In brief: GIIN’s impact benchmarks are put into action

Impact firm Developing World Markets has used GIIN’s financial inclusion benchmarks to measure the impact performance of its portfolio.

The Global Impact Investing Network’s impact performance benchmarks for financial inclusion are gaining traction. Impact firm Developing World Markets has deployed GIIN’s benchmarks to evaluate its portfolio’s impact performance in the firm’s 2022 impact report.

GIIN released a pilot set of benchmarks for financial inclusion in March 2022. The benchmarks were developed using impact performance data from 13 asset managers including Nuveen and Leapfrog Investments.

DWM reports it has exceeded GIIN’s three benchmarks: DWM’s financial inclusion portfolio companies reach a median of 1,835 clients, compared to GIIN’s benchmark of 1,724 clients. 55 percent of clients in DWM’s financial inclusion portfolio are women, compared to GIIN’s benchmark 52 percent. And DWM’s women clients increased by 8 percent between 2020 and 2021, compared to GIIN’s benchmarks of 2 percent for private equity investments and 0.8 percent for private debt investments.