OUR STORY

Our Story

Investing for Good was founded in 2004 on the basis of a simple insight: that the positive use of money can change the world. We are still inspired today by the power of finance to catalyse social value.

We are dedicated to growing the impact investing market and continue to find innovative solutions to address social organisations’ financing needs. We specialise in structuring blended capital funds and corporate bond programmes, which enable social organisations to benefit from unrestricted, unsecured funding at scale. We are sector agnostic and our structuring and capital raising activities spans a range of thematic areas including women's healthcare and reproductive rights, independent media and affordable workspaces for artists in densely populated cities. We brought the Arts Impact Fund to market, the first blended capital unsecured loan fund of its kind in the world that explicitly takes into account, not just financial returns, but also the artistic and social impact of the organisations it supports.

Investing for Good helped develop the market for charity bonds by arranging a Bond Programme for the leading UK disability organisations Scope and Thera. The Scope bond issue was the first to be listed on an established stock exchange by a UK operational charity.

“We are proud to have led the way in this space, finding new ways of fundraising in the capital markets. We have watched the social investment market grow over the last few years and it is great that we can tell the story of what it has achieved and that we have paid it back. The money raised has made a very positive impact on the disabled people and their families that Scope supports. For example, it has helped to fund our Face 2 Face program, a peer support scheme for parents of disabled children across the country.” Peter Crowne, COO, Scope

Our core concept has always been to raise investment in a way that encompasses both financial and social returns. Yet while an array of tools already exist for assessing financial impact, far fewer resources have been devoted toward understanding social impact. Back in 2008 and in direct response to our own need for better impact analysis we set up a research team and started to investigate how impact analysis could be done in a methodical and intellectually robust way.

Our work led to the development of a unique methodology, published in The Good Analyst in 2012 and in The Good Investor in 2014. These resources compile best practice guidelines for social purpose organisations and investors alike to help them articulate and measure their impact. We have worked with many of the UK’s largest impact investors and social organisations to help them implement an evaluation methodology and to aid reporting on their impact. 

We support initiatives to develop common practices around impact investing and management, and we contribute to global initiatives to share knowledge, such as the Impact Management Project. With our peers we co-chair the Social Investment Finance Intermediary group to ensure impact challenges can be discussed openly and to help the sector learn and grow.