How can you develop a social impact investing thesis?

In crafting a well defined impact thesis, it really comes down to what existing need that your impact fund is addressing. There should be clear evidence of the prevalent need and how the impact fund's strategy is going to address the need. These are critical steps that help you identify the impact goals.

Identifying your impact goals is crucial for effective social impact investing. Consider your values, interests, and priorities to determine the type of impact you want to achieve. Whether it's addressing climate change, improving education, or promoting health, defining your goals helps focus your investments and align them with your overarching vision for positive change.

Decide what is most critical to your organization's mission. Create content that is not just hocking your own company and wares, but highlighting people and issues that your company supports. Share content from orgs that do the same. Lift each other up.

Para desenvolver uma tese de investimento de impacto social, é essencial começar identificando questões sociais ou ambientais que você deseja abordar com seus investimentos. Em seguida, realizar uma pesquisa detalhada para entender o contexto e as possíveis soluções para esses problemas. Ao mesmo tempo, é importante definir métricas claras para avaliar o impacto social de seus investimentos e identificar empresas ou projetos que estejam alinhados com sua visão de impacto. Por fim, é crucial continuar monitorando e ajustando sua tese de investimento conforme necessário, à medida que novas informações e oportunidades surgem no campo do investimento de impacto social.

One thing I have found helpful during market research, impact reports, going down to the ground with a portfolio company and learning the key areas of improvement, I gain insight on the effectiveness of the impact goals that are truly bring the results that are intended and the others that need to be recalibrated

Evaluating trade-offs and risks is vital in social impact investing. Determine your comfort level with sacrificing financial return for social impact and assess the risks involved. Utilize frameworks like the impact risk-return spectrum or IRIS+ to balance trade-offs and measure risks, ensuring your investments align with your goals while managing potential downsides effectively.

I do not believe there is a trade of between returns and impact. The investment risk profiles vary depending o the investment strategy and the employed risk mitigation measures such as country or sector diversification. In African markets the prevalent risk is macro-economic factors that have seen a lot of strain of access to hard currency within various countries. Such a risk is usually mitigated by innovative solutions such as back to back loans from a private credit perspective, having country or sector exposure limits that limit various risk exposures and ensuring geographic diversification

Selecting your investment strategy and approach is crucial in social impact investing. Consider your impact goals, risk tolerance, and market research to decide on direct or indirect investment routes. Choose asset classes and geographic scopes aligning with your goals, whether thematic, sectoral, or geographical. A balanced approach can optimize impact while managing risk and return expectations effectively.

In my experience, as you build up your portfolio, the best strategy to monitor performance is to have a hands on approach. On the ground teams really are helpful in keeping a high level of engagement with the portfolio companies. In addition offering capacity building really improves the business performance. As we seek the returns on the investment we should be aware that strong engagement in the value addition of the portfolio companies is a key contributor to good performance

Primero, identifica un problema social relevante. Investiga datos y estudios existentes para comprender su alcance. Luego, define claramente tu objetivo de inversión social y selecciona indicadores específicos para medir el impacto. Investiga organizaciones y proyectos existentes en el área, analizando su efectividad y sostenibilidad. Desarrolla un marco teórico que respalde tu tesis, relacionando el problema, la intervención propuesta y los resultados esperados. Realiza un análisis financiero sólido, considerando riesgos y oportunidades, para respaldar la viabilidad económica del proyecto. Finalmente, comunica de manera convincente tu tesis, destacando el impacto social y los beneficios financieros potenciales para los inversionistas.

Remember that UN Sustainable Development Goals are meant to be a guideline, not a checklist. One company cant address all of them, especially not all at once. Here is where your evaluation comes into play: Which social missions align with your company values and make sense to pursue further?