Introduction

Impact investing has grown steadily over the past decade. In 2010 the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) annual survey had around 50 respondents, 75% of whom thought the market was in its infancy and who expected to invest an aggregate $4 billion the following year; in 2020, the GIIN’s report was based on feedback from close to 300 investors, 69% of whom regarded the market as growing steadily and who expected to invest $48 billion in 2021. The total market size was reckoned at around $715 billion.

In March 2022, the Impact Investing Institute, in partnership with EY and supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, released “Estimating and describing the UK impact investing market”, a report containing the first estimate of the size of the impact investing market in the UK: £58 billion with a further £53 billion of impact-aligned investments.

How to use these resources

This section wraps up the key foundational work by providing information on where and in what form impact investing is happening, how the market has grown and is developing and who is involved.

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Impact investing market structure, size and trends


Impact investing across asset classes and public/private markets

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Supply (investors) and demand (investees)

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Impact investing strategies

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Market participants: Investors, investees, intermediaries, policy-makers and standard setters