# Impact Investing

### Key information

Impact investing is defined as the deployment of investment capital seeking to make a positive social and/or environmental difference alongside financial returns.

*“All investing has an **impact** that is largely opaque to the investor, and I think that the work of our field, in part, is to make that impact, positive and negative … transparent to the investor so that the investor can choose.”*

> — Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the [U.S. Impact Investing Alliance](http://impinvalliance.org/)

How money is allocated influences which companies are able to grow and what products and services are delivered to people, it is one of the most powerful scarce resources.

Historically, investment decisions were almost exclusively made based on the traditional risk vs return model. Today, ESG ratings have led to asset selection screening based on these factors. Impact investing goes one-step further, specifically directing capital towards companies whose product/service has a positive impact.

Broadly speaking, as much as 1/3 of USA Assets Under Management can be considered as Impact Investments. 

![Source: SOCAP Global](https://823113299-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-MifNfxt8QM_rrrKIbB5%2Fuploads%2FwXNYltKOQJUf02PcJ9Ow%2Fimage.png?alt=media\&token=b1527172-29a2-4b2a-9fe2-bf80a4af43f6)

### Our favourite video

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=PYMWYMIC&v=jv3oKGUbCPo>" %}

### If you want more

{% embed url="<https://thegiin.org/impact-investing/>" %}

{% embed url="<https://socapglobal.com/what-is-impact-investing/>" %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://wiki.oikos-international.org/sustainable-finance/interviews/lessons/impact-investing.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.