In brief: GIIN launches ‘first-of-its-kind’ impact performance benchmark

The Global Impact Investing Network has launched a prototype version of an impact performance benchmark. The benchmark, which GIIN described as “first-of-its-kind,” uses a digital platform developed by the impact reporting initiative IRIS+ and is now available for a select group of investors to demo. Thirteen asset managers including LeapFrog Investments and TIAA-sponsored Nuveen submitted data to GIIN to build the impact benchmark’s beta version.

GIIN said it plans to launch more impact benchmarks targeting specific sectors, including agriculture and energy. “Our goal is for impact performance benchmarks to play the same role that financial benchmarks play in investing, which is to create a mechanism by which investors can push themselves to achieve superior performance,” GIIN co-founder Amit Bouri said in a statement.