News by #FutureLeadersForum in Trends & Insights | Impact investing
The FLF Conversations series of the ICMCI Future Leaders Forum continued on 27 April 2022 with a guest with a special cause: Patrick Goodman, Partner, Innpact, delved into impact investing and the role of consultants in the process. The event was facilitated by Angelica Susio, an M&A Analyst at Total Specific Solutions and a member of the ICMCI Future Leaders Forum.
Impact investment is part of the overall spectrum of investing: starting from traditional investing aiming for financial returns only; going to responsible investing with positive and negative screening; evolving to sustainable investing with an ESG component; reaching impact investing with its impact integration; and culminating in philanthropy focusing on impact returns only.
Impact investments are investments made in companies, organisations and funds with the intention of creating a positive and measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.
Thus, impact investments are characterised by three elements:
- Intentionality: The intention to exert a positive social or environmental impact
- Impact Investment Strategy: Use of evidence and impact data to set targets, design investment strategies which are effective to the identified needs, and identify indicators to measure performance against targets
- Impact Measurement and Management: Use of impact performance data in decision-making to manage investments towards achievement of defined social and environmental objectives.
Key elements are the specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) an entity is aiming for.
Consultants are needed to help at the various stages of the development of impact projects. One of the first steps is to be able to analyse the gap: what is missing in the market and if there is a need for specific funding. Consultants can help with identifying where there is a need and where a role can be played.
Once the gap is identified, the next step is to see if there is space for the investment to be made; crucial at this stage is measuring which can also be performed by consultants. They bring specialised knowledge and expertise, helping to identify the impact.
The current market offers clear opportunities in the area of climate action: energy independence, investing in renewables around the world, also investing in biodiversity. The good news is that investors are keen to support such actions, both private individuals and institutional investors.
Consultants should be made aware that they have an impact in the way they advise their clients and they should be able to show the impact to their clients.
For highlights of the event, please check out this video.
About the guest speaker
Patrick Goodman is co-founding Partner of Innpact, which he steered from initially structuring impact finance funds from 2007 to now being a leading impact finance specialist providing advisory and third-party fund management services with over 50 team members.
He has a wide experience in designing, structuring and establishing impact funds and blended finance vehicles, backed by over thirty years’ experience in the banking and fund industry having been part of the teams of JP Morgan in Brussels and Citibank in Belgium and Luxembourg.
Since early 2003, Patrick Goodman has dedicated his career to responsible finance and impact finance, providing structuring and fund management services for MIVs (Microfinance Investment Vehicles) and other impact finance vehicles. He is also a board member of other impact investment funds.
About the facilitator
Angelica Susio is an M&A Analyst at Total Specific Solutions, a leading company for business software solutions based in the Netherlands with business units throughout Europe.
She also gained experience working as an M&A and Restructuring Consultant and Analyst for two main boutiques in Milan, Italy, and collaborating with a company active in the area of management consulting for public administration.
Angelica Susio graduated with Merit from the MSc of Finance at Bocconi University in 2020 where she also worked as a Tutor for AI Science courses.
About the ICMCI Future Leaders Forum
The ICMCI Future Leaders Forum brings together young consultants from all over the world in a structured effort to boost the conversation about the future of management consulting. It offers a platform to exchange views about the profession and to coalesce knowledge to the benefit of clients and consultants while growing a strong international network and developing leadership skills in the global arena.