In The Little Book of Impact Investing: Aligning Profit and Purpose to Change the World, veteran investor and author Priya Parrish delivers a timely, inspiring, and practical exploration of an investing discipline that is rapidly taking center stage in contemporary finance. In the book, you'll explore how and why impact investing has become an essential strategy for retail and institutional investors around the world and how it can help you build and manage high-performing portfolios while making a positive difference in the world around you.
The author explains the universe of opportunities made available by impact investing by diving deep into both the public and private markets. You'll learn how the discipline is related to modern portfolio theory, diversity considerations, issues of climate change, sustainable investing, and recent controversies about ESG investing.
You'll also discover: - Where impact investing came from, how it's shaping markets today, and where it's going in the near future - Impact investing goals and how they relate to financial returns and risk - The management tools utilized by leading impact investors to improve performance.
An essential resource for retail and institutional investors, The Little Book of Impact Investing is destined to become the gold standard in impact investing reference books for anyone seeking and up-to-date and insightful discussion of one of the most exciting and influential investment disciplines in contemporary finance.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Part One A Brief Introduction To Impact Investing 1
Chapter One What Is Impact Investing? 3
Chapter Two Why Now? The Right Time for Creative Disruption 19
Chapter Three Hold On, What About ESG? 31
Chapter Four My Journey to Impact Investing 43
Chapter Five How Impact Investing Grew Up 53
Chapter Six Who Can Be an Impact Investor? 67
Chapter Seven Other Roads to the Same Place 79
Part Two How to Be An Impact Investor 89
Chapter Eight How Impact Can Drive Returns 91
Chapter Nine Where Do You Start? Deciding Where Impact Belongs in Your Portfolio 101
Chapter Ten Beyond the Label: Identifying Impactful Companies 109
Chapter Eleven If You Don’t Measure It, Is It Real? 119
Chapter Twelve Building Better Businesses: Impact Management 131
Chapter Thirteen Stuck in the Mud: When Impact Gets Complicated 143
Part Three The Impact Opportunity Set 153
Chapter Fourteen Where Can You Find Impact Investments? 155
Chapter Fifteen Economic Opportunity 161
Chapter Sixteen Health and Wellness 175
Chapter Seventeen Environmental Sustainability 189
Chapter Eighteen Public Markets 201
Chapter Nineteen Social Impact Bonds 211
Chapter Twenty Alternative Ownership Structures 217
Conclusion 229
Notes 235
Acknowledgments 249
About the Author 253
