Charting the Course

The report argues that impact investing is moving from a niche activity to a mainstream strategy, driven by global megatrends and increasing consumer demand for sustainability. It introduces a four-step 'Impact Investing Roadmap'—Vision and Leadership, Stages of Engagement, Strategic Pillars (Investment, Organization, and Ecosystem), and Iteration—to guide diverse mainstream investors, including asset owners and financial services providers, in scaling their impact activities. The document highlights the economic viability of the approach by drawing parallels with the growth of ESG integration and providing examples of successful exits and public sector support in the UK, US, India, and France.

• Impact investing is defined as an approach that "intentionally seeks to create both financial return as well as positive social and/or environment impact that is actively measured."
• The report identifies several global megatrends driving the case for impact investing, including the rise of "Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability" (LOHAS) consumers, a growing global consumer class earning more than US$ 10 a day, and increasing constraints on natural resources.
• The growth of ESG integration serves as a precedent for impact investing; in the US, ESG assets under management grew from US$ 166 billion in 1995 to US$ 3.3 trillion by 2012, while in Europe they grew from approximately  0.6 trillion in 2005 to  3.2 trillion in 2011.
• The 'Impact Investing Roadmap' consists of four high-level steps: 1) Vision and Leadership, 2) Stages of Impact Investing Engagement (Evaluate, Pilot, Accelerate), 3) Strategic Pillars and Tactical Maps (Investment, Organization, and Ecosystem strategies), and 4) Learn, Iterate and Evolve.
• Public sector support is catalyzing the sector through various mechanisms: the UK's Big Society Capital and tax reliefs like the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme; India's CSR requirements for certain companies to spend 2% of average annual net profits; France's requirement for employee savings plans to offer a "solidarity-based" plan; and the US Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Impact Investment initiative.
• Mainstream investors are segmented into Asset Owners (insurance companies, family offices, pension funds, foundations) and Financial Services Providers (liquid and illiquid investment funds, diversified banks).
• The report argues that a lack of track record is often a perceived barrier, but cites successful exits such as Bamboo Finance's sale of Xac Bank (returns above 25%) and Bridges Ventures' exit from Wehlan Refining (33% IRR).
• Organizational strategy for impact investing requires managing four building blocks: structure (e.g., creating centralized teams or using 'champions'), culture (shifting values and perceptions), talent (developing impact due diligence skills), and technology (using analytics engines and impact data tools).

APA

World Economic Forum (2014). Charting the Course. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ImpactInvesting_Report_ChartingTheCourse.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Charting the Course. 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ImpactInvesting_Report_ChartingTheCourse.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Charting the Course |date=September 2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ImpactInvesting_Report_ChartingTheCourse.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2014charting, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Charting the Course}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ImpactInvesting_Report_ChartingTheCourse.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }