Social impact investments target a social objective as well as a financial return. By adding a new dimension – impact – to risk and return, the usual two dimensions that capital market investors take into account, “impact investing has the potential to transform our ability to build a better society for all,” said Yaron Neudorfer, CEO of Social Finance, at a seminar organised by the University of Luxembourg, the EIB Institute and other partners as part of the “Inequality and…” lecture series. ”In some cases”, he added, “investment can be more effective than donations in helping the poor; social motivations harnessed to financial ones can sometimes do good more effectively; and in many situations there is no inevitable trade-off between financial and social return”. He advocated the use of Social Impact Bonds, i.e contracts with the public sector in which a commitment is made to pay for improved social outcomes that result in public sector savings, and argued that they can be used for any measurable social problem. Click here for presentation
