The creator of impact metric system IRIS+, used by GPs such as BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Nuveen, Apollo and Vista, is developing a database to generate sector-specific impact benchmarks and allow investors and managers to compare their impact performance with their peers.

The Global Impact Investors Network created IRIS+, a publicly available, free-to-use metric system providing sets of impact key performance indicators for sectors such as healthcare, financial inclusion, agriculture and real estate. The forthcoming database, known as the List, will be made available in October 2021.

GIIN’s co-founder and CEO, Amit Bouri, said there is demand from managers to contextualise these figures “in terms of the broader market performance in specific sectors”.

“I’ve had a number of conversations with CEOs and CIOs around how they get the right impact data at their fingertips,” Bouri told New Private Markets. “Right now, many have adopted IRIS+, they are gathering data and they have the data of the investments in their own portfolio – which has been incredibly valuable for them. But they would love to use that data to benchmark their performance against what’s happening in the market.

“LPs are trying to understand how to allocate capital more effectively into fund managers and direct investments to achieve a strong impact. IRIS+ helps them to measure GPs’ performance. The expansion to more data and coverage of market activity will help enrich their understanding of the market landscape and make the best investment choices.

“For fund managers, [the List] will help them allocate capital to companies and projects, share what they’re doing in terms of their practices and help them learn from their peers in a way that’s much more transparent and available than where the market is today.”

GIIN has received a grant from the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing to fund the List. The List will include investors’ impact practices such as goals and investment decision-making processes and how investments are performing over time.

TPF is a donor-funded organisation with a mission to scale impact investing. It is funded by various investors including the Rockefeller, Ford, BlueHaven, Surdina and Visa foundations.