Insights

This report represents a snapshot of current impact investing practices among APAC-based funds across the four pillars of BlueMark’s Fund ID. The Dataset The data for this report consists of 65 funds that have completed our Fund ID assessment process since 2024. Of these, 17 funds are headquartered in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Report Overview […]

The practice of investing for positive impact, thereby aiming to generate positive social and/or environmental outcomes, has a long and rich history.
Over recent years, the movement has evolved to include a targeted and proactive approach,
formalised under the umbrella term ‘impact
investing’ – which is now estimated to represent a
$1.6 trillion USD market according to the Global
Impact Investing Network (GIIN).

Faced with the challenge of achieving shared and sustainable prosperity, the sheer scale of capital needs can be paralyzing. The price tags
for addressing the world’s largest social and environmental challenges, like climate change, poverty, and inequality, are staggering. For example, in 2021, it was estimated that transforming the global economy to achieve net-
zero emissions by 2050 would require $3.5 trillion.

The data in our sixth annual Making the Mark report shows many impact management practices that were previously considered cutting-edge now represent a baseline expectation for impact investors.

How can the complex and variable impact attributes of investment products be distilled into something that is simple to interpret and easy to use?
This challenge has animated many investors, consultants, data providers, and organiza- tions seeking to streamline the evaluation and management of investment products over the years. Within the impact investing industry, clarifying how to effectively and efficiently interpret a product’s impact credentials is a major topic of conversation, with many market participants seeing this clarity as a necessary precursor to unlocking additional capital.

In our fifth annual Making the Mark report – Making the Mark V – we feature a comprehensive analysis of best practices and trends in impact management.

 “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

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.

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.

In this third annual Making the Mark report, the BlueMark team analyzed data based on the aggregated results of 60 practice verifications for impact investors managing a combined $160 billion in impact assets under management. Scroll down for a snapshot of the key elements of this year’s report, and download the full report to learn more!

This “Raising the Bar” report is the first in a series aimed at improving the quality and usefulness of impact performance reports produced by impact investors. The research was conducted with the support of grant funding from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing.

BlueMark and Morgan Lewis publish whitepaper for sustainable investors on best practices for complying with financial regulations and aligning with industry standards.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way impact investors are approaching impact management (IM). Nick O’Donohoe, Director of BlueMark’s Governing Board and Former CEO of British International Investment, remarked in a recent conversation at BlueMark HQ that he expects the integration of AI into IM to be one of the key trends in impact investing […]

This report represents a snapshot of current impact investing practices among APAC-based funds across the four pillars of BlueMark’s Fund ID. The Dataset The data for this report consists of 65 funds that have completed our Fund ID assessment process since 2024. Of these, 17 funds are headquartered in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Report Overview […]

BlueMark clients engage our services for a wide array of reasons, as they’ve told us in their client testimonials. These reasons often include complying with requirements from investors and voluntary standards, identifying opportunities for improvement, and perhaps most commonly, increasing the visibility of the fund with potential investors and other stakeholders.  Engaging BlueMark for an […]

Climate investors who undergo third-party verification gain competitive advantages that compound over time: stronger stakeholder relationships, enhanced credibility and market access, risk reduction through better adherence to market standards, and improved confidence in reported outcomes. Those who wait risk falling behind in a rapidly professionalizing market where credibility increasingly determines success. The climate crisis demands […]

Sustainable and impact investors today are operating in one of the most complex and challenging landscapes to date – defined by political pushback, regulatory fragmentation and the pressing need to prove both impact and financial performance. At BlueMark, our role remains unchanged. We exist to ensure accountability, clarity and trust; providing the conditions needed to […]

SDG Impact Japan (SIJ) is committed to driving measurable impact in public markets by investing in— and actively engaging with—companies to strengthen sustainability performance. Its listed equity strategy focuses on transforming corporate operations to become
more sustainable and equitable, including efforts to reduce carbon emissions, promote gender equality, and
improve supply chain practices. A key challenge lies in adapting impact approaches to listed equities and effectively measuring progress.

On November 8th, 2023 BlueMark and CASE at Duke University released a co-authored report entitled, “A Field Guide: Impact Due Diligence and Management for Asset Allocators.” To accompany the release of the report, the authors hosted a discussion with practitioners representing leading asset allocators and asset managers. Topics of discussion included:
— Common blind spots new asset allocators face when entering the world of impact investing and ways to address them
— What to expect when conducting due diligence on impact-oriented private market funds–and what’s a red flag
— Ways asset allocators and asset managers can collaborate to promote efficiency and strengthen impact-focused efforts

Who verifies impact investing claims and practices? BlueMark’s CEO Christina Leijonhufvud explains on FinextraTV Unplugged.

BlueMarkers Benedikt Kramer, Mya Stanislas, and Timothy Lambert host an insightful chat on all things impact reporting—attendees came to get their questions answered and explored best practices, trends, success stories, and solutions to common impact performance reporting challenges.

In this live webinar and audience Q&A, Impact Entrepreneur’ Laurie Lane-Zucker welcomes BlueMark CEO Christina Leijonhufvud to discuss recent efforts to standardize impact management and measurement and the power of impact verification to bring accountability, discipline and comparability to the impact investing market.

For 14 years, B-Lab has led a movement to redefine the purpose of business as an engine of progress for all people, communities, and the planet, through the creation of the B-Corp certification. The same standards, policies, and tools are now taking hold in impact investing and promises to create an equally catalytic, verifiable “label” — thanks to efforts led by the IFC, UNDP, Impact Management Project and others. In this session we discuss the latest developments in impact verification, the trajectory of adoption by investors, and draw on the panelists’ wide range of experiences to explore next steps.