The significant role that capital plays in shaping our society and environment is in focus more than ever before. Correspondingly, many investors are beginning to look at the impacts of their investments and gain a better understanding of the different contributions they are making to communities and the planet. At the same time, social entrepreneurs and not for profit organisations are exploring innovative ways to expand the size, scope and sustainability of the work they do in addressing societal challenges, and to supplement funding provided by government and philanthropy.

As a key responsible investment approach, impact investing is emerging as a powerful strategy for investors to intentionally direct capital towards solutions for the entrenched issues we face, from housing shortages to financial exclusion to tackling our climate crisis. In doing so, investors have the opportunity to better meet their members’ or customers’ needs, can potentially achieve greater portfolio diversification and – at the same time – help deliver scale to achieving positive social and environmental outcomes.

In order to grow the market for impact investments, the need for data is paramount to measure investor activity and the demand for impact investments, and to build a recognised set of data around the financial and impact performance of impact investment products.

The Benchmarking Impact 2018 report is the second study to measure the investment activity and performance of the Australian impact investment market. It follows on from the pilot study published in 2016 by Impact Investing Australia to document market development, build the evidence base for the sector and illustrate impact investment performance from a financial and social impact perspective.

This follow-up study shows how the impact investment market is growing in Australia and sheds light on the diversity of investable products, investment strategies and types of impacts being measured. This report features data for the period 1 July 2015 to 31 December 2017 from 24 organisations overseeing 51 retail and wholesale impact investment products in Australia.