Fifteen investment funds, representing approximately USD 550 million in capital, have committed to utilize GIIRS (Global Impact Investment Ratings System) ratings, a system for assessing the social and environmental impact of investment funds. The investment funds will become members of the GIIRS Pioneer Funds, which have agreed to be among the first forty funds to receive a GIIRS Impact Rating.
GIIRS is integrated with IRIS (Impact Reporting and Investment Standards), a taxonomy and reporting standard for the impact investing industry, and is powered the B Impact Ratings System. Both IRIS and B Impact systems were developed by GIIRS founding partner, B Lab, a US-based non-profit organization. GIIRS also has an exclusive license for use of the B Impact Ratings System as an investor tool. Unlike the similarly named US-based nonprofit GIIN (Global Impact Investment Network), GIIRS provides a ratings service using its own proprietary impact measurement service.
The funds newly working with GIIRS are: Adobe Social Mezzanine Fund I LP, Bellwether Microfinance Fund, Catalyst Microfinance Investors, Greenmont Capital II, IIP India Health Fund I, India Financial Inclusion Fund, InReturn I, Investeco Sustainable Food Fund, Mergence I, Paradox Fund, Próspero Microfinanzas Fund, SJF III, SocialAlpha-Bastion, Vox Impact Investing Fund I and WillowTree Fund [1].
Ratings will be available at the release of GIIRS’ first Company and Funds Impact ratings later in November. Reports will be available from the companies themselves or with a subscription to the GIIRS Analytics service.
With the addition of these fifteen funds, GIIRS Pioneer Funds will represent approximately USD 1.7 billion in investments.
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About Global Impact Investment Ratings Sysmtem (GIIRS): GIIRS is a system for assessing the social and environmental impact of developed and emerging market companies and funds. They are a US-based non-profit organization, affiliated with B Labs and the Rockefeller Foundation. As of October 2011, investment firms utilizing GIIRS manage approximately USD 1.7 billion in assets. GIIRS Ratings & Analytics will allow fund managers to raise capital from mission-aligned investors based on the social and environmental impact of their underlying businesses or portfolio companies.
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] CSR Press Release, Oct 27 2011. http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/33232-B-Lab-Announces-Key-Mileston…
MicroCapital.org story, June 30, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ImpactAssets Includes 22 Microfinance-Focused Fund Managers in List of Top 50 Impact Investors,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-impactassets-includes-22-…
MicroCapital Universe Profile: GIIRS, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=gii…
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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