Impact investment: where do we stand?

Impact investing refers to the branch of financial markets that provides instruments capable of delivering financial returns while doing good. The scientific literature and practitioners’ reports have established several stylized facts over the years. It is currently possible to address motives, the scope of the activity, and the amount of capital presently involved in the market. Research fields such as Economics, Business and Accounting, and several others developed a broad literature concerning Impact Investing aims and results. There are, however, few studies that look at this issue from a wide range of perspectives. In this survey, we intend to define and summarize the main characteristics of impact investing, focusing on the actors, the financial instruments, and investment areas. We shed light on the most urgent issues that academics and practitioners must deal with, i.e., measurement and regulation. We provide some insights on the recent development of the phenomenon, analyzing the GIIN reports for global evolution. We also investigate the Italian case.