In 2007, the term “impact investing” was coined at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center , referring to investments made with the intention of generating both financial return and social and/or environmental impact. This after a long history of that organization in supporting innovations that seek to catalyze private sector investment for social and environmental good. Thus, in recent years, impact investing has been expanding as a promising tool for both investors and philanthropists, who for many years thought of themselves as actors from different scenarios.

In April 2022, a report of GIIN (Global Impact Investment Network) estimated that the current size of the global impact investment market is $1.164 billion dollars, in which the organization admitted that for the first time it had exceeded one million million in this area. Investments come mainly from the United States and Canada (50% of investing organizations) and from Western and Southern Europe (31% of organizations), while in Latin America the number is one of the lowest (3% of investing organizations).

In addition to the above, the study considers that more than 50% of active impact investor organizations made their first investment within the last 13 years, a situation that suggests the development and growth of the sector in recent times.

Impact investments are investments made with the intention of generating a positive and measurable social and/or environmental impact along with a financial return . Impact investing can be done in both emerging and developed economies, targeting returns that can range from below-market to market-rate returns, depending on each investor’s strategic objectives.