Data and insights
See how BlueMark’s benchmarks, ratings, and data on leading impact investment practices can help drive client insights.
Our reach
*As of April 2024
BlueMark Practice Benchmark
The BlueMark Practice Benchmark categorizes impact practice ratings by quartile, providing a mechanism for investors to compare themselves to the current state of practice in the market. Check out this year’s Practice Benchmark and see how your firm stacks up against the rest of the impact investing industry.
PRACTICE
represents the bottom quartile of our sample (25th percentile and below)
Median Practice reflects the impact management practices of the median impact investor in our sample (50th percentile).
PRACTICE
Leading Practice represents the top quartile of our sample (75th percentile and above).
*Data as of May 2023. Sample representing 84 practice verifications.
BlueMark Practice Leaderboard
The BlueMark Practice Leaderboard was created as a way to highlight those impact investors with best-in-class impact management practices. To earn a spot on the Leaderboard, verified investors must receive top quartile ratings across each of the Impact Principles in the Benchmark for that year.
Only impact investors that have been verified within the previous two years will be eligible for each year’s Leaderboard to ensure that investors are continuously reassessed against the current state of the market.
AgDevCo
- Sustainable Agriculture
Verification commissioned by asset allocator and therefore verifier statement is not publicly available.
BlueOrchard
- Multi-theme
Bain Capital Double Impact
- Health & Wellness
- Education & Workforce Development
- Sustainability
Blue Earth Capital
- Multi-theme
British International Investment
- Productive, Sustainable and Inclusive
Calvert Impact Capital
- Access to Community Service
- Financial Inclusion
- Climate Change
Finance in Motion
- Green Economy
- Climate Finance
- Entrepreneurship & Livelihoods
- Financial Inclusion
LeapFrog Investments
- Financial Inclusion
- Healthcare
- Climate Solutions
Nuveen (Private Equity Impact)
- Resource Efficiency
- Inclusive Growth
Nuveen (Fixed Income Impact)
- Affordable Housing
- Community & Economic Development
- Renewable Energy & Climate Change
- Natural Resources
Schroders
- Environment
- Health & Wellness
- Inclusion
- Responsible Production and Consumption
- Sustainable Infrastructure
Trill Impact
- Multi-theme (SDG-aligned impact)
Research
As part of BlueMark’s mission to “strengthen trust in impact and sustainable investing,” we are committed to publishing field-building research based on our analysis of client verifications. These research reports are designed to inform investment practitioners about best practices and shared challenges, thereby driving the entire impact investing field forward.
November 8, 2023
A Field Guide: Impact Due Diligence and Management for Asset Allocators
“A Field Guide: Impact Due Diligence and Management for Asset Allocators” aims to drive more rigor and consistency in how asset allocators evaluate and manage private market funds that invest for positive impacts on people and the planet. Developed in 2023 through interviews with 50+ Limited Partners (LPs) and General Partners (GPs) worldwide, along with desk research, this guide draws from the experiences and practices of experienced LPs and GPs investing in diverse strategies. It
May 16, 2023
Making the Mark 2023: Benchmarking Impact Management Practice
BlueMark’s fourth annual “Making the Mark” report takes a deeper dive into those impact management practices that are most (or least) common among different segments of the impact and sustainable investing market.
December 13, 2022
“Raising the Bar 2.0: BlueMark’s Framework for Evaluating Impact Reporting”
Download Raising the Bar 2.0 to learn more about BlueMark’s framework for evaluating impact reporting, results from a pilot project with Impact Frontiers, and our insights into emerging best practices for impact reporting.
Perspectives and commentary
BlueMark regularly publishes opinion pieces and comment letters to share our perspective on the biggest issues facing impact investors.
December 7, 2023
What makes a meaningful impact report?
The new Impact Performance Reporting Norms, published for consultation last month by Impact Frontiers, signal an important milestone for the impact investing industry – providing much needed guidance as to what useful impact reports should include, as well as a structure for organizing the content therein.
December 14, 2023
What recent efforts to standardize corporate sustainability disclosures mean for impact investors
It goes without saying, for investors looking to make smart decisions about their portfolio companies, the importance of accurate, quality, and easily comparable corporate data cannot be overstated. Which is why the new set of globals standards (the Standards)—issued on June 26, 2023 by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) for financial and climate-related disclosures, establishing baseline […]
May 4, 2023
From theory to practice: Tying financial incentives to impact
This piece originally appeared in New Private Markets. Linking financial incentives to impact performance is increasingly seen as best practice in impact. Jack Isaacs and Ellen Maginnis from verification firm BlueMark, having assessed 84 investors’ approaches, describe the various ways of doing it. One of the many things that unites impact-focused investors and traditional, returns-focused […]
Events and webinars
BlueMark regularly hosts webinars and speaks at industry events about impact verification and key trends and challenges across the impact investing industry. Use the video library below to catch up on recent BlueMark speaking appearances.
