Leave Your Mark Through Impact Investing

Over the past generation, many talented people have tried to transform capitalism by using the market to solve social problems.  These people have created organizations that are part profit-oriented and part purpose-oriented. 

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream led the first wave in this sector of companies, but now there is a burgeoning array of social-capitalist tool s to address problems—raging from B Corporations to social impact bonds. 

Impact investing is probably the most promising of these tools.  Impact investors seek out companies that are intentionally designed both to make a profit and provide a measurable and accountable social good.  Impact funds are frequently willing to accept lower financial returns for the sake of doing good. 

While there are many roadblocks to impact investing, it is now entering the mainstream as new impact funds are being created.  Although impact investing will not replace government or be a panacea, it is one way to address social problems.  If you want to leave a mark on the world, find a way to get involved in a socially useful investment proposition.

See David Brooks, How To Leave A Mark, The New York Times, Jan. 27, 2015.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.