Investing for the Good

March 10, 2016
Investing for the Good

By: Jane Shui, Certificate in Responsible Leadership Student, Smith School of Business

The marriage between the for-profit and non-profit sectors resembles the feuding relationship between the families of Montague and Capulet – irreconcilable and marked with heated arguments for centuries. The main debate centers on that there must be a trade-off between the two – social good, and financial profit – and doing good is for the light-hearted ones who are not equipped to do well. However, in light of the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis, with the traditional finance system in tatters, rising out of the ashes is a new asset class named “impact investing”, and it is drawing the attention of private and public investors alike. According to recent research done by Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing, the area of social investments has been growing fast: in 2012, with $1 out of $9 qualified as sustainable investments (a total of $3.47 trillion in assets), while this increased to $1 out of $6 in 2014 ($6.57 trillion). Growth in the area of impact investments is expected to continue; however, much of the old debate will persist. Despite these difficulties, I firmly believe that the area for social impact investing has much potential, and the purpose of this article is to highlight the growth opportunities, problems remaining to be tackled, and some possible resolutions for these problems.

Want to read more?  Here is the entire article.

Have a paper or article you want to share with us?  Email it to csi@queensu.ca