Invest with Meaning: An Introduction to a Unified Investment Strategy for Impact

Over recent years a growing number of investors have sought to maximize the impact of their capital through the practice of a unified investment strategy wherein their grant making is coordinated with impact investments generating financial performance with social and environ- mental returns. This Brief explores three levels of capital investing: Capital structured to generate a blend of social and financial return, requiring a minimum of a market-rate risk-adjusted financial return; Capital structured to generate a blend of social and financial return, but accepts financial returns lower than the risk adjusted market rate,in exchange for greater social returns; and capital that generates a core mission aligned social return, but no financial return to the investor (other than, arguably, the tax deduction value at the front end). Examples of how these approaches work in practice are also presented.