of SIBs to states in Australia. It finds that key actors in the Australian social impact world justified SIBs’ adoption using their synergy with powerful, popular policy discourses and practices, rather than engaging in political debates about their desirability. The Australian experience illuminates the power of intermediaries and the investors they represent over the design and proliferation of SIBs, as well as the roles played by austerity politics, policy experimentalism, and fast policy infrastructures in producing a context in which SIBs could be made real.

Insights on lean gamification for higher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Deif
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Lean Thinking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Processing ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose There is no argument that using games (gamification) is an efficient way of learning in higher education. The questions, though, are which gamification approach is most suitable at that level and how to assess its suitability? This paper aims to attempt to partially answer these two questions, in the context of lean thinking education. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers an assessment criteria to investigate the impact of lean gamification based on the evaluation of motivational, cognitive and social processing during games. In addition, a study is conducted among selected games using these assessment criteria. The study included statistical as well as comparative analysis. The study was based on a sample of undergraduate students learning various lean thinking concepts through physical games over the course of six months. Findings Results showed different interaction levels between the three evaluation criteria depending on the type and design of the lean game. The reported scores and analysis drew various lessons on how to use gamification in the context of lean teaching, outlined some best practices in lean games design and suggested recommendations in mapping lean games from industrial domain to higher education domain. Research limitations/implications The scope of this research was bounded by the sample size of students as well as the selected nine lean thinking games. Larger pool of students as well as other lean thinking games can offer further insights and confirm the outlined ones. Practical implications The presented work will help lean thinking educators in higher education to better understand the student dynamics associated with engaging them in this type pf pedagogical approach. It will help guiding lean thinking games’ designer on how to better cater for this segment of lean thinking learners. Finally, it will aid in promoting lean gamification as an effective learning tool. Social implications The social impact is achieved through enhancing lean thinking education to a wide number of students. This will positively impact the society through the application of the effective lean tools at different stages, levels and places in these students’ life experiences. Originality/value This study offers one of the very few applications in gamification assessment in the context of lean thinking. Furthermore, it integrates the social processing criterion for the first time with the classical two other criteria (motivation and cognitive) used in games education assessment. Finally, it offers new insights for lean thinking game designers for higher education learners.

Financing Social Enterprises

2019 ◽  
pp. 126-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Liu
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Government Grants ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Venture ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Social Venture Capital

This chapter discusses funding and financing issues of small and micro social enterprises (SEs) following a systematic approach. It conducts a systematic review of the SE financing literature and proposes a systematic model to examine the SE financing ecosystem. Specifically, the chapter discusses some traditional financing sources of SEs, including internal money, donations, government grants, and conventional debt and equity and examines SEs' advantage and challenges in securing financing using these traditional ways. To address the challenges of SE financing, this chapter proposes a systematic approach of solution and discusses some new and innovative sources of financing for SEs, such as the social impact bonds and the social venture capital. It then discusses crowdfunding and its best use for various types and stages of SEs. The chapter also suggests a list of future research ideas.

scholarly journals Shared stakes, distributed investment: Socially engaged art and the financialization of social impact

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Rosamond
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Double Reading ◽  
Socially Engaged Art ◽  
The Social ◽  
Art Practices ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Open School

This article examines the implications of the financialization of social impact and the emerging social impact bonds (SIBs) market for socially engaged art practices. How do SIBs, which allow for investment in social impact metrics, shift the broader contexts through which the value of social impact is understood in art discourses? In the British context, recent projects by Assemble, Open School East and others do important social work, yet echo the logic of the social investment market by outsourcing social impact. Rather than dismissing socially engaged art initiatives as having been recuperated by financialized capitalism, I suggest the need to develop new ways of achieving a double reading of these works as they relate to – and upset the distinctions between – stakeholder and bondholder valuation.

Outcomes-based contracts in the UK public sector

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-46
Author(s):  
Chris Fox ◽  
Kevin Albertson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Incentive Structures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
The Uk

A major innovation in public sector commissioning in recent years is the recourse of the state to so called ‘Outcomes-based Contracts’ particularly Payment by Results (PbR) in the UK. A PbR contract contains three elements, a commissioner, a service provider and an outcomes metric. The outcomes metrics is designed, in theory, to align the incentive structures of the commissioner and the service delivery agency so as to achieve efficient results. Thus, PbR is theorised to allow public commissioners to pay a provider of services on the basis of specified outcomes achieved rather than the inputs or outputs delivered. A related innovation is that of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs). SIBs are distinguished from PbR contracts in that they supposedly allow financiers to contribute to the social innovation process by providing working capital. The return on the SIB is calculated using PbR methodology. Compared to a PbR contract, the SIB contract seeks to align the incentive structures, not only of commissioners and providers, but also financiers through an appropriate metrics-based payments scheme. PbR and SIBs have been referred to as key tools for delivering change. In this chapter we set out the theoretical and practical challenges arising from the development and application of PbR and SIBs and consider the evidence of their efficacy or otherwise.

Impact investing will boost global Islamic finance

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Thomson Reuters ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Investment Choices

Subject Impact investing and Islamic finance. Significance The share of Islamic financial assets remains limited, currently accounting for just 1.27% of global financial assets, according to the latest Zawya Thomson Reuters report on the 'State of the Islamic Economy'. However, new opportunities are ahead. Impact investing, defined by its ambition of achieving the dual goals of measurable positive social and environmental impact, and financial return, is a rapidly growing segment of international financial markets. It offers unique opportunities for Islamic investors looking for investment choices that meet the goals of an Islamic value-based investment approach. Impacts Impact investing will create impetus for further product development in the Islamic finance sector. New deals are in the pipeline after record innovation in 2015 in social-impact bonds that are compliant with Islamic financial principles. They will increase the attractiveness of the Islamic finance sector to a whole range of investors.

Investigation into Funding Strategies of Social Enterprises

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-61
Author(s):  
Shengfen Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Venture Philanthropy ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Impact Bonds

Abstract It has been attracting growing attention of all sectors of society to support social enterprises with social investment. This article focuses on the four much-discussed funding strategies of venture philanthropy, social impact investment, social impact bonds and crowdfunding. For the research, a total of 186 questionnaires were distributed and 92 of them were returned and found valid, with the rate of recovery standing at 49.5%. It is found that among the four strategies, the more heard of, the clearer, but that a strategy is clear does not mean it is readily accepted by the people; and among the companies with the registered name including the wording of social enterprise and those logging in as social enterprises, there is no significant statistical difference in the funding strategy. The result manifests the social enterprises in Taiwan are in the start-up stage, and goes in line with this article’s observation of the funding strategies, i.e., the funding strategy of the social enterprise has a lot to do with its life cycle. On this account, this article holds that we should pay attention to the life cycle of the social enterprises, adopt appropriate funding strategies based on their development stage and build sustainable business modes.

scholarly journals The Institutional Work of Creating and Implementing Social Impact Bonds

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Lowe ◽  
Jonathan Kimmitt ◽  
Rob Wilson ◽  
Mike Martin ◽  
Jane Gibbon
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Financial Structure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Institutional Work ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Impact Bonds ◽  
Private Investors

Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are a new and increasingly popular public policy tool which link payments to outcomes thus, in theory, transferring risk from governments to private investors. This paper draws on the concepts of institutional work and discursive institutionalism to analyse how a SIB influenced the rules, norms and decisions of key actors. It identifies two dominant discourses. One focused on addressing the social determinants of health, the other on creating the financial structure needed to run a SIB. These discourses were congruent at a macro-policy level, but tensions emerged between them at the meso and micro levels. This exemplifies the interdependence of structure and agency in institutional work and the mediating role which discourse plays. It also suggests that the effectiveness of a SIB depends not just on whether it achieves its outcome targets but also on whether it can institute new sets of practices and thinking.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Sustainability of Social Housing Policies through the Social Impact Approach: Innovative Perspectives form a “Paris Affordable Housing Challenge” Project in France

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9903
Author(s):  
Cristina Coscia ◽  
Subhash Mukerjee ◽  
Bianca Ludovica Palmieri ◽  
Chiara Quintanal Rivacoba
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
The Social

The environmental, economic and social challenges re-launched in the European Union Agendas (e.g., Horizon 2020 and Europe 2020–2030) have recently returned to being highly debated. In particular, policies and interventions in the field of social housing (SH) are still remaining crucial issues for urban regeneration. These interventions are aimed to combine sustainability criteria with architectural, urban and environmental quality. In this context, our goal in this article is to provide an innovative perspective on the topic highlighting the positive returns enabled by the logic of the social impact approach (SIA). A pilot project is proposed to be performed in the VI arrondissement of Paris. Starting from the French regulatory context and the requirements set by the “Paris Affordable Housing Challenge” competition, the levers of social finance for new social demands and the levers of incentives are applied to a real case. The research results show that the application of the emerging principles of social impact investing (SII) in areas difficult to access in the private market had positive returns. The final aim of the article is to outline guidelines that consider the quality, management and generation of the social impact requirements highlighted in the proposal to facilitate the application of the SIA to other interventions and contexts.

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